SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, it was my intention to offer a modification of the amendment I offered yesterday on Social Security. Given the parliamentary situation right now, I can't do that. I intend to do that as soon as I can.

Mr. President, the original Social Security protection amendment that I introduced earlier would have prevented Congress from cutting Social Security benefits, raising the retirement age or privatizing Social Security without the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Senate and the House.

I introduced this amendment because I strongly believe that Congress should not be able to cut the hard-earned Social Security benefits of current or future eligible recipients without a super-majority vote in both the Senate and the House, and I continue to hold those views.

I have heard from some of my colleagues--colleagues who strongly support protecting Social Security--that adopting this amendment would have the effect of changing the rules of the Senate and establishing new precedents. While I do not share those views, I have 1istened to my colleagues' concerns and worked with the majority leader to modify this amendment.

As a result, Majority Leader REID is a cosponsor of this modified amendment. There is not one Senator or Member of the House who is more committed to protecting Social Security than Majority Leader REID and I thank him for his leadership on this issue.

The Sanders-Reid amendment expresses the Sense of the Senate that, as part of any legislation to reduce the Federal deficit, Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries should not be cut and that Social Security should not be privatized.

The Sanders-Reid amendment makes it clear that Social Security has never contributed one dime to the Federal budget deficit or the national debt.

The Sanders-Reid amendment makes it clear that Social Security currently has a $2.6 trillion surplus that is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion in 2023.

The Sanders-Reid amendment makes it clear that it would be absurd to be discussing Social Security within the context of deficit reduction.

Let me repeat what I said yesterday. Social Security has not contributed one nickel to our deficit, and it makes no sense to conflate the serious problems of our deficit and national debt with Social Security. That is not an accurate projection of reality.

As I think we all know, in 1983, Social Security did face a crisis. Within a 6-month period of that point, it would not have been able to pay out benefits it owed to eligible Americans. Today, Social Security can pay out all benefits owed to all Americans who are eligible for the program for the next 26 years.

I will speak more about this issue. I wanted to inform my colleagues that we intend to modify the amendment we have offered. We will do that when the parliamentary situation allows us to do that.

I thank the Senator from Louisiana for allowing me to say a few words.

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