Whereas S. 365, the Budget Control Act of
2011
, creates a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction tasked with
providing recommendations and legislative language that will significantly
improve the short-term and long-term fiscal imbalance of the Federal
Government;
Whereas large majorities of Americans want to address the
deficit in a way that preserves Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
benefits;
Whereas the Medicare program reflects the Nation’s
commitment to the health and independence of older Americans and Americans with
disabilities by providing health care coverage to 42 million people;
Whereas Medicare safeguards beneficiaries and their
families from the ruinous costs of medical treatments and prevents individuals
from spending unmanageable proportions of their incomes on medical care or
being pushed into poverty by their medical bills;
Whereas Medicaid provides a safety net for both low-income
and middle-class families who may have family members stricken with
catastrophic illness or injury or face prolonged infirmity in old age;
Whereas cuts to Medicaid would severely impact low-income
families and individuals with disabilities, and curtail access to critical
services, including nursing home and community care services;
Whereas cuts to Medicaid would limit the program’s ability
to provide women without health care coverage with prenatal, maternity, and
postnatal care and hamper the United States efforts to prevent infant and
prenatal deaths;
Whereas Social Security provides essential financial
support to almost 55 million people in the United States, including more than
35 million retired workers;
Whereas Social Security provides modest benefits averaging
$14,000 per year for retired workers, based on contributions paid into Social
Security over a worker's lifetime of employment;
Whereas Social Security can pay full benefits through
2035;
Whereas Social Security has no borrowing authority,
currently has $2.7 trillion in accumulated assets, and, therefore, does not
contribute to the Federal budget deficit; and
Whereas the citizens of the United States deserve
thoughtful and fair Social Security reform to protect current and future
benefits and to ensure ongoing retirement security for seniors, protections for
persons who become disabled, and benefits for the young children and spouses of
deceased and disabled workers: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of Congress
that—
(1)any deficit reduction plan put forward by
the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should not balance the budget
by eroding America’s hard-earned retirement plan and social safety net;
(2)Medicare’s ability
to deliver high quality health care in a cost-efficient manner should be
strengthened and its benefits should be preserved for current and future
retirees;
(3)appropriate reform
to strengthen Social Security's long-term outlook should ensure that Social
Security remains a critical source of protection for the people of the United
States and their families without further increasing the retirement age or
otherwise decreasing benefits; and
(4)Federal funding
for the Medicaid program should be maintained so that senior citizens, poor and
disabled children, and others with disabilities are able to gain and retain
access to affordable health care.