Introduction Of The One Social Security Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, for nearly 80 years, Social Security has helped protect and nurture the American dream. Americans know if they work hard and pay into Social Security, they and their families will receive Social Security's earned benefits when they need them, for as long as they need them.

Congress has always honored that commitment, making adjustments and corrections to the law as needed, from time to time, so that all Americans receive the Social Security benefits they earned through a lifetime of work. Now Congress must act again. If we don't, 11 million Americans will have their Social Security benefits cut by 20 percent next year.

Let me explain.

Social Security is the heart of economic security for American workers, allowing them to earn birth-to-death protection against the loss of income from work, in one simple package. One seamless Social Security system insures American workers and their families (1) in the case of premature death, (2) if they have to stop working due to a disability or very serious illness, and (3) when they reach retirement.

What many people don't know is that after we make our Social Security tax contribution through each paycheck, the law requires that it be distributed into in two different trust funds--one that pays for benefits we qualify for if a wage-earner dies, or when we retire, and one that pays for benefits we earn if we become too sick or disabled to work.

All American workers contribute to both funds, with the vast majority of their contributions being deposited in the retirement and survivor fund. But in practice, Congress and the American public have simply treated the two funds as one unified financing system, which guarantees payment of all Social Security earned benefits. In fact, Congress has routinely rebalanced the allocation of workers' contributions between the two funds to ensure that all benefits can be paid. For example, in 1980 and again in 1983, Congress shifted funds from the disability fund in order to shore up the retirement and survivor fund, and then in 1994, the most recent reallocation, Congress shifted some of the incoming contributions back to the disability fund, ensuring that it could pay benefits through 2016.

Now it's 2015. Social Security has an overall surplus of $2.8 trillion, which all workers helped build up. Those who receive Social Security due to a disability worked and paid into Social Security for an average of 22 years to earn their benefits, making a significant contribution to the surplus. But because Social Security is legally required to pay Social Security benefits earned because of a disability only out of the disability fund, the benefits of Americans who receive Social Security because of a disability will be cut by 20 percent unless Congress takes action to permit Social Security to use all its available funds to pay all earned benefits.
Social Security is one unified system. It's wrong to separate out Social Security Americans qualify for because of a disability from the rest of Social Security. It's wrong to delay action on legislation to pay Americans the Social Security benefits they earned and need to live.

Americans know we have one Social Security, and they are counting on Congress to act now to protect all of it, not just some pieces of it.

Just like 168 million other Americans, I pay into Social Security with every paycheck. I make one contribution--just one--to earn Social Security's lifetime, all-in-one protection. I don't make different contributions for disability, for retirement, and for my survivors. It's all one--just one Social Security.

When we begin our working lives, none of us knows what kind of insurance from Social Security we'll need, or at what stage of our lives we'll need it. Some workers will die young, leaving family who can rely on Social Security survivors' protection. The majority of seniors depend on Social Security as their primary source of retirement income. And no one expects to suffer a career-ending disability, but if they do, Social Security is there for them. There's one Social Security that covers it all.

For millions of Americans, that one Social Security coverage--``there when you need it''--is a lifeline. Social Security's survivor insurance is the equivalent of a $476,000 life insurance policy for a worker with young children. More than half of workers who receive Social Security disability insurance payments because of a work-ending illness or injury would live in poverty without Social Security. Many will not survive to receive retirement benefits. Death rates for disability recipients are three to six times higher than for others their age. And unlike most other retirement benefits, Social Security is inflation-protected and cannot be outlived, which is why 44 percent of seniors who are 80 and over have little or nothing other than Social Security to live on.
Today I am introducing the One Social Security Act to make sure we don't break Social Security's simple promise to every American worker--if you pay into one Social Security, you and your family will receive your full earned benefits, of whatever kind, when you need them.

The One Social Security Act would prevent the scheduled 20 percent cut in Social Security benefits for 11 million Americans by merging Social Security's trust funds into a single comprehensive fund. This would allow all American workers access to their fair share of Social Security's worker-generated $2.8 trillion surplus, to pay the benefits they earned. Except for preventing the cut, the bill would not change Social Security benefits or overall Social Security solvency, as projected in the Trustees Report released today.
Creating one unified trust fund for one Social Security is just common sense, and long overdue. In fact, it was unanimously endorsed by the bipartisan 1979 Advisory Council on Social Security--a distinguished federal advisory panel that was charged with making recommendations to Congress on all aspects of Social Security. They found that there was ``no longer a need'' for separate trust funds. The Advisory Council concluded that the two-trust fund system, with its need for periodic reallocations, ``is cumbersome and can cause needless public worry about the financial integrity of the Social Security system.''

The bill has been endorsed by thirty-six organizations representing American workers, people with disabilities, and senior citizens. They know it's the right solution to protect Social Security.

The earned benefits of 11 million Americans are not something we can let hang in the balance. They are a solemn obligation. We have only one Social Security. I look forward to working with my colleagues, on a bipartisan basis, to honor that obligation, so that we can move forward and find the best way to preserve and strengthen all of Social Security for the generations to come.

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