[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 582 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 582

 To establish a point of order against any efforts to reduce benefits 
paid to Social Security recipients, raise the retirement age, or create 
 private retirement accounts under title II of the Social Security Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2011

Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Begich, Mr. Blumenthal, and 
Mr. Lautenberg) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a point of order against any efforts to reduce benefits 
paid to Social Security recipients, raise the retirement age, or create 
 private retirement accounts under title II of the Social Security Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Protection Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Social Security is the most successful and reliable 
        social program in our Nation's history.
            (2) For 75 years, through good times and bad, Social 
        Security has reliably kept millions of senior citizens, 
        individuals with disabilities, and children out of poverty.
            (3) Before President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social 
        Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, approximately half of 
        the senior citizens in the United States lived in poverty; less 
        than 10 percent of seniors live in poverty today.
            (4) Social Security has succeeded in protecting working 
        Americans and their families from devastating drops in 
        household income due to lost wages resulting from retirement, 
        disability, or the death of a spouse or parent.
            (5) More than 53,000,000 Americans receive Social Security 
        benefits, including 36,500,000 retirees and their spouses, 
        9,200,000 veterans, 8,200,000 disabled individuals and their 
        spouses, 4,500,000 surviving spouses of deceased workers, and 
        4,300,000 dependent children.
            (6) Social Security has never contributed to the Federal 
        budget deficit or the national debt, and benefit cuts should 
        not be proposed as a solution to reducing the Federal budget 
        deficit.
            (7) Social Security is not in a crisis or going bankrupt, 
        as the Social Security Trust Funds have been running surpluses 
        for the last quarter of a century.
            (8) According to the Social Security Administration, the 
        Social Security Trust Funds currently maintain a 
        $2,600,000,000,000 surplus that is project to grow to 
        $4,200,000,000,000 by 2023.
            (9) According to the Social Security Administration, even 
        if no changes are made to the Social Security program, full 
        benefits will be available to every recipient until 2037, with 
        enough funding remaining after that date to pay about 78 
        percent of promised benefits.
            (10) According to the Social Security Administration, 
        ``money flowing into the [Social Security] trust funds is 
        invested in U.S. Government securities . . . the investments 
        held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit 
        of the U.S. Government. The Government has always repaid Social 
        Security, with interest.''.
            (11) All workers who contribute into Social Security 
        through the 12.4 percent payroll tax, which is divided equally 
        between employees and employers on income up to $106,800, 
        deserve to have a dignified and secure retirement.
            (12) Social Security provides the majority of income for 
        two-thirds of the elderly population in the United States, with 
        approximately one-third of elderly individuals receiving nearly 
        all of their income from Social Security.
            (13) Overall, Social Security benefits for retirees 
        currently average a modest $14,000 a year, with the average for 
        women receiving benefits being less than $12,000 per year.
            (14) Nearly 1 out of every 4 adult Social Security 
        beneficiaries has served in the United States military.
            (15) Social Security is not solely a retirement program, as 
        it also serves as a disability insurance program for American 
        workers who become permanently disabled and unable to work.
            (16) The Social Security Disability Insurance program is a 
        critical lifeline for millions of American workers, as a 20-
        year-old worker faces a 30 percent chance of becoming disabled 
        before reaching retirement age.
            (17) Proposals to privatize the Social Security program 
        would jeopardize the security of millions of Americans by 
        subjecting them to the ups-and-downs of the volatile stock 
        market as the source of their retirement benefits.
            (18) Raising the retirement age would jeopardize the 
        retirement future of millions of American workers, particularly 
        those in physically demanding jobs as well as lower-income 
        women, African-Americans, and Latinos, all of whom have a much 
        lower life expectancy than wealthier Americans.
            (19) Social Security benefits have already been cut by 13 
        percent, as the Normal Retirement Age was raised in 1983 from 
        65 years of age to 67 years of age by 2022.
            (20) According to the Social Security Administration, 
        raising the retirement age for future retirees would reduce 
        benefits by 6 to 7 percent for each year that the Normal 
        Retirement Age is raised.
            (21) Reducing cost-of-living adjustments for current or 
        future Social Security beneficiaries would force millions of 
        such individuals to choose between heating their homes, putting 
        food on the table, or paying for their prescription drugs.
            (22) Social Security is a promise that this Nation cannot 
        afford to break.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM FOR 
              CURRENT AND FUTURE BENEFICIARIES.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it 
shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to 
consider, for purposes of the old-age, survivors, and disability 
insurance benefits program established under title II of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), any legislation that--
            (1) increases the retirement age (as defined in section 
        216(l)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(l)(1))) or 
        the early retirement age (as defined in section 216(l)(2) of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(l)(2))) for individuals 
        receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
        or after the date of enactment of this Act;
            (2) reduces cost-of-living increases for individuals 
        receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
        or after the date of enactment of this Act, as determined under 
        section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i));
            (3) reduces benefit payment amounts for individuals 
        receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
        or after the date of enactment of this Act; or
            (4) creates private retirement accounts for any of the 
        benefits individuals receive under title II of the Social 
        Security Act on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Waiver or Suspension.--
            (1) In the senate.--The provisions of this section may be 
        waived or suspended in the Senate only by the affirmative vote 
        of two-thirds of the Members, present and voting.
            (2) In the house.--The provisions of this section may be 
        waived or suspended in the House of Representatives only by a 
        rule or order proposing only to waive such provisions by an 
        affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, present and 
        voting.
    (c) Point of Order Protection.--In the House of Representatives, it 
shall not be in order to consider a rule or order that waives the 
application of paragraph (2) of subsection (b).
    (d) Motion To Suspend.--It shall not be in order for the Speaker to 
entertain a motion to suspend the application of this section under 
clause 1 of rule XV of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
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