[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17324-17325]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 664--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE IN OPPOSITION 
 TO PRIVATIZING SOCIAL SECURITY, RAISING THE RETIREMENT AGE, OR OTHER 
   SIMILAR CUTS TO BENEFITS UNDER TITLE II OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

  Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. 
Harkin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
Akaka, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Lautenberg) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

                              S. Res. 664

       Whereas Social Security is America's most successful and 
     reliable retirement program and continues to serve Americans 
     well;
       Whereas Social Security is not in crisis or going bankrupt 
     and has been running surpluses for the last quarter-century;
       Whereas Social Security, which currently has a 
     $2,600,000,000,000 surplus, has not contributed a dime to the 
     Federal budget deficit or national debt, and benefit cuts 
     should not be proposed as a solution to reducing the Federal 
     deficit;
       Whereas for 75 years, through good times and bad, Social 
     Security has succeeded in protecting working persons and 
     their families from precipitous drops in household income 
     because of lost wages;
       Whereas Social Security has kept millions of Americans out 
     of poverty, including senior citizens, widows, and disabled 
     and dependent children whose parents have died, become 
     disabled, or retired;
       Whereas before President Franklin Roosevelt signed the 
     Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, 
     approximately half of the senior citizens in America lived in 
     poverty, while less than 10 percent of seniors presently live 
     in poverty;
       Whereas more than 53,000,000 Americans receive Social 
     Security benefits, including 36,500,000 retirees and their 
     spouses, 8,200,000 disabled persons and their spouses, 
     4,500,000 surviving spouses of deceased workers, and 
     4,300,000 dependent children;
       Whereas according to the Congressional Budget Office, even 
     if no changes are made to the Social Security program, full 
     benefits will still be available to every recipient until 
     2039, with enough funding remaining after that date to pay 
     about 80 percent of promised benefits;
       Whereas seniors have put in a lifetime of hard work, 
     helping to make our economy grow and make our Nation great, 
     and they deserve a dignified and secure retirement;
       Whereas Social Security provides the majority of income for 
     two-thirds of the elderly population in the United States, 
     with approximately one-third of elderly individuals receiving 
     nearly all of their income from Social Security;
       Whereas proposals to privatize Social Security would 
     jeopardize the retirement security of millions of Americans 
     by relying on the ups-and-downs of the volatile stock market 
     to provide benefits;
       Whereas Social Security benefits have already been cut by 
     13 percent, as the Normal Retirement Age was raised in 1983 
     from 65 years of age to 67 years of age by 2022;
       Whereas the physical demands of a job differ from industry 
     to industry and, on average, the longevity of the lives of 
     individuals differ significantly according to their level of 
     income, education, and access to health care;
       Whereas 45 percent of workers who are 58 years of age or 
     older are in jobs that are physically demanding or have 
     difficult working conditions;
       Whereas raising the retirement age is especially burdensome 
     to African-American, Latino, and older low-income workers;
       Whereas according to data from the Bureau of Labor 
     Statistics, in April 2010, the job market for Americans 55 
     years of age and older was one of the worst on record;
       Whereas Social Security benefits for retirees currently 
     average a modest $14,000 a

[[Page 17325]]

     year, with the average for women receiving benefits being 
     less than $12,000 per year; and
       Whereas according to the Social Security Administration, 
     raising the retirement age for future retirees would reduce 
     benefits by 6 percent to 7 percent for each year that the 
     Normal Retirement Age is raised under Social Security: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate to reaffirm 
     our commitment to the Social Security program, one of the 
     greatest legislative accomplishments in the history of our 
     Nation, without privatizing Social Security, raising the 
     Normal Retirement Age, or other similar cuts to benefits 
     under title II of the Social Security Act.

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