Protect and Enhance Social Security
Floor Speech
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Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Larson, the ranking member of the Social Security Subcommittee for his leadership on this issue and for organizing this important Special Order to talk about the work that Democrats are doing to protect and expand Social Security and thank him for doing a telephone town hall with me for the people in District One so that they could ask questions about what is happening and how this measure would help.
In my district there are 113,000 Nevadans--that is District One in Las Vegas in Henderson--who rely on Social Security just to make ends meet. It represents the U.S. Government at its very best. In fact, it is one of the most successful programs in our history, and it is vital that we protect it for future generations.
Now, while we are here talking about what the Democrats want to do to protect and expand it, the Republicans, even as we speak, are continuing to threaten Social Security.
Now, Mr. Johnson is new at his job of Speaker, but he is not new to this issue. As the former chair of the Republican Study Committee, he repeatedly called for Social Security benefits to be reduced.
In fact, this year's Republican Study Committee budget would cut benefits by 13 percent and at the same time raise the retirement age to 69, providing seniors with fewer benefits for more work. Raising the retirement age would disproportionately harm low- and middle-income seniors who rely most heavily on Social Security, forcing them to delay their well-earned retirement often from backbreaking jobs.
Furthermore, the Republicans' terrible Labor-HHS appropriations bill would cut Social Security funding by 30 percent, closing 240 offices around the country and extending wait times for service.
We cannot let Republicans do this and play games with Social Security. That is why I am very proud to be an original cosponsor of Mr. Larson's bill. You have heard the ways that it protects and expands Social Security. We need to bring it up, we need to pass it, and I stand strongly in support of that.
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