S.Res. 819 — Introduced in Senate

III 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 819 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 29, 2022Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Casey, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Markey, Mr. Booker, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Kelly, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Luján, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Peters, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance RESOLUTION Affirming the commitment of the Senate to protect and expand the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs. Whereas Social Security has served as a cornerstone of economic security for millions of individuals in the United States since the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935, when he declared, It is, in short, a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness; Whereas the Social Security system of the United States ensures basic retirement security and financial stability, provides disability insurance that helps keep disabled workers and their families afloat in case of work-limiting disability, and ensures continued support of survivors; Whereas, with the establishment of the Supplemental Security Income program, signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972, Congress built upon the bedrock protections included in the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), assuring that elderly, blind, and disabled people would no longer subsist on below-poverty incomes and disabled and older workers, whose health prevents them from attaining the work history needed for protection under Social Security, are able to maintain basic dignity; Whereas Social Security is an earned benefit that workers in the United States pay into with each paycheck, providing a guaranteed level of financial stability in retirement that cannot be assured with private pensions or personal assets alone; Whereas proposals to fundamentally weaken the funding or guaranteed benefits of Social Security include— (1) shifting Social Security to a discretionary program; (2) raising the retirement age; (3) privatizing the Trust Funds; and (4) eventually ending the Social Security program altogether; Whereas data from the Bureau of the Census indicates that— (1) without Social Security benefits more than 20,000,000 more individuals in the United States would live in poverty; and (2) approximately 1 in 4 individuals aged 65 and older in the United States have little to no income aside from Social Security; and Whereas more than 70,000,000 seniors, people with disabilities, their dependents, and the dependents of deceased workers rely on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income to meet basic needs and live in dignity: Now, therefore, be it That the Senate, in recognition of the long history of the Social Security system of the United States assuring basic financial security for millions of workers and families— (1) celebrates the economic stability Social Security has provided for generations of families in the United States; (2) affirms that Social Security is a solemn promise to the people of the United States that should be upheld for generations to come; and (3) believes Social Security and Supplemental Security Income should continue to be mandatory spending, so as not to jeopardize the certainty and the financial security that the people of the United States have come to expect.