[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 148 (Friday, August 20, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING 86TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 1935

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                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 20, 2021

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 86th 
anniversary of the passage of the landmark Social Security Act of 1935, 
the most famous of the New Deal measures and perhaps the most 
beneficial and consequential government program in American history.
  On August 14, 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into 
law the Social Security Act of 1935 and made good on the Democratic 
Party's commitment to provide income security to Americans in their old 
age.
  Social Security has transformed what it means to grow old in this 
country.
  For 86 years, Social Security has represented a bedrock promise to 
the American people: that a lifetime of work will be rewarded with the 
peace of mind, certainty, and sense of security of a stable retirement.
  As we celebrate the 86th anniversary of the Social Security Act of 
1935, we should reflect also on the real-life transformative impact 
America's most successful program continues to have on millions of 
Americans each year.
  Social Security has been a stable and secure source of income for 
millions of seniors and families, many of whom desperately need it, 
over these last more than seven decades.
  In the 18th Congressional District of Texas, Social Security is the 
primary economic lifeline for more than 91,000 seniors and disabled 
persons. Social Security's economic impact also goes well beyond the 
seniors and families receiving benefits.
  It also benefits state economies and local businesses all across the 
country.
  In the 18th Congressional District of Texas, Social Security 
recipients inject more than $97 million into the local economy 
annually; nationwide, this figure is $775 billion.
  When more than 58 million Americans use the purchasing power of those 
benefits, they are supporting businesses with dollars they would not 
have without Social Security.
  Madam Speaker, far too often overlooked is the seismic impact that 
Social Security has had in shaping our national economy and the 
structure of life chances for hundreds of millions of Americans through 
the years.
  Before Social Security, children were wholly responsible for the care 
and support of aging parents, which meant they were tethered to the 
towns, villages, communities, and rural areas where they grew up and 
their parents resided.
  Madam Speaker, before passage of the Social Security Act, it was very 
rare for children to leave their hometown to attend college in a city 
far away and after graduating move to another place far away to start a 
career, take a job, or begin a business.
  The Social Security Act of 1935 changed that, not only by providing 
financial support to aging parents but by providing their children the 
opportunity to chase their dreams, realize their full potential, and 
use their skills and talents to make America better by providing the 
peace of mind that their beloved parents would not be financially 
destitute in their golden years.
  Those children would go on to invent new industries creating millions 
of good jobs, discover life-saving vaccines, design and build systems 
that won the Cold War and put a man on the Moon and brought him back to 
Earth, and vastly broadened the frontiers of knowledge.
  This is also the legacy of Social Security, the visionary social 
program of FDR's New Deal that helped make America the world's leading 
superpower.
  It is shameful that there are congressional Republicans who continue 
to promote various plans to privatize or partially privatize Social 
Security--plans that would rob seniors of the economic security they 
count on.
  Over the last 86 years, House Democrats have protected and 
strengthened Social Security; and now and in the future, House 
Democrats will always act to preserve Social Security and safeguard the 
rights of our nation's seniors and will extend similar protection to 
America's children by making permanent the Child Tax Credit, what in 
future years will come to be known as ``Social Security for Children.''
  And as we look to the future, we can celebrate that what was put in 
place in 1935 with the Social Security Act of 1935 has given us the 
foundation for a secure and prosperous future for all Americans.

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