IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 34
Recognizing the unique effects that proposals to reform Social Security may
have on women.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 2, 1999
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. RANGEL, Mr.
MATSUI, Mr. STARK, Mrs. THURMAN, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs.
MORELLA, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. COYNE,
Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr.
OLVER, Mr. PETRI, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS,
Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MEE-
HAN, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. GEORGE MILLER
of California, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. FROST, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. FORD, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. STU-
PAK, Ms. LEE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. JACKSON-LEE
of Texas, Mr. ALLEN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BISHOP, Ms. DANNER, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr.
BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms.
LOFGREN, Mr. POMEROY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. NADLER,
Mr. PALLONE, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. WYNN,
Mr. WEXLER, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. MALONEY of Con-
necticut, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. SHERMAN,
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. DIXON, Mr. MANZULLO,
Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. GOODE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. RO-
MERO-BARCELO´, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY,
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.
BERMAN, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SHOWS, Ms. STABENOW,
Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WATERS, and Mr.
HILLIARD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
•HRES 34 IH
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the unique effects that proposals to reform
Social Security may have on women.
Whereas the Social Security benefit structure is of particular
importance to low-earning wives and widows, with 63
percent of women beneficiaries aged 62 or older receiving
wife’s or widow’s benefits;
Whereas three-quarters of unmarried and widowed elderly
women rely on Social Security for over half of their in-
come;
Whereas without Social Security benefits, the elderly poverty
rate among women would have been 52.2 percent and
among widows would have been 60.6 percent;
Whereas women tend to live longer and tend to have lower
lifetime earnings than men do;
Whereas women spend an average of 11.5 years out of their
careers to care for their families, and are more likely to
work part-time than full-time; and
Whereas during these years in the workforce, women earn an
average of 70 cents for every dollar men earn: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes the unique obstacles that women face in ensuring
retirement security and survivor and disability stability
and the essential role that Social Security plays in guaran-
teeing inflation-protected financial stability for women
throughout their entire old age, and it is the sense of the
House of Representatives that the Congress and the Presi-
•HRES 34 IH
dent should take these factors into account when consider-
ing proposals to reform the Social Security system.
Æ