[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1282]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS LIMIT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, Benjamin Franklin once said that when 
people ``are employed, they are best contented.'' Unfortunately, our 
Government right now is denying contentment to millions of seniors who 
want to work but cannot because of the Social Security earnings limit.
  Because of this earnings limit, seniors who work are being stripped 
of their Social Security benefits, the very Social Security benefits 
that they have spent their adult life earning and paying for with their 
own money. They are being penalized $2 for every $1 they earn if they 
choose to keep working. This is nonsense. It is wrong. And it must end.
  Fortunately, the Republicans here in the House are supporting a plan 
that would give relief to the millions of seniors who are burdened by 
the earnings limit. We understand that senior citizens who choose to 
work should not have to put their Social Security benefits at risk.
  Senior citizens can and do make lasting contributions in the 
workforce, and they should not be denied that right. The time has come 
to put an end to the Social Security earnings limit and tell our 
working citizens that we do not think they should be punished for 
having a job.

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