Republicans Plan to Cut Social Security
Floor Speech
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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I rise to first and foremost submit an article by--I hope everyone gets to read it. We will be circulating it to all Members--about the Trump plan to go after our university system and destroy the research that goes on at our universities and massive cuts. As Mr. Zakaria points out, this would decimate our economy, and I think every Member of Congress needs to know.
Madam Speaker, I also heard Representative John Kasich on television, just before I came here, talking about how Democrats don't have a plan; they don't have a plan that they are going to utilize. I have great respect for John, but I will say yes, under Hakeem Jeffries, we do have a plan, especially as it relates to Social Security.
Our colleagues on the other side do not have a plan, or the plan that they have proposed is to cut benefits to Social Security.
Madam Speaker, I don't know if you realize how many Social Security recipients you have in your district, but there are over 170,000 of them, including 134,000 retirees, including 18,000 disabled workers, 8,000 widows, 3,000 spouses, and 9,000 children.
Madam Speaker, here is the most important thing. Most Members of Congress don't realize this. Do you know how much money comes into your district monthly to those recipients? That is $318 million that Mr. Trump and Republican leadership want to cut.
A 20 percent cut across the board to Social Security would decimate people across all districts, including Iowa and Connecticut and every other district.
We have a plan. Here is our plan. Social Security--and the American people, especially the people in our audience today ought to understand--hasn't been enhanced by Congress since 1971. Richard Nixon was President of the United States. There are more than 70 million Americans who rely on Social Security. Of those 70 million, for over 30 million of them, this is the only retirement benefit that they have.
Madam Speaker, we want to make sure that there is an across-the-board increase. Under the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries, that is what you will see, an across-the-board increase, a tax cut proposal for people who have to work out of necessity who would end up having to pay taxes on their Social Security. We pay for it to make sure that it doesn't impact the trust fund.
We also pay for the repeal of WEP and GPO because that is vitally important as well. We also make sure that there is no longer a waiting period for disability where we see that so many people have died waiting to receive their disability payment.
It is long overdue for the number one antipoverty program for the elderly and for children of this country. More disability goes out to veterans from Social Security than goes out from the VA.
Congress needs to act. I would hope it would be bipartisan, but we can't even get a hearing, let alone pass a bill.
What is there to be afraid of? Every constituent listening to this ought to demand of their Member of Congress--if you disagree, if you have got a better plan, for God's sake, put it forward. How much longer do the American people have to wait to receive the benefits that they paid for?
This is an earned benefit. This is no entitlement like the other side calls it. People paid for it, and you can check it out right on your paycheck. It says FICA, Federal insurance contribution. Whose? Yours. You have paid for this benefit. Your government, your Congress, has let you down. They have not addressed this since 1971. It is long overdue that we not only address this but enhance this so that Americans get what they richly deserve, especially those in Iowa.
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