[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13389-13390]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    MAINTAINING CURRENT RETIREMENT AGE FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, during the first decade of this century, 
the Bush economy destroyed the middle class. Today, we are at a point 
where 72 percent of Social Security retirees have elected early 
retirement at age 62 because they had no other financial choice.
  But despite the fact that they have voted with their feet in 
unprecedented numbers, what is Mr. Boehner's proposal for Social 
Security, which he told

[[Page 13390]]

the Pittsburgh Gazette a couple of weeks ago? He wants to raise the 
retirement age to age 70. If there is a more out-of-touch statement 
about what the middle class of this country is going through and what 
an out-of-touch proposal, to basically totally knock the stuffing out 
of the retirement security, Mr. Boehner's proposal to raise the Social 
Security retirement age to 70, to means test benefits would decimate 
what's left of the American middle class.
  We cannot let that happen. Democrats will protect this program, which 
is celebrating its 75th anniversary this August, by maintaining the 
retirement age which exists today, a program which is solvent until 
2037 and with moderate, balanced changes can protect its solvency for 
future years and generations.

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