[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14825]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise to defend Social Security. We've 
heard Social Security derided by certain extreme politicians lately 
claiming it can't survive, that it's unsustainable and that the 
beneficiaries who earned their retirement benefits need to face the 
hard truths. Well, here are some really hard truths about Social 
Security:
  The average retirement benefit is merely $14,000 a year;
  The median income of senior households is only $25,000 a year;
  One in three seniors depend on Social Security for 90 percent or more 
of their income.
  The fact is that Social Security is a critical program for seniors 
across our country. It is a lifeline to half of all seniors who make 
under $25,000 a year.
  This is a chart that shows the various income levels. Half of the 
people of our country who are seniors receive less than $25,000 a year 
on the program. It is even more important to the 25 percent of seniors 
who earn less than $15,000 a year. And for the nearly 4 million seniors 
who earn less than $10,000 a year, it is the difference between 
scraping by or having nothing at all. According to the Center for 
Budget and Policy Priorities, Social Security keeps 20 million 
Americans out of poverty.
  It is especially important for women. Women over the age of 80 are 
most likely to be living at or below the poverty level. Nearly a 
quarter of women in that age group are officially destitute. Pay 
attention to them. When you're at the supermarket and you see them 
looking at cases and they can't buy anything, give them $5. Social 
Security benefits millions of older women and helps keep them out of 
poverty.
  What many people seem--or choose--to forget is that Social Security 
is an insurance program for retirement, for disability, and for 
survivorship. It is not designed to give you higher returns or beat the 
Standard & Poor's 500 or bolster your stock portfolio. It is not 
welfare. Social Security is an earned insurance benefit designed to 
give retirees, the disabled, and survivors stable, guaranteed benefits 
each month for the rest of their lives. It is financed by the taxes 
retirees paid into the system during their working years matched by 
their employer.
  Born out of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt ensured the 
program would be financed by payroll deductions, matched by employers, 
so Americans would understand this insurance program is an earned 
benefit. This arrangement would guarantee, as he put it, that: no 
politician can ever scrap that Social Security program.
  This is exactly why putting people back to work and creating jobs is 
the best long-term financing solution to ensure Social Security's long-
term solvency. There are 14 million Americans out of work, and getting 
the unemployed back to work is the fastest way to inject billions of 
dollars back into the Social Security trust funds, stabilizing the 
program for generations to come.
  With all of the misleading Republican rhetoric about Social Security 
being broken and a so-called ``lie,'' they claim, some have forgotten 
that the other side has always been opposed to the program.
  In 1935, the Social Security Act made its way through the Ways and 
Means Committee but received not a single Republican vote on the 
committee. The ranking Republican said at that time that he would 
``vote most strenuously in opposition to the bill at each and every 
opportunity.'' Republicans have opposed the program every step of the 
way.
  In 1984, former Representative Dick Armey, now a Tea Party godfather, 
described Social Security as a ``bad retirement'' plan and a ``rotten 
trick'' on the American people. He said, ``I think we're going to have 
to bite the bullet on Social Security and phase it out over a period of 
time.''
  And then in 1987, former Representative Newt Gingrich said, ``While 
many politicians are still afraid to mention abolishing Social 
Security,'' he said, ``I am convinced this generation is ready for 
honest talk and real leadership.''
  These are not retired politicians speaking. One is a leader in the 
Tea Party, and the other is a candidate for the Republican nomination 
for President.
  Even today in our House, we have Members who still are beating the 
tired, failed horse that Social Security is unconstitutional.

                              {time}  1050

  But the numbers are clear. Half of all seniors live near or below the 
poverty line, and one in three seniors depends on Social Security for 
more than 90 percent of their income. What happens to these Americans 
if we start violating the program they depend on, frankly, for their 
lives?
  Let me close with some comments from Americans in Ohio about Social 
Security. A woman from Toledo wrote: ``My retiree insurance was 
canceled last year. I had to get a plan to pay for my medicine. Even 
though I have part D, I still have to pay for my prescriptions because 
I'm in the doughnut hole. It costs me more than $700 a month. That's 
half my Social Security check.'' Her story is the story of millions of 
Americans across this country.
  I urge my colleagues to stand with me to protect Social Security and 
its guaranteed secured benefits for all retired Americans. Our seniors 
have earned these benefits.

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