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as a vital leg on the ‘‘three-legged stool’’ of retire-
ment security, which includes employer provided 
pensions as well as personal savings. 
(2) The Social Security Trustees Report has re-
peatedly recommended that Social Security’s long- 
term financial challenges be addressed soon. Each 
year without reform, the financial condition of Social 
Security becomes more precarious and the threat to 
seniors and those receiving Social Security disability 
benefits becomes more pronounced: 
(A) In 2016, the Disability Insurance 
Trust Fund will be exhausted and program rev-
enues will be unable to pay scheduled benefits. 
(B) In 2033, the combined Old-Age and 
Survivors and Disability Trust Funds will be 
exhausted, and program revenues will be unable 
to pay scheduled benefits. 
(C) With the exhaustion of the Trust 
Funds in 2033, benefits will be cut nearly 23 
percent across the board, devastating those cur-
rently in or near retirement and those who rely 
on Social Security the most. 
(3) The recession and continued low economic 
growth have exacerbated the looming fiscal crisis 
facing Social Security. The most recent Congres-
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•HCON 27 RH 
sional Budget Office (CBO) projections find that So-
cial Security will run cash deficits of more than $2 
trillion over the next 10 years. 
(4) Lower income Americans rely on Social Se-
curity for a larger proportion of their retirement in-
come. Therefore, reforms should take into consider-
ation the need to protect lower income Americans’ 
retirement security. 
(5) The Disability Insurance program provides 
an essential income safety net for those with disabil-
ities and their families. According to the CBO, be-
tween 1970 and 2012, the number of people receiv-
ing disability benefits (both disabled workers and 
their dependent family members) has increased by 
more than 300 percent from 2.7 million to over 10.9 
million. This increase is not due strictly to popu-
lation growth or decreases in health. David Autor 
and Mark Duggan have found that the increase in 
individuals on disability does not reflect a decrease 
in self-reported health. CBO attributes program 
growth to changes in demographics, changes in the 
composition of the labor force and compensation, as 
well as Federal policies. 
(6) If this program is not reformed, families 
who rely on the lifeline that disability benefits pro-
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vide will face benefit cuts of up to 20 percent in 
2016, devastating individuals who need assistance 
the most. 
(7) In the past, Social Security has been re-
formed on a bipartisan basis, most notably by the 
‘‘Greenspan Commission’’ which helped to address 
Social Security shortfalls for more than a genera-
tion. 
(8) Americans deserve action by the President, 
the House, and the Senate to preserve and strength-
en Social Security. It is critical that bipartisan ac-
tion be taken to address the looming insolvency of 
Social Security. In this spirit, this resolution creates 
a bipartisan opportunity to find solutions by requir-
ing policymakers to ensure that Social Security re-
mains a critical part of the safety net. 
(b) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY.—It is the policy 
of this resolution that Congress should work on a bipar-
tisan basis to make Social Security sustainably solvent. 
This resolution assumes reform of a current law trigger, 
such that: 
(1) If in any year the Board of Trustees of the 
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
Fund annual Trustees Report determines that the 
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75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security 
Trust Funds is in deficit, and the annual balance of 
the Social Security Trust Funds in the 75th year is 
in deficit, the Board of Trustees should, no later 
than September 30 of the same calendar year, sub-
mit to the President recommendations for statutory 
reforms necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actu-
arial balance and a positive annual balance in the 
75th-year. Recommendations provided to the Presi-
dent must be agreed upon by both Public Trustees 
of the Board of Trustees. 
(2) Not later than 1 December of the same cal-
endar year in which the Board of Trustees submit 
their 
recommendations, 
the 
President 
should 
promptly submit implementing legislation to both 
Houses of Congress including his recommendations 
necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actuarial bal-
ance and a positive annual balance in the 75th year. 
The Majority Leader of the Senate and the Majority 
Leader of the House should introduce the Presi-
dent’s legislation upon receipt. 
(3) Within 60 days of the President submitting 
legislation, the committees of jurisdiction to which 
the legislation has been referred should report a bill, 
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which should be considered by the full House or 
Senate under expedited procedures. 
(4) Legislation submitted by the President 
should— 
(A) protect those in or near retirement; 
(B) preserve the safety net for those who 
count on Social Security the most, including 
those with disabilities and survivors; 
(C) improve fairness for participants; 
(D) reduce the burden on, and provide cer-
tainty for, future generations; and 
(E) secure the future of the Disability In-
surance program while addressing the needs of 
those with disabilities today and improving the 
determination process. 
(c) POLICY ON DISABILITY INSURANCE.—It is the 
policy of this resolution that Congress and the President 
should enact legislation on a bipartisan basis to reform 
the Disability Insurance program prior to its insolvency 
in 2016 and should not raid the Social Security retirement 
system without reforms to the Disability Insurance sys-
tem. This resolution assumes reform that— 
(1) ensure benefits continue to be paid to indi-
viduals with disabilities and their family members 
who rely on them; 
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