[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT AN UNEARNED HANDOUT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Madam Speaker, in my district, the average per 
capita income is $32,000 a year. That is six counties from Lincoln 
County, down the coast of Oregon, to Curry County and the California 
border.
  Over 160,000 seniors in my district rely on Social Security for 
retirement.
  My colleagues across the aisle are approaching Social Security as if 
it is an unearned handout, and that is beyond offensive. This is not 
what it was meant to do. This is not what it was meant to be. People 
have paid into this system for their whole lives. They should be able 
to get their contributions back. That is the promise of our Social 
Security program.
  Right now, we only tax income up to $160,000 a year to fund Social 
Security. Millionaires and billionaires who get their income from 
investments instead of earning a paycheck through hard work are not 
paying their fair share into Social Security at all, and we must change 
that system.
  By finally requiring that the wealthiest Americans pay into Social 
Security at the same rate as hardworking nurses and firefighters across 
this country, we can expand benefits and not cut them.
  My bill, the Social Security Expansion Act, which I introduced with 
Representative Jan Schakowsky and Senator Bernie Sanders, would allow 
us to increase the Social Security benefits for everyone by $200 a 
month and help account for the inflation that has impacted many seniors 
in my district and across this country.
  This bill would also extend the solvency of this critical program for 
the next 75 years.
  I am not in Congress to protect billionaires. I am here to make sure 
those people who have paid into this system for their whole lives, who 
have worked so hard, including our fishermen, electricians, and 
schoolteachers can retire with dignity. We can welcome a new generation 
of the workforce as they retire.
  It is our responsibility to make sure that Social Security can be 
successful into the future, and I am proud to have a bill that helps 
protect that.

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