Polycrisis Hurts Seniors
Floor Speech
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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the Chamber for 5 minutes and to talk about what political scientists are calling a polycrisis.
A polycrisis is multiple events that have happened globally that have an enormous impact not only on the world but here. I am going to focus on just three of them right now: the pandemic that we are currently going through, Mr. Speaker, which has been extraordinary, as well as the supply chain issues that have happened; a global pandemic creating global supply chain issues, which led to ensuing global inflation; and in the midst of that, the Ukraine war, which has become a global war, again, impacting supply chain and other issues.
Who in the United States of America has this impacted the most? In our country, this pandemic has impacted the elderly. Of the 1.2 million people who have passed away, over 850,000 were over the age of 65. With regard to inflation, the group that is hurt most by inflation are people on fixed incomes, and that would be close to 70 million Social Security recipients here in this Nation.
We have a crisis in this country: a pension crisis and a crisis that Congress has neglected for more than 52 years.
1971 was the last time that Congress did anything to enhance Social Security benefits. A gallon of milk was 72 cents at that time. A lot has changed since 1971, but what hasn't changed is Congress' recalcitrance to address the needs of our seniors.
Social Security is the number one antipoverty program for seniors and the number one antipoverty program for children, yet there are 5 million Americans currently who get below-poverty-level checks from the Federal Government after having paid all of their lives into the system.
The only reason that is so is because Congress hasn't acted. It is long overdue for Congress to act. We have legislation that we will be introducing in the Ways and Means Committee that will enhance Social Security with across-the-board increases for everyone to lift people out of poverty and provide every single district with economic recovery.
Why? It is because, on average, there are 145,000 people per congressional district who are on Social Security, and that money is spent right back in that congressional district. People are not buying back stock options with their Social Security checks. They are spending it at the grocery store. They are spending it on rent. They are spending it on prescription drugs. That is what is needed.
It is long overdue for Congress to act. It is not simply a question of protecting or saving Social Security. It is doing something to end this crisis in the midst of the worst pandemic, in the midst of inflation, and in the midst of a supply chain issue to make sure that our elderly and our people are being protected.
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