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<PRE>[DOCID: f:hc282rfs.txt]
107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 282


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2001

           Received and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of Congress that the Social Security promise 
                            should be kept.

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ``Keeping the Social 
Security Promise Initiative''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Social Security provides essential income security 
        through retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for over 
        45 million Americans of all ages, without which nearly 50 
        percent of seniors would live in poverty;
            (2) Social Security is of particular importance for low 
        earners, especially widows and women caring for children, 
        without which nearly 53 percent of elderly women would live in 
        poverty;
            (3) each payday, American workers send their hard-earned 
        payroll taxes to Social Security and in return are promised 
        income protections for themselves and their families upon 
        retirement, disability, or death, and that commitment must be 
        kept;
            (4) Social Security payments to beneficiaries will exceed 
        worker contributions to the Social Security trust funds 
        beginning in 2016, as demographics, including the aging baby 
        boom generation and increasing life expectancies, will result 
        in fewer workers per beneficiary and threaten Social Security's 
        essential income safety net with financial instability and 
        insolvency;
            (5) deferring action to save Social Security will result in 
        loss of public confidence in the program, will increase the 
        likelihood of spending cuts to other essential programs, and 
        will expose beneficiaries, particularly those with low 
        earnings, to poverty-threatening benefit cuts or reduce 
        workers' take-home pay through burdensome payroll tax 
        increases;
            (6) workers' ability to save and invest for their own 
        retirement will continue to be particularly important, 
        especially for younger workers, to enhance their own retirement 
        security; and
            (7) the President should be commended for recognizing that 
        Social Security is not prepared to fully fund the retirement of 
        the baby boom and future generations and for establishing the 
        bipartisan President