Social Security Fairness Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, when Washington, when we in Congress, when the President makes a promise to the American people, people expect us to fulfill it. Today, the Senate has an opportunity to live up to a promise.

Millions of teachers, firefighters, police officers--I worked in a public hospital for the uninsured, and I would add nurses, technicians, lab techs, janitors--they expect us to fulfill this promise, and they are watching today. They are watching, filled with hope that the Senate will pass the Social Security Fairness Act to finally stop punishing them for having elected to serve our communities. We can fix a broken system that has unfairly harmed them for almost 30 years. We can finally deliver relief this Christmas for millions of Americans after years of nothing but empty promises.

The Social Security Fairness Act has passed the House and has overwhelming, bipartisan support in the Senate. With 62 cosponsors, it should not be even a question if we have the support to move forward today.

Not too long ago, I met with a retired Louisiana schoolteacher impacted by GPO. She cried in my office, not understanding why she was getting less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all. Think about this. She had her quarters. She had worked, say, 20 years in the private sector. She was getting less from spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all. She felt like she was being punished for educating generations of Louisiana children, and she was being punished. There is no excuse to treat our public servants this way.

So to my colleagues who are concerned about the pricetag, I hear you. The good news: I have a plan that helps address these concerns. I have a comprehensive Social Security plan that addresses both the insolvency in 9 years and including paying for this repeal of WEP and GPO. If you want to talk about it, I have been promoting this for 4 years.

By the way, it does not increase the full retirement age. People can still retire at the age at which they planned to retire.

By the way, it checks boxes that President Trump, during his campaigning, said he would like to do in order to benefit our Nation. It checks that box too.

So if you are concerned about the pricetag, please talk to me about how we can afford to do right by the public servants who are being penalized by WEP and GPO but also help our Nation financially.

We can do both if we have the courage to do both. But at the very least today, we can keep a promise to make Social Security fair again.

I want to thank all the advocates for their work in getting here, including the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, the Louisiana Chiefs of Police Association, the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, the Louisiana Police Jury Association, the Louisiana Municipal Association, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Fraternal Order of Police, and all the others who have contributed so much to this effort.

I also want to thank President Trump, who has publicly announced his support for this bill. It is a sacred trust between the American people and our government. President-elect Trump--soon-to-be President Trump-- recognizes this.

As long as I am here, I will fight to keep the promises that we make to the American people.

With that, I yield to my good friend Senator Brown.

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