Enhancing Social Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening with my colleagues to have a discussion about the Nation's number one antipoverty program for the elderly and the Nation's number one antipoverty program for children. More veterans rely on Social Security disability than they do on the VA.

Mr. Speaker, we want to make sure that we are addressing this to our colleagues. Since you are in the chair from Minnesota, Mr. Speaker, I want you to know that you have more than 189,000 Social Security recipients in your district; more than 147,000 retirees; more than 20,000 disabled; 8,000 widows; 9,000 children.

Here is the key, Mr. Speaker, $335 million a month comes into your district for those Social Security recipients. Where do they spend it? Right back in their district.

Yet, it has been more than 53 years since Congress has enhanced Social Security. Richard Nixon was President of the United States the last time Social Security was enhanced.

Democrats are bound and determined to make sure that we get something simple like a vote here in Congress to help out all of those people in your district, Mr. Speaker, as well as highlight why this is so important.

Seventy million Americans rely on Social Security. Ten thousand baby boomers a day become eligible for Social Security. Forty thousand Americans rely on Social Security in and of itself as their primary tenet for retirement.

It is the Nation's number one antipoverty program for the elderly and for children. That is why our colleagues have taken to the floor today, so that the American people understand that what is between them and enhancement to this program is a vote. It is a vote on Social Security 2100, that will extend the solvency of Social Security, but, as importantly, expand benefits, including making sure that the more than 23 million people that pay taxes on Social Security no longer have to do that.

What could be a better bipartisan plan than helping out every single individual in everyone's district and also providing for 23 million Americans, not the wealthiest Americans but the everyday citizens who work weeklong to provide for their families and pay into a system and haven't received an enhancement in 53 years.

That is why Joe Neguse is here as part of leadership that has strongly endorsed this.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado, our esteemed leader, for his contribution. I would point out as well that the repeal of WEP and GPO, which directly impacts police officers and firefighters, is contained within our proposal. It needs a vote.

Social Security has no impact on the debt or deficit and, as President Biden has proposed, is fully paid for by--most Americans don't even realize this--lifting the cap on people making over $400,000. Doing so allows us to enhance the program for the first time in 20-plus years and also makes sure that we extend the solvency of the program.

Someone who knows that extraordinarily well is the gentleman from New Jersey, who also serves on the Social Security Subcommittee.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I want to point out to Speaker Johnson that he has 158,000 Social Security recipients in his district, and in Louisiana, they receive $233 million in monthly benefits. Think about what that does for economic development for those people. Where do they spend that money?

Linda Sanchez knows this. Linda Sanchez, who also serves on the Ways and Means Committee and on the subcommittee, understands how vitally important this is and also that more than 5 million of our Americans receive below-poverty-level checks from Social Security after having paid into the system all of their lives. The majority of them happen to be women, and the majority of them are women of color.

Sanchez).

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for again highlighting what we are asking for: a vote. Imagine the United States Congress actually voting.

Here is the deal: If you have a better idea, please bring it to the floor. Let's vote on it. Don't we all agree that this is something that all Americans need?

Republicans in their hearts know that the American people desperately need this. I know Representative Jodey Arrington understands this on the Budget Committee. More than 50 years since we have enhanced a program for the people of this country is outrageous.

You can embrace tax cuts for billionaires as though they needed them, and yet, a tax cut for a person working, who still finds themselves working after they retire, is double taxed on their Social Security.

There should be outrage on this floor and demanding a vote. God only knows that if you have got a better idea or a better program, please put it forward. Let's do the democratic thing, and vote on it.

The gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo) campaigned on this throughout his effort to be successfully elected to the United States Congress.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for his comments, and I wanted to say this, as well, that this is a bill that was constructed by more than 350 different groups across this great country and by Members of this body who put together their ideas.

The Ways and Means Committee merely took the great ideas of our colleagues and put them together--ideas that have been endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Social Security Works, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the California Alliance for Retired Americans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Strengthen Social Security Coalition, the NAACP, and the list goes on.

