[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1020
                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Ms. TSONGAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in recognizing 
the 75th anniversary of Social Security. Social Security has provided 
basic economic security for generations of Americans.
  A woman from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, a city that I represent, 
recently wrote me to say, ``I am retired and dependent on Social 
Security to survive. Please protect the benefits I've worked so hard 
for for many years.''
  Over the years, Democrats have fought to improve and strengthen 
Social Security. As a result, the Social Security Trust Fund has 
reserves of $2.6 trillion, which will continue to earn interest and pay 
benefits until 2037.
  But imagine if Social Security benefits had been invested in the 
stock market during the recent Wall Street crisis. Seniors would have 
lost billions of dollars in Social Security income, along with any 
retirement savings they had when the economy collapsed.
  Despite what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would 
argue, subjecting Social Security to the whims of Wall Street is not 
the answer. We must be committed to strengthening Social Security so 
that our contract with American workers endures for generations.

                          ____________________