WASHINGTON, D.C. - With the 75th Anniversary of Social Security approaching, Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), today held a hearing to discuss the critical role that the program plays for beneficiaries and why it is needed now more than ever. Social Security provides a secure income to over 50 million retirees, disabled workers, and surviving children and spouses. The average benefit is a modest $14,000 a year, but it is the majority of income for six out of ten seniors.
“All of us together protecting each of us - that is how [Social Security] works," said Chairman Pomeroy. “Social Security embodies the American values of independence, dignity and family, by rewarding work, instilling prudence, and sharing responsibility."
“As we consider the future of Social Security and the potential adjustments needed to strengthen the program for the long-term, it is vital that policymakers recognize that Social Security is not just a set of numbers on a ledger," continued Pomeroy. “Instead, it represents the ability of our seniors to live independently and with dignity during their retirement."
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), during questioning, emphasized the program’s design ensures security and stability for retirees, persons with disabilities and survivors:
“Thirteen recessions have taken place since the Great Depression of the 1930s and never once has Social Security failed to pay benefits..."
W. Lee Hammond, President of AARP, discussed the importance of the program and recent discussions of its impact on the deficit:
“The promise of Social Security has endured for 75 years. It is a promise that AARP believes embodies our deepest values as Americans - our obligations to one another - our obligations between generations - between parents and children - between grandparents and grandchildren - between those in retirement and those at work - between the able-bodied and the disabled.
“It is exactly because of its importance to both current and future generations that AARP is particularly concerned about efforts to reduce Social Security in order to shrink the federal government’s budget deficit. AARP believes that Social Security did not cause our federal deficit and, therefore, the much-needed benefits of real, hardworking people should not be cut in order to remedy the current deficit."
Kelly Ross, AFL-CIO, said the discussion should be focused on the adequacy of Social Security benefits instead of cuts in the name of the Federal deficit:
“Social Security is arguably the most successful government program in the history of the United States. In the face of growing retirement insecurity, retirees are becoming increasingly dependent on Social Security benefits, so what we really should be talking about is enhancing the adequacy of those benefits. Instead, misinformation and exaggerated fears about the federal budget deficit are being deployed as the latest weapons in a decades-old Wall Street campaign to undermine Social Security, which is not a principal contributor to deficits in the short or the long term."
Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL) in his testimony before the Subcommittee spoke out against calls to cut benefits:
“I believe that benefit cuts are unnecessary and would certainly weaken Social Security in the long run for future generations of working Americans. Moreover, the outrageous proposal that some of my colleagues have suggested in recent weeks to cut Social Security benefits as a mechanism to reduce the national deficit or pay for the war in Afghanistan is irresponsible, short sighted and overwhelmingly reckless. I adamantly oppose and will work tirelessly to defeat any attempts to weaken Americans’ retirement security, and pay down national debt unrelated to the Social Security program on the backs of our nation’s seniors."
