Nomination of Frank Bisignano
Floor Speech
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Ms. WARREN. Madam President, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking a chain saw to Social Security.
For nearly a century, Social Security has been there for tens of millions of Americans. But now, Trump and Musk are threatening to tear all of that down. They are firing staff. They are plotting to close down offices. They are making it harder for people to get help over the telephone.
Trump's pick to head up Social Security, Frank Bisignano, will rubberstamp Trump and Musk's attack on Social Security. He will let them keep slashing services. He will let them keep threatening benefits. That is going to hurt people everywhere, from seniors who count on their monthly checks right now to the parents of kids with disabilities supported by Social Security, to every American who is paying into the program now for results later on down the line.
Social Security, by the way, is more than just a retirement program. It is insurance. If you are 30 years old today and you get in an accident and become disabled, Social Security has you covered. If you have a child and something happens to you, that kid will get Social Security benefits.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to rip that protection away. Two people who don't have the slightest clue how much Social Security means to families are now threatening Americans' benefits in order to pay for giant tax cuts for billionaires, and since those two cannot begin to imagine what it means for working people, let's tell them what Social Security does.
A few weeks ago, I posted a video explaining what Trump and Musk were doing to Social Security, and I asked people: Just tell your stories. And the stories came flooding in, and here are just a few:
I'm on Social Security disability--it's about 95 percent of my total income. Every month since Trump took office this year, I've worried about whether or not my [Social Security] payment will come as usual.
Yes, there are millions of people out there who are worried about getting their Social Security payments on time because Trump and Musk are out there with that famous chain saw, doing what they can to make it harder for people to get the benefits that they have earned.
Or here is another:
I've had Medicare medication coverage for around 20 years, and all of [a] sudden, with Musk's appearance, I've had to fight to keep it.
Here is someone who has a legal right--a benefit--and now, thanks to Elon Musk, has to be in the fight in order to keep what this person is entitled to.
Or another:
I've been getting my Social Security check with zero problems for 15 years. Last night, I was so worried about me not getting a check [that] I stayed up to the early morning hours, to make sure it was in my account. Thanks to Trump and Musk, I worry if I will be able to pay my rent every month. Since Trump has been in office, it's been extremely stressful.
Yes, that is the stress people are feeling about whether or not they will have access to the money that they invested year after year when they were working, the money that they earned--their Social Security benefits.
Or another:
We have a son born with Down syndrome and we are now retired, depending on our Social Security for the three of us--for food, utilities, clothing, medical services, things that we worked [for] all our lives, only to have billionaires come in and take what little we have to live on away.
Yes, the billionaires may not care about Social Security, but here is someone who depends on it every day.
Or another:
I'm about to turn 65 and have had a nightmare of a time trying to even talk to a real human being at the Social Security office. It's been just a series of dead ends and mistakes piled atop confusion.
And, boy, there is the heart of it. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can't legally cut Social Security benefits, but what Trump and Musk are now doing is cutting access to being able to get your Social Security benefits started, which has a very similar effect for people who don't get what they earned all their lives.
Or here is another:
I had cancer at 52 years old--stage 4 uterine cancer. I spent more than a year fighting cancer. I am currently 66 years old and fighting the chronic pain from the chemicals they used to treat the cancer. I rely on my Social Security to survive. What am I going to do?
This is what is happening in America now because Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking a chain saw to Social Security.
Or another:
I'm 71 years old and work part time as a data technician in dementia research, so my [Social Security benefits] supplement my income. I'm anxious that eventually I, too, will have my Social Security check delayed or stopped altogether.
Or another:
We all need Social Security to survive, as a nation. I myself have been having it drawn out of my paychecks for over 40 years but haven't retired yet and will need it shortly. My only hope is that it is still there when I need it. We earned that right to collect this money and [will] not let a bunch of billionaires take it from us.
Amen.
I have worked since I was 16 years old and now I'm 71 but I still work part-time. It goes without saying that I need my [Social Security] benefits to survive and since Trump and Musk took over I don't know from one month to the next what might happen. So scary now!
This is what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing to people who are counting on Social Security.
Or another:
I only get $25,000 yearly from Social Security, and it constitutes more than half of my income. I have a small pension from the company where I worked for 40 years. If I lose my Social Security, I'll have to support myself and my sister (who cannot work) . . . I don't have much in savings due to continuing medical expenses over the years. [We] need my Social Security to survive.
I will say that again.
[We] need my Social Security to survive.
Or another:
I'm a [Social Security] employee and I just want to say thank you for standing up for the programs SSA runs and the beneficiaries. It is true it's been becoming harder for people to access their benefits but also for other services such as getting their Social Security card replaced. There [are] some days where people are waiting for 8 hours just to talk to a customer service representative or they don't even get the call back and have to call again the next day to have an issue resolved--that's if they have the time [to call] the next day.
That is testimony from the frontlines, from one who works at the Social Security Administration--lines that are 8 hours long.
Or another:
I went to a [Social Security] office yesterday because I need[ed] to change my direct deposit for my monthly benefits. The doors were locked . . . All the booths were shuttered. Sign on the door said ``by appointment only'' and there was a number to call, which I did. The automated system put me on hold, and the recording said 15-minute wait, and after time passed, the recording said I would be helped as soon as possible, then said they were receiving higher than normal call volumes . . . After several rings, the recording said . . . leave [a] message (which I did) and someone will return your call, but that hasn't happened yet. As I sat outside that office, another person walked up and said he heard that we have to go into the office in person to show our ID or lose our benefits--then realized the door was locked . . . Now I am very concerned that I might not get my benefits in the future.
So, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, that is what your attack on Social Security means for Americans: more problems and fewer people to fix them; hours on the phone or hours waiting in line at an office, trying to get help--all to get the benefits that people have paid into their entire working lives. That is money they have earned and money they are owed.
Frank Bisignano has made clear he will not stop the chaos. He will not stop the harm. That is wrong. On behalf of every single American who counts on Social Security, I am voting no on this appointment, and I encourage all of my colleagues--Democrat and Republican--to do the same.
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