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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY WATERS, V. BROWN, CALTAGIRONE, MURPHY, MAHONEY, BISHOP, D. COSTA, FABRIZIO, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, HORNAMAN, KAVULICH, KIRKLAND, KULA, SABATINA, READSHAW AND YOUNGBLOOD, FEBRUARY 10, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES, FEBRUARY 10, 2011 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Expressing the House of Representatives' support for the Social |
2 | Security system and urging the Congress of the United States |
3 | to reconsider raising Social Security payments to seniors and |
4 | the disabled, due to the rise in food and energy prices and |
5 | the cost of living. |
6 | WHEREAS, Economic security for American families is an |
7 | essential part of national security, and Social Security is the |
8 | foundation of America's retirement security program; and |
9 | WHEREAS, The Social Security system is a unifying force for |
10 | our nation at a time when national unity is a paramount value; |
11 | and |
12 | WHEREAS, Social Security protects virtually all American |
13 | families against the loss of earnings resulting from retirement, |
14 | disability or death; and |
15 | WHEREAS, Social Security is vital to the well-being of all |
16 | Americans because of the ability of the survivors and disability |
17 | benefits program to provide necessary resources for eligible |
18 | Americans regardless of age; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Two-thirds of older Americans rely on Social |
2 | Security for the majority of their income, and approximately |
3 | one-third of elderly individuals receive nearly all of their |
4 | income from Social Security; and |
5 | WHEREAS, For 75 years, through good times and bad, Social |
6 | Security has succeeded in protecting working persons and their |
7 | families from precipitous drops in household income because of |
8 | lost wages; and |
9 | WHEREAS, Social Security has kept millions of Americans out |
10 | of poverty, including senior citizens, widows and disabled and |
11 | dependent children whose parents have died, become disabled or |
12 | retired; and |
13 | WHEREAS, Social Security provides the only source of |
14 | retirement, disability and survivors benefits backed by the full |
15 | faith and credit of the United States and guaranteed against |
16 | erosion caused by inflation; and |
17 | WHEREAS, Social Security revenues and reserves are fully |
18 | adequate to pay all benefits due at least until 2039 and |
19 | adequate to pay 80% of benefits thereafter; and |
20 | WHEREAS, Social Security has not contributed to the Federal |
21 | budget deficit or national debt; and |
22 | WHEREAS, More than 53 million Americans receive Social |
23 | Security benefits, including approximately 36.5 million retirees |
24 | and their spouses, 8.2 million disabled persons and their |
25 | spouses, 4.5 million surviving spouses of deceased workers and |
26 | 4.3 million dependent children; and |
27 | WHEREAS, Seniors have put in a lifetime of hard work, helping |
28 | to make the economy grow and make this nation great, and they |
29 | deserve a dignified and secure retirement; and |
30 | WHEREAS, Nearly three out of ten of today's 20-year-olds will |
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1 | become disabled before he or she reaches age 67, according to |
2 | the Social Security Administration; and |
3 | WHEREAS, Seventy percent of workers in the private sector |
4 | have no long-term disability insurance; and |
5 | WHEREAS, The United States is experiencing the worst economic |
6 | downturn since the Great Depression; and |
7 | WHEREAS, The United States decennial census has reported that |
8 | 43.7 million Americans, or 14.3% of the population, currently |
9 | live below the poverty level, a number which is expected to |
10 | increase; and |
11 | WHEREAS, Forty-two million Americans rely on food stamps to |
12 | meet their nutritional needs, according to the United States |
13 | Department of Agriculture; and |
14 | WHEREAS, Current economic conditions, combined with the high |
15 | cost of housing, energy and food, have made it difficult for the |
16 | most vulnerable Americans to provide for basic necessities; and |
17 | WHEREAS, The Social Security Act provides for an automatic |
18 | increase in Social Security and SSI benefits if there is an |
19 | increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and |
20 | Clerical Workers from the third quarter of the last year when a |
21 | cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was determined to the third |
22 | quarter of the current year; and |
23 | WHEREAS, The Social Security Act prohibits a change in the |
24 | maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax as |
25 | well as the retirement earnings test exempt amounts if there is |
26 | no COLA; and |
27 | WHEREAS, The Social Security Administration announced in |
28 | October 2010 that Social Security recipients will not receive a |
29 | COLA in 2011 because there was no increase in the Consumer Price |
30 | Index from the third quarter of 2008, the last year a COLA was |
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1 | determined, to the third quarter of 2010, and therefore, under |
2 | existing law, there can be no COLA in 2011; therefore be it |
3 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the Congress |
4 | of the United States to employ all possible means, including |
5 | amending Federal law, to raise Social Security payments to |
6 | seniors and the disabled. |
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