Social Security

SOCIAL SECURITY -- (Senate - February 03, 2005)

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington is recognized for 10 minutes.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am very proud to join the senior Democratic Senator from Maryland, along with all of my Democratic women colleagues, to declare that we are going to fight to make sure we have a guaranteed benefit to keep the security in Social Security.

A few short years ago, just after the 1932 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression, one of our Nation's greatest leaders, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, set out to create a program to provide peace of mind and a sense of security to America's retirees. During his crusade to create that program, FDR said there is no tragedy in growing old, but there is tragedy in growing old without means of support.

The program that he created to this day is the single greatest social insurance program in our Nation's history. Social Security has been a resounding success by keeping millions of people out of poverty in this country. We are here today to remind this country that women in particular benefit from the guaranteed benefit that is in Social Security, and we are going to fight to make sure it remains there for the women who follow us.

Months before the new program was enacted, back in the early 1930s, FDR laid out his vision of how important this program was and how it should be implemented. He said:

We can never ensure 100 percent of the population against 100 percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life. But we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen, and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age. This law, too, represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built, but is by no means complete ..... It is ..... a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provides for the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.

Those were the words of FDR in 1935. But today, this cornerstone, this basic American value, is now under attack.
We are here today to say we are fighting back. President Bush is currently traveling the country, saying Social Security is in crisis and needs to be radically restructured. I rise today to reaffirm the values and the spirit FDR laid out 70 years ago. Social Security has pulled seniors from poverty and put millions of retirees' minds at ease. America's insurance program is a guaranteed benefit all Americans can count on. It is a promise that, if you work hard, you will have some security when you retire or if you become disabled. It is a promise our seniors will not live in poverty. It is a promise if your spouse passes on, you will continue to have the support and the security you need.

Of course, this program is more than just security. It is about community. That is a value we as women share-community. In America, we believe it is important to take care of the generation that came before. It is important to guarantee them a quality of life. It is important that we guarantee benefits after a lifetime of hard work. I am concerned that President Bush's so-called restructuring will imperil the security of all Americans, from young workers who are going to retire decades from now to seniors who are retiring today.

The problem with this plan is it is not a guaranteed benefit. It does nothing to fix the long-term issues this system does face. It adds trillions of dollars to our national debt at a time we cannot do that any longer, and it is dangerous. We cannot and we will not let President Bush tear apart our Social Security system.

While some are trying to enrich Wall Street or push an ideology of market experience on our senior citizens, our priority in this discussion should be to ensure we are doing right by those who are relying on Social Security, from current workers to retirees, from the disabled to widows.

Current and future retirees need someone to stand up for them. If I see something that is going to hurt our workers, our families, our seniors, and women in particular, I want the Senate to know I am going to fight, along with my women colleagues, with everything I have.

Any discussion about Social Security that we have has to meet criteria if it means to be productive. You can call it a test. Any proposal we discuss must pass this test if it wants to move from this body.

First of all, we have to ensure Social Security has a guaranteed benefit. Second, we need to make sure Social Security protects workers when they become disabled. Next, we must protect against benefit reductions for women, minorities,
and others. And we have to protect our budget from growing deficits. Anything short of this would be an unnecessary, dangerous gamble, as the Senator from Maryland has pointed out, unworthy of an important insurance program.

While we are at the beginning of this discussion in this body, my female colleagues in this body have worked for years to ensure some basic principles to follow as we move forward. The promise of Social Security is especially important to women because women face unique challenges in retirement. Women make less money than men throughout their lifetimes. Women leave the workforce to raise their families and stay home, something we should value in this country. Women live longer and women are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions.

Even with those special challenges, today Social Security keeps millions of older women out of poverty. Its benefit formulas are today tilted to give a greater rate of return for lower wage workers such as women and minorities. If the President succeeds in privatizing Social Security, he will destroy the guaranteed benefit that low-wage earners need in their retirement years.

Social Security is not just a retirement program; it is also a program that protects disabled workers and protects their families. That is a value we women want to make sure we protect. If Social Security is privatized, what happens to a worker who is disabled and cannot contribute to her account? Today, under Social Security that worker is protected. But there is no guarantee under the Bush plan. President Bush could undo the progressive structure that older women in this country depend on today, and they should be able to depend on it tomorrow. This is one reform that could have disastrous results and we will not stand for it.

Under this administration, many things we take for granted-from overtime pay, to community police, to safe drinking water-have been threatened. Now President Bush wants to dismantle Social Security. I am here with the women, the Democratic women of the Senate, to say some things are too important to American families. Providing real security to all Americans is a basic value worth protecting. We will make sure President Bush does not gamble that security and break the promise Social Security keeps for millions of women and their families.

I yield the remainder of my time to the Senator from Maryland.

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