[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN CELEBRATION OF THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOCIAL SECURITY

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2000

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a great day in 
our nation's history. On August 14, 1935, President Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt signed into law the historical Social Security Act. This law 
has been improving Americans' lives for sixty-five years, and I 
recognize the anniversary of its signing.
  Social Security represents a sacred compact between the generations 
that benefits both seniors and younger members of our nation. Senior 
citizens have earned the right to these benefits from a lifetime of 
work. Social Security has granted our elders the peace to live 
independently and with dignity. In addition, the great pressures placed 
on our younger generations to support their elderly parents are 
lessened because of America's Social Security program.
  Complementing retirement benefits, the Social Security Administration 
also provides citizens with disability, survivor, Medicare, and family 
benefits. In fact, one in three social security beneficiaries is, in 
fact, not a retiree. As a result, Social Security has grown into a 
family protection plan which forms a base of economic security in 
today's society. In my view, Social Security is the most successful 
federal program in history.
  As President Roosevelt explained upon signing the Social Security 
Act, ``this law . . . represents a cornerstone in a structure which is 
being built but is by no means complete.'' As he predicted, the program 
has been amended many times throughout the past sixty-five years. With 
each change, the Social Security Administration has extended its aid to 
another group of needy Americans. Once again, as Roosevelt 
foreshadowed, the law has served to ``take care of human needs and at 
the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly 
greater soundness.''
  These social insurance programs have blessed America with a 
reputation of protecting her citizens. As the Declaration of 
Independence famously states, our government has the responsibility to 
secure the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the 
past sixty-five years, the Social Security Administration has been 
safeguarding these rights for citizens who otherwise may easily be 
overlooked. Our great nation has earned its reputation for greatness in 
partial measure because of the accomplishments the Social Security 
Administration has achieved in the past sixty-five years.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Social Security Administration, 
Congress, and the American people for their commitment to the social 
security system. I look to the past and recognize the magnitude of the 
Act's effect; I look to the future and envision the achievements that 
are yet to come. I ask my colleagues to join me in this celebration and 
recognize the sixty-five years that Social Security has been improving 
America.

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