[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S925-S926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SENIORS COLA INCREASE

  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, tomorrow I intend to call up an 
amendment within the discussion of the jobs bill which I think will 
have significant impact on the lives of many millions of our fellow 
Americans. As you know, this year for the first time in many decades, 
our senior citizens are not going to be seeing a cost-of-living 
increase. In this very severe recession, that is unfortunate. Seniors 
in Vermont and around the country have told me that because of rising 
health care costs, because of rising energy and heating costs, because 
of rising prescription drug costs--all issues which seniors and 
disabled veterans are particularly prone to--it is unfair they not get 
a COLA this year.
  I am very happy to inform my colleagues that President Obama, in his 
budget, has made it very clear he understands the need for a $250 
emergency payment to go out to over 55 million seniors, veterans, and 
the disabled. I very much appreciate his support for this concept. And 
he is absolutely right, that in these very difficult times we cannot 
forget about some of the most vulnerable people in our society. There 
are a lot of lower income seniors out there who are struggling, as well 
as disabled veterans and disabled people in general.
  This amendment, which essentially does this year what we did last 
year in the stimulus package, would provide a one-time $250 payment. 
This amendment has very widespread support all over this country, and 
let me mention to you some of the organizations that are supporting it. 
The largest senior group in America is the AARP, and they are very 
vigorously supporting this concept, the American Legion and the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars are supporting this $250 payment, the National 
Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare is supporting it, 
the Disabled Veterans of America--the DVA--is supporting it, the Older 
Women's League is supporting it, and many other organizations 
representing seniors, disabled people, and our veterans are supporting 
it.
  This recession has forced more and more seniors out of the middle 
class and into poverty. In fact, according to a National Academy of 
Sciences formula, the poverty rate among Americans 65 and older is 
close to 19 percent--almost double the official poverty rate of 9.7 
percent. One of the problems I have had in dealing with Social Security 
COLAs for many years, including when I was in the House, is I have long 
believed it is an error, a statistical problem, when we lump everybody 
together and formulate what a COLA is. If you lump everybody together, 
I think you can probably make the argument that there is no inflation 
and in fact in some instances there is deflation.
  We see that every day. Young people who go out and buy a laptop 
computer will probably pay less for that laptop today than they did a 
year ago. Prices may be going down. For wide-screen TVs, prices may be 
going down. For many items people buy, prices may be going down. But 
seniors have a different set of needs than ordinary Americans and 16-
year-old kids have. Seniors are much more dependent on prescription 
drugs. The cost of prescription drugs is going up. Seniors are much 
more dependent on health care. The cost of health care is going up. 
Seniors are dependent--at least in the Northeast where I live, in 
Vermont--on keeping their homes warm, and the cost of fuel has gone up. 
So I think if you take a hard look at the needs of seniors, the needs 
of people with disabilities, the needs of disabled veterans, you will 
find they have seen increased costs over the year. And if we say to 
those folks: There is no COLA for Social Security, and we are not doing 
anything for you, they are going to find themselves in substantially 
worse shape than they were last year.
  I did want to say that this amendment, as of now, is supported by 
Senators Dodd, Gillibrand, Leahy, and Whitehouse, and we look forward 
to more support. This concept is in the President's budget, and the 
President has been very clear about the need to go forward with a $250 
payment. This amendment we will be offering tomorrow is supported by 
the AARP, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the 
National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare, the 
Disabled Veterans of America, Older Women's League, and many other 
organizations.
  We will be offering an amendment which simply says we are not going 
to leave America's seniors out in the cold. We are not going to leave 
America's disabled veterans out in the cold. And while there is no COLA 
this year, we are at least going to do what we did last year and 
provide them with a $250 emergency payment. Not a whole lot of money in 
the great scheme of things, but, trust me, having just met with seniors 
on Monday, a lot of seniors in this country today are finding it very 
difficult to feed themselves and to take care of their basic needs. 
While this is not going to solve all of their problems by any means, it 
is going to help. So I would hope that tomorrow my colleagues will be 
supporting this amendment when we bring it forth.
  Madam President, with that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of Colorado). The clerk will call 
the roll.

[[Page S926]]

  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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