[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H584-H585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, Social Security coverage is an earned 
benefit. In January, Social Security beneficiaries began to see an 8.7 
percent cost-of-living increase, the largest since 1981. This COLA 
covers retirees as well as workers who become disabled and surviving 
children under age 18 whose working parents died.
  For nearly a century, America has honored the sacred insurance 
promise intergenerationally. Those who work throughout their lives will 
benefit from the fruits of their labor.
  Yes, this historic cost-of-living adjustment will help Americans 
manage their cost of living to pay bills and put food on the table. In 
addition, millions of Medicare users will now only pay $35 per month 
for insulin. This cost savings will benefit hundreds of thousands of 
Ohioans.
  The Social Security COLA along with affordable insulin are being 
championed by congressional Democrats. We know the foundation of 
financial stability for over 66 million retired Americans is their 
earned social insurance benefits. Respecting their lives and their 
work, Democrats will always honor Social Security and vote to protect 
it and to strengthen Medicare.


                     Fund New Great Lakes Authority

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to also call upon President 
Biden to fund the new Great Lakes Authority in the administration's 
fiscal year 2024 budget request.
  With support from our Great Lakes colleagues, the Great Lakes 
Authority was authorized in the fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations 
bill and signed into law on January 2, 2023.
  Across America, regional development instrumentalities like this have 
existed for decades. Until now, the Great Lakes region was the one 
major region left out of our Nation's toolkit for regional cooperation, 
reinvestment, and revitalization.
  Launched initially with Federal resources to drive economic and 
environmental recovery, this authority now exists and aims to become 
self-sufficient sooner rather than later. This new year brings new 
opportunities for public-private partnerships across our Great Lakes 
region for investment and revitalization.
  The Great Lakes Authority will harness the region's strengths, which 
include stewardship of the largest body of freshwater on the continent 
and on

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Earth. Our region is home to America's industrial and agricultural 
strength. We have hardworking men and women who manufacture the 
majority of automobiles and trucks this Nation manufactures, as well 
as, of course, farmers in our agricultural heartland who feed us all. 
We have these massive production assets in this region.
  Finally, the wealth of the region has allowed for an array of 
educational and corporate institutions, as well, which now can be 
mobilized together to reboot and repurpose the region's recovery from 
massive job outsourcing and, frankly, outright neglect that has damaged 
its potential for far too long.
  Investing to strengthen the Great Lakes heartland will usher in a new 
era for our communities. It is time to fund the Great Lakes Authority 
to be the key economic development engine that becomes self-supporting 
through public-private partnerships that make a lasting impact.
  Onward Great Lakes Authority.
  There is no time like the present to launch a stronger and more 
hopeful future for every community across our precious region.

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