[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 78 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7159-S7160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 155--PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES FROM 
                               COLA CUTS

  Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Alexander, Mr. 
Allard, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Biden, Mr. 
Bingaman, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bunning, 
Mr. Burns, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
Chafee, Mr. Chambliss, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Mr. 
Conrad, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Craig, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 
Dayton, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Frist, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Graham 
of South Carolina, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Harkin, Mr. 
Hatch, Mr. Hollings, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
Jeffords, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Kyl, Ms. 
Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. 
Lincoln, Mr. Lott, Mr. Lugar, Mr. McCain, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Mikulski, 
Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. 
Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. 
Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
Sessions, Mr.

[[Page S7160]]

Shelby, Mr. Smith, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Sununu, 
Mr. Talent, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Wyden) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

       Resolved, That the Senate finds that:
       (1) Social Security provides a relatively modest insurance 
     benefit for seniors--many of whom rely on Social Security for 
     part or all of their monthly income. Without Social Security, 
     forty, forty eight percent of beneficiaries would be in 
     poverty today.
       (2) In order to protect benefit levels against inflation, 
     Social Security beneficiaries receive an annual cost-of-
     living adjustment (COLA) based on Consumer Price Index for 
     Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
       (3) The January 2003 COLA provided only a 1.4 percent 
     increase in Social Security benefits, increasing the average 
     monthly benefit for all retired workers by only $13 (from 
     $882 to 895).
       (4) Annual growth in Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket 
     health care costs for retired individuals on fixed incomes 
     far exceeded the small COLA increases provided to Social 
     Security beneficiaries.
       (5) Reducing COLAs will disproportionately harm low-income 
     Social Security beneficiaries and push millions of seniors 
     into poverty.

     SEC. 2.

       Sense of the Senate. It is the sense of the Senate that 
     Social Security cost-of-living adjustments should not be 
     reduced.

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