Protect and Enhance Social Security

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Larson for holding this Special Order on the importance of enhancing Social Security.

Mr. Larson talked about how things have not changed for the last 80 years since Social Security has been in existence. I will tell you one thing; Social Security has not changed its emphasis and focus on allowing our workers to retire and age in dignity and not in poverty. We should and can enhance the program so that it will be solvent and useful for current and future beneficiaries.

Take, for example, some provisions that I have included in the Social Security 2100 Act. That is to provide beneficiaries receiving payments for 20 years or more an enhancement. As our population lives longer, more and more people may end up living out their savings, especially women. As our students continue to face the daunting cost of pursuing higher education, it is critical that we reinstate the student benefits of retired, deceased, or disabled workers. These reforms would be particularly meaningful for students of color and low-income families.

Before closing, I add my voice in supporting how important it is that Social Security 2100 recognizes that caregiving is, in fact, uncompensated work. In the United States, 43.5 million people, mostly women, work as unpaid caregivers to their children, aging parents, or to an adult family member with a disability, and they don't receive a single dime. The value of that unpaid caregiving is estimated at over half a trillion dollars annually.

This bill provides caregiver credits to ensure that people, mostly women, are not penalized when it comes time to claim their Social Security benefits for taking time out of the workforce to care for children or other dependents.

I thank Mr. Larson for his continued commitment to preserve and enhance Social Security.

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