[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       SENIORS DESERVE RELIEF FROM SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS LIMIT

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that all work 
is noble. As much as I believe that, it is a shame that our government 
does not, because even though we might think all work is noble, our 
government, unfortunately, views work performed by senior citizens as 
apparently something less than noble. How else can one explain the 
Social Security earning limit, which actually penalizes senior citizens 
who have jobs?
  Our seniors have worked hard their whole lives and have paid a lot of 
money into the Social Security system. They do so with the expectation 
that they will receive Social Security benefits when they turn 65. But 
the truth of the matter is that millions of seniors who choose to work 
after the age of 65 are stripped of their Social Security benefits. 
This is wrong.
  The time has come to stand up for working seniors, just as we stood 
up for married couples last week. Because just as it is wrong for the 
government to penalize people for getting married, it is wrong for the 
government to penalize senior citizens for working. Let us give seniors 
relief from the Social Security earnings limit.

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