IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 282

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Social Security promise should

be kept.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 6, 2001

Mr. SHAW submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred

to the committee on Ways and Means

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Social Security

promise should be kept.

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Keeping the Social Security Promise Initiative’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) Social Security provides essential income se9 curity through retirement, disability, and survivor

10 benefits for over 45 million Americans of all ages,
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1 without which nearly 50 percent of seniors would

2 live in poverty;

3 (2) Social Security is of particular importance

4 for low earners, especially widows and women caring

5 for children, without which nearly 53 percent of el6 derly women would live in poverty;

7 (3) each payday, American workers send their

8 hard-earned payroll taxes to Social Security and in

9 return are promised income protections for them10 selves and their families upon retirement, disability,

11 or death, and that commitment must be kept;

12 (4) Social Security payments to beneficiaries

13 will exceed worker contributions to the Social Secu14 rity trust funds beginning in 2016, as demographics,

15 including the aging baby boom generation and in16 creasing life expectancies, will result in fewer work17 ers per beneficiary and threaten Social Security’s es18 sential income safety net with financial instability

19 and insolvency;

20 (5) deferring action to save Social Security will

21 result in loss of public confidence in the program,

22 will increase the likelihood of spending cuts to other

23 essential programs, and will expose beneficiaries,

24 particularly those with low earnings, to poverty-
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1 threatening benefit cuts or reduce workers’ take2 home pay through burdensome payroll tax increases;

3 (6) workers’ ability to save and invest for their

4 own retirement will continue to be particularly im5 portant, especially for younger workers, to enhance

6 their own retirement security; and

7 (7) the President should be commended for rec8 ognizing that Social Security is not prepared to fully

9 fund the retirement of the baby boom and future

10 generations and for establishing the bipartisan

11 President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Secu12 rity, which will report its recommendations this fall.

13 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

14 It is the sense of the Congress that—

15 (1) the President’s Commission to Strengthen

16 Social Security, recognizing the immense financial

17 commitment of every American worker into the So18 cial Security system, should present in its rec19 ommendations innovative ways to protect that com20 mitment without lowering benefits or increasing

21 taxes; and

22 (2) the President and the Congress should join

23 to develop legislation to strengthen Social Security

24 as soon as possible, and such legislation should—
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1 (A) recognize the obstacles women face in

2 securing financial stability at retirement or in

3 cases of disability or death and the essential

4 role that the Social Security program plays in

5 providing income security for women;

6 (B) recognize the unique needs of minori7 ties and the critical role the Social Security pro8 gram plays in preventing poverty and providing

9 financial security for them and their families

10 when income is reduced or lost due to retire11 ment, disability, or death; and

12 (C) guarantee current law promised bene13 fits, including cost-of-living adjustments that

14 fully index for inflation, for current and future

15 retirees, without increasing taxes.

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