[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 34 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 34

 Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price 
 Index should not be used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for 
                       Social Security benefits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2013

Mr. Cicilline (for himself, Mr. Barber, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. 
 Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mrs. 
 Bustos, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Cartwright, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Chu, Mr. 
 Clay, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. 
DeFazio, Mr. Deutch, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Enyart, Ms. Frankel 
 of Florida, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Grayson, Mr. Gene Green of 
    Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Hahn, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. 
Hastings of Florida, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Mr. Huffman, Ms. 
    Jackson Lee, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of 
 Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kildee, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Langevin, Ms. 
 Lee of California, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Lynch, 
 Mr. Maffei, Mr. Markey, Ms. Matsui, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
Michaud, Ms. Moore, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Norton, 
Mr. Payne, Mr. Peters of Michigan, Ms. Pingree of Maine, Mr. Pocan, Ms. 
 Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Schakowsky, 
 Mr. Serrano, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Sires, Ms. Speier, Mr. Takano, Mr. 
 Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Vela, 
 Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Waters, Mr. Welch, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Mr. 
Scott of Virginia) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price 
 Index should not be used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for 
                       Social Security benefits.

Whereas the Social Security program was established more than 77 years ago and 
        has provided economic security to generations of Americans through 
        benefits earned based on contributions made over a worker's lifetime;
Whereas the Social Security program continues to provide modest benefits--
        averaging approximately $14,000 per year--to more than 53,000,000 
        individuals, including 37,000,000 retired workers in February 2013;
Whereas the Social Security program has no borrowing authority, has accumulated 
        assets of $2,700,000,000,000, and, therefore, does not contribute to the 
        Federal budget deficit;
Whereas the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
        Trust Fund projects that such Trust Fund can pay full benefits through 
        2032;
Whereas the Social Security program is designed to ensure that benefits keep 
        pace with inflation through cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that are 
        based upon the measured changes in prices of goods and services 
        purchased by consumers, currently the Consumer Price Index for Urban 
        Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of 
        Labor Statistics;
Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a supplemental measure of 
        inflation, the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-
        CPI-U), or ``Chained CPI'', which adjusts for projected changes in 
        consumer behavior resulting from price fluctuations known as the 
        ``substitution effect'', which occurs when consumers buy more goods and 
        services whose prices are rising slower than average and less of those 
        rising faster than average;
Whereas studies indicate typical Social Security beneficiaries spend 
        significantly greater shares of their budget than consumers generally on 
        health care, prices for which have increased at higher than average 
        rates, and health care may not be easily substituted for by consumers 
        such as seniors;
Whereas the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that using the Chained CPI 
        to calculate Social Security COLAs would reduce Social Security benefits 
        by 0.25 percent per year as compared to current policy, resulting in a 
        reduction in outlays of $112,000,000,000 over the first decade;
Whereas reductions in Social Security benefits from using the Chained CPI to 
        calculate Social Security COLAs would continue to compound over time, 
        and the AARP Public Policy Institute estimates that such reductions 
        would grow to 3 percent after 10 years and 8.5 percent after 30 years;
Whereas Social Security Works estimates that using the Chained CPI to calculate 
        Social Security COLAs would reduce annual Social Security benefits of 
        the average earner--who is making $43,518--by $658 at age 75, $1,147 at 
        age 85, and $1,622 at age 95; and
Whereas reductions in Social Security benefits would harm some of our most 
        vulnerable populations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price 
Index should not be used to calculate cost of living adjustments for 
Social Security benefits.
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