[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 246 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 246

     Commemorating 80 years since the creation of Social Security.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

   Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. 
Cantwell, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Carper, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Brown, 
  Mr. Bennet, Mr. Casey, Mr. Warner, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
     Booker, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Coons, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
 Feinstein, Mr. Franken, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Heitkamp, 
Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Manchin, 
Mr. Markey, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. 
 Murray, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, 
 Mr. Tester, Mr. Udall, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Whitehouse) submitted the 
  following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Commemorating 80 years since the creation of Social Security.

Whereas, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social 
        Security Act into law, thereby establishing a vital--and ultimately 
        universal--insurance program for workers and families under which 
        workers earn coverage by working and paying Social Security taxes on 
        their earnings;
Whereas Congress further strengthened Social Security over the years by enacting 
        improvements to, and expansion of, retirement, survivors, and disability 
        benefits for workers and their families, and now Social Security 
        provides economic security to the Nation, and touches the life of nearly 
        every American;
Whereas Social Security is one program that offers two essential earned benefits 
        that are fundamentally linked: benefits for workers with disabilities 
        and benefits for retired workers;
Whereas in 2014, more than 48,000,000 retirement and survivors beneficiaries and 
        about 11,000,000 disability beneficiaries, including eligible family 
        members, received Social Security benefits;
Whereas Social Security benefits are modest but fundamental to the economic 
        security of our Nation, with the average disability benefit less than 
        $1,200 per month, or less than $14,000 per year--falling just above the 
        poverty line--and the average retirement benefit of close to $1,300 per 
        month, or less than $16,000 per year;
Whereas older Americans rely heavily on Social Security, with 9 out of 10 
        individuals age 65 and older receiving Social Security benefits, and 
        among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 52 percent of married 
        couples and 74 percent of unmarried persons receive more than half of 
        their income from Social Security;
Whereas the Social Security Administration will issue almost $900,000,000,000 in 
        earned benefits this year, while more than 1,200 Social Security field 
        offices nationwide provide essential, accurate, and face-to-face 
        services to millions of Americans each day;
Whereas workers who are supported by disability benefits today will receive 
        retirement benefits at full retirement age because Social Security 
        Disability Insurance ensures that workers who are no longer able to work 
        and their families are protected from the loss of future retirement 
        benefits;
Whereas Social Security's Disability Insurance protections are especially 
        important to older workers, with 70 percent of Social Security 
        Disability Insurance beneficiaries older than 50 and 30 percent older 
        than 60;
Whereas Social Security has evolved with changes in the American workforce, with 
        the number of working women who are fully insured for Social Security 
        benefits more than doubling between 1970 and today;
Whereas Social Security provides fundamental protection to workers of every age, 
        including young workers, who have a one-in-three chance of dying or 
        needing Social Security disability benefits before reaching retirement 
        age;
Whereas Social Security is America's ``family insurance plan'', providing more 
        than 9 out of 10 American workers and their families basic but critical 
        protection in the event they can no longer work to support themselves 
        and their families due to a severe medical condition;
Whereas Social Security provides a lifeline for almost 7,000,000 children 
        nationwide who receive benefits directly because a parent has died, 
        become disabled, or retired, or indirectly because they live with a 
        relative who is eligible to collect benefits;
Whereas Social Security is efficient--administrative expenses are less than one 
        percent of benefits paid--and benefit payments are 99-percent accurate; 
        and
Whereas Social Security has dramatically reduced poverty, with research 
        indicating that the entire reduction in elderly poverty between 1967 and 
        2000 was due to Social Security, that without Social Security 40 percent 
        of the population older than 65 would be poor, and that Social Security 
        benefits lifted an estimated 2,000,000 children out of poverty in 2013: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) Social Security provides earned benefits that are 
        crucial to the economic security of our Nation and must be 
        preserved to ensure future generations of Americans are 
        protected;
            (2) with the strong support of the Federal Government, 
        Social Security must continue to deliver guaranteed retirement 
        and life insurance benefits for workers and their families, as 
        well as serve as an indispensable safety net for the most 
        vulnerable segments of American society, including children, 
        persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor; and
            (3) while the Trust Funds that support Social Security are 
        projected to pay all benefits through 2034, Congress should act 
        to ensure this vital program can support workers and families 
        far into the future, but should reject proposals that weaken or 
        privatize Social Security and should consider proposals to 
        strengthen Social Security benefits.
                                 <all>