III 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 246 

Commemorating 80 years since the creation of Social Security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. REID, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. NELSON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. BROWN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WARNER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. COONS, Mr. DONNELLY, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. UDALL, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating 80 years since the creation of Social 

Security. 

Whereas, on August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, thereby establishing a vital—and ultimately universal—insurance 

program for workers and families under which workers 

earn coverage by working and paying Social Security 

taxes on their earnings; 

Whereas Congress further strengthened Social Security over 

the years by enacting improvements to, and expansion of, 


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•SRES 246 IS 

retirement, survivors, and disability benefits for workers 

and their families, and now Social Security provides economic security to the Nation, and touches the life of 

nearly every American; 

Whereas Social Security is one program that offers two essential earned benefits that are fundamentally linked: 

benefits for workers with disabilities and benefits for retired workers; 

Whereas in 2014, more than 48,000,000 retirement and survivors beneficiaries and about 11,000,000 disability beneficiaries, including eligible family members, received Social Security benefits; 

Whereas Social Security benefits are modest but fundamental 

to the economic security of our Nation, with the average 

disability benefit less than $1,200 per month, or less 

than $14,000 per year—falling just above the poverty 

line—and the average retirement benefit of close to 

$1,300 per month, or less than $16,000 per year; 

Whereas older Americans rely heavily on Social Security, with 

9 out of 10 individuals age 65 and older receiving Social 

Security benefits, and among elderly Social Security 

beneficiaries, 52 percent of married couples and 74 percent of unmarried persons receive more than half of their 

income from Social Security; 

Whereas the Social Security Administration will issue almost 

$900,000,000,000 in earned benefits this year, while 

more than 1,200 Social Security field offices nationwide 

provide essential, accurate, and face-to-face services to 

millions of Americans each day; 

Whereas workers who are supported by disability benefits 

today will receive retirement benefits at full retirement 


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•SRES 246 IS 

age because Social Security Disability Insurance ensures 

that workers who are no longer able to work and their 

families are protected from the loss of future retirement 

benefits; 

Whereas Social Security’s Disability Insurance protections 

are especially important to older workers, with 70 percent 

of Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries older 

than 50 and 30 percent older than 60; 

Whereas Social Security has evolved with changes in the 

American workforce, with the number of working women 

who are fully insured for Social Security benefits more 

than doubling between 1970 and today; 

Whereas Social Security provides fundamental protection to 

workers of every age, including young workers, who have 

a one-in-three chance of dying or needing Social Security 

disability benefits before reaching retirement age; 

Whereas Social Security is America’s ‘‘family insurance 

plan’’, providing more than 9 out of 10 American workers and their families basic but critical protection in the 

event they can no longer work to support themselves and 

their families due to a severe medical condition; 

Whereas Social Security provides a lifeline for almost 

7,000,000 children nationwide who receive benefits directly because a parent has died, become disabled, or retired, or indirectly because they live with a relative who 

is eligible to collect benefits; 

Whereas Social Security is efficient—administrative expenses 

are less than one percent of benefits paid—and benefit 

payments are 99-percent accurate; and 

Whereas Social Security has dramatically reduced poverty, 

with research indicating that the entire reduction in elVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Aug 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR246.IS SR246

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derly poverty between 1967 and 2000 was due to Social 

Security, that without Social Security 40 percent of the 

population older than 65 would be poor, and that Social 

Security benefits lifted an estimated 2,000,000 children 

out of poverty in 2013: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) Social Security provides earned benefits 

3 that are crucial to the economic security of our Na4 tion and must be preserved to ensure future genera5 tions of Americans are protected; 

6 (2) with the strong support of the Federal Gov7 ernment, Social Security must continue to deliver 

8 guaranteed retirement and life insurance benefits for 

9 workers and their families, as well as serve as an in10 dispensable safety net for the most vulnerable seg11 ments of American society, including children, per12 sons with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor; and 

13 (3) while the Trust Funds that support Social 

14 Security are projected to pay all benefits through 

15 2034, Congress should act to ensure this vital pro16 gram can support workers and families far into the 

17 future, but should reject proposals that weaken or 

18 privatize Social Security and should consider pro19 posals to strengthen Social Security benefits. 

Æ 


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