[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES FROM COLA CUTS

  Mr. SPECTER. I ask unanimous consent that the Daschle amendment 
numbered 834 be modified to be placed in the form of a Senate 
resolution; that the resolution, be adopted the preamble be adopted, 
with a motion to reconsider being laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, this resolution provides that Social 
Security cost-of-living adjustments shall be maintained.
  I thank the Chair. I thank my colleagues. I thank the Democratic 
leader.
  The resolution (S. Res. 155) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 155

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds that:
       (1) Social Security provides a relatively modest insurance 
     benefit for seniors--many of whom rely on Social Security for 
     part or all of their monthly income. Without Social Security, 
     forty-eight percent of beneficiaries would be in poverty 
     today.
       (2) In order to protect benefit levels against inflation, 
     Social Security beneficiaries receive an annual cost-of-
     living adjustment (COLA) based on Consumer Price Index for 
     Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
       (3) The January 2003 COLA provided only a 1.4 percent 
     increase in Social Security benefits, increasing the average 
     monthly benefit for all retired workers by only $13 (from 
     $882 to 895).
       (4) Annual growth in Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket 
     health care costs for retired individuals on fixed incomes 
     far exceeded the small COLA increases provided to Social 
     Security beneficiaries.
       (5) Reducing COLAs will disproportionately harm low-income 
     Social Security beneficiaries and push millions of seniors 
     into poverty.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that Social Security cost-of-living adjustments should not be 
     reduced.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.

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