The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel) understands this, and Florida probably leads the country in terms of the number of seniors that it has in their districts. As we pointed out before to the Speaker, every district receives money--$364 million a month, but it has been that way for more than 50-plus years. These programs need to be enhanced and extended, not cut.

The provision by the Republican Study Committee, if there is nothing done by 2034, Social Security is cut by 20 percent. Instead, they are calling to raise the age now and cut Social Security by 21 percent today. How does that possibly make any sense?

Lois Frankel) who understands this.

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Larson for his leadership on this issue, and I thank Mr. Neguse for getting us here.

I think I have joined Mr. Larson on this discussion for about 10 years or more now.

I want to tell you about one of my constituents. Her name is Janet Zweiback. She is in her eighties. She lives in Delray Beach, Florida. She is retired. She lost her dad at a very early age, and so, she watched her mom struggle with their own family bills. To help the family, Janet began working at the age of 17. Now, I have to get my math right. She has been working 50 years, so I guess that makes her--I don't know, someone add that up for me.

Here is the point: Let me tell you some of the things that she has done over these years. She was a nurse working in a hospital, working countless hours taking care of patients. She moved to Florida, and she became a director of a skilled nursing facility. Then she worked with Alzheimer's patients at Alzheimer's Community Care, probably one of the most difficult assignments a healthcare provider could have. She also managed one of the crisis center hotlines.

She retired about 8 years ago and now is one of the 66 million Americans, almost 200,000 seniors in my district--or as I like to say, seasoned adults; we are seasoned adults in my home district of Palm Beach County--relying on Social Security to meet their needs.

Mr. Speaker, I liked the point Mr. Larson made that not only does Social Security meet the needs of so many of these seniors, but our seniors are great economic generators. I know where I live, if not for the seniors' economic activity, we would be in pretty bad shape.

Janet told me that she fears that without Social Security she would have to turn to her children somewhat like her mother turned to her when she was young.

Here it is. She has worked her whole life paying into Social Security to get benefits. She and millions of other Americans, nurses, schoolteachers, janitors, construction workers, they worked under the sacred promise that when they turned 65, they would be able to retire with comfort and dignity.

Now House Republicans want to break that promise.

Their recently proposed budget slashes Social Security benefits, raises the retirement age, raises Medicare costs, all while promising another giant tax break for their wealthy friends and large corporations. I will say this, and I hope we all agree, that no one who works their entire life should retire into poverty.

Social Security is an earned benefit that Americans have already paid for with each and every one of their paychecks, and President Biden and House Democrats and Senators are committed to defending it from Republican cuts and securing it with meaningful legislation that requires our wealthiest citizens to pay their fair share.

I am proud to stand here with my colleagues standing up for Social Security, keeping it secure, and honoring our most seasoned citizens.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for her comments, and I reiterate that all we are asking for is a vote.

For those citizens tuned in to C-SPAN and listening tonight, if you are saying, What do you mean? Why is it that you can't get a vote on this in the United States Congress? Good question. Call your Representative and ask them why they aren't voting to improve a program that hasn't been enhanced in more than 50 years.

We hear from the other side all the time about what we need to do in terms of cuts. Imagine, this is what they would like to cut. If they have got a better idea, they should bring it to the floor. The way a democracy works is it is a debate about ideas, and then there is actually a vote that is cast.

The gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury) understands this and understands how important the money coming into her district is monthly, as well.

She understands how vitally important Social Security is to our economy, and not just to our retirees, but to our disabled and to their spouses and to children. The genius of Franklin Delano Roosevelt is what keeps entrepreneurialism and capitalism alive and allows people to take risks is because they know that there is a safety net there for its people.

Stansbury).

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico for her eloquence.

There is no one more eloquent or well-versed on this subject than the deaness of the House of Representatives. She is someone who has lived and breathed this issue and has stood up when the other side has referred to Social Security as an entitlement. It is not an entitlement. It is an earned benefit that people have paid for.

Mr. Speaker, the only thing they have to do is look at their pay stub, because on it, it says FICA. That stands for Federal insurance. It is not an entitlement. It is a Federal Insurance Contributions.

