[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





   SENATE RESOLUTION 819--AFFIRMING THE COMMITMENT OF THE SENATE TO 
PROTECT AND EXPAND THE SOCIAL SECURITY AND SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME 
                                PROGRAMS

  Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Casey, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. 
Murray, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. 
Warren, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
Booker, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
Sanders, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, Mr. Schatz, Ms. 
Hassan, Mr. Kelly, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Heinrich, 
Mr. Lujan, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Rosen, Mr. 
Peters, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

                              S. Res. 819

       Whereas Social Security has served as a cornerstone of 
     economic security for millions of individuals in the United 
     States since the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) 
     was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 
     1935, when he declared, ``It is, in short, a law that will 
     take care of human needs and at the same time provide the 
     United States an economic structure of vastly greater 
     soundness'';
       Whereas the Social Security system of the United States 
     ensures basic retirement security and financial stability, 
     provides disability insurance that helps keep disabled 
     workers and their families afloat in case of work-limiting 
     disability, and ensures continued support of survivors;
       Whereas, with the establishment of the Supplemental 
     Security Income program, signed into law by President Richard 
     M. Nixon in 1972, Congress built upon the bedrock protections 
     included in the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), 
     assuring ``that elderly, blind, and disabled people would no 
     longer subsist on below-poverty incomes'' and disabled and 
     older workers, whose health prevents them from attaining the 
     work history needed for protection under Social Security, are 
     able to maintain basic dignity;
       Whereas Social Security is an earned benefit that workers 
     in the United States pay into with each paycheck, providing a 
     guaranteed level of financial stability in retirement that 
     cannot be assured with private pensions or personal assets 
     alone;
       Whereas proposals to fundamentally weaken the funding or 
     guaranteed benefits of Social Security include--
       (1) shifting Social Security to a discretionary program;
       (2) raising the retirement age;
       (3) privatizing the Trust Funds; and
       (4) eventually ending the Social Security program 
     altogether;

       Whereas data from the Bureau of the Census indicates that--
       (1) without Social Security benefits more than 20,000,000 
     more individuals in the United States would live in poverty; 
     and
       (2) approximately 1 in 4 individuals aged 65 and older in 
     the United States have little to no income aside from Social 
     Security; and

       Whereas more than 70,000,000 seniors, people with 
     disabilities, their dependents, and the dependents of 
     deceased workers rely on Social Security and Supplemental 
     Security Income to meet basic needs and live in dignity: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate, in recognition of the long 
     history of the Social Security system of the United States 
     assuring basic financial security for millions of workers and 
     families--
       (1) celebrates the economic stability Social Security has 
     provided for generations of families in the United States;
       (2) affirms that Social Security is a solemn promise to the 
     people of the United States that should be upheld for 
     generations to come; and
       (3) believes Social Security and Supplemental Security 
     Income should continue to be mandatory spending, so as not to 
     jeopardize the certainty and the financial security that the 
     people of the United States have come to expect.

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