[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 REPEAL 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, if a senior citizen wishes to 
be a part of the work force, there is a lot to consider: The work 
environment, the hours, the wages. There are a lot of things for a 
working senior to look at. But one that should not have to occupy a 
senior citizen's mind is the potential impact that their new job could 
have on their Social Security benefits.
  Yet working seniors across the country have to do that because of the 
Social Security earnings limit. Because of the earnings limit, senior 
citizens between the ages of 65 and 70 who join the work force risk 
losing part or all of their Social Security benefits. This is simply 
not fair.
  Senior citizens have spent their entire lives earning these benefits 
and our government should not be punishing them simply because they 
choose to keep on working.
  Today, House Republicans bring up a bill that will repeal the 
earnings limit. Many senior groups, including the AARP, support this 
bill because they recognize that it is unfair to punish working 
seniors. I hope that my colleagues will agree.
  Let us repeal the Social Security earning limits and give our working 
seniors a break. They have earned it.

                          ____________________