Whose?

The people of the United States of America who have paid into this program and that Congress has not enhanced.

This debate is not only about protecting Social Security, it is about expanding benefits that haven't been expanded in more than 50 years.

I commend President Biden for having the courage and the temerity on this floor in the State of the Union message to speak directly to the American people and even those colleagues on the other side who try to decry the efforts of Social Security and the President's plan to make sure that it is solvent by lifting the cap--imagine that, Mr. Speaker-- on people making over $400,000.

Marcy Kaptur understands this thoroughly when she talks to people in Ohio who are infuriated and who say: Well, wait a minute, you are telling me that a person making $50,000, $75,000, and $100,000 pays throughout the year, but somebody making over $400,000 is done paying in January?

Or as Ms. Sanchez said, a baseball player after their first at bat?

Nobody has fought harder for working people than the gentlewoman from Ohio.

Kaptur).

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio. She mentioned Mr. Cartwright who I think epitomizes the concern that exists in this body, in the Congress, for people who go back home every week and meet with their constituents.

The constituents of Pennsylvania are fortunate that they have someone who understands their needs and understands the neglect that Congress has shown in not addressing the number one anti-poverty program for elderly and for children in this country.

As difficult as times are now, we need to make sure that minimally we have a vote. I do not understand the reluctance on the other side to bring forward legislation and actually vote on it. If you have got a better idea, Mr. Speaker, or even if you object to the plan, please tell us what it is that you object to, and what it is about Social Security and making sure that nobody works all their lives and pays into a system and then retires into poverty.

Matt Cartwright understands that. He understands his district in Pennsylvania and the importance of getting this legislation done.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Yes, it is.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Not only is it true, but I think what the general public needs to understand, and as you point out, Mr. Cartwright, the saying goes like this: Well, people are living longer, so, therefore, because they are living longer, what we ought to do is raise the age.

What the study committee doesn't tell you is that for every year you raise the age, that is a 7 percent cut in benefits. Oh, so if you raise the age to 70, that is a 21 percent cut in your benefits going forward.

How is it, from just mere logic, that if you are living longer you need to live on 21 percent less?

The American people understand this, and that is why they are so upset, but that is why, Mr. Cartwright, we need a vote.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. That is correct.

I guess the sad thing is that this needs a vote. It needs a debate. Philosophically, if you believe--and God bless, some on the other side do believe this is some form of socialism and that everybody ought to be able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and be able to make do for themselves, that you don't need the government to do anything for you even when you have paid in all of your life to a program that has been the greatest American program to sustain our elderly and children.

If you disagree with that, that is terrific, but let's then take that to the American people. Where do you do that? On the floor of the House of Representatives, where you actually will debate the issue and put forward your proposals versus ours.

Isn't that the way democracy is supposed to work, Mr. Cartwright?

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, my good friend Jodey Arrington--and I sincerely mean that when I say that. A lot of times on this floor, we say ``good friend,'' but I appreciate the effort that he puts into his work.

I bring these cards here this evening just to point out to our colleagues what it is. We made one for every Member of Congress. This is just a direct plea: Understand what is going on in your district because of Social Security.

Citizens have every right to ask why Congress hasn't done anything to enhance this program, Democrats and Republicans, in more than 50 years, especially when we know how vital this program is to our own system of capitalism and entrepreneurialism and what it means to every single one of our communities.

There is not a better economic development program that Texas will receive than the individuals in everyone's district receiving their Social Security checks. They are not going out and buying stock options. They are buying groceries. They are going to the pharmacy. They are going to the dry cleaners. They are paying their rent and mortgages. They are meeting the concerns in their communities. In doing so, those communities can thrive. It is long overdue--more than 50 years.

All we are asking for is a vote. If you have a better idea, in a democracy, the way I was brought up, you put it out there, and then, lo and behold, we actually have a vote--a vote that requires a debate and a discussion and then Congress demonstrating what it believes in by actually casting a vote.

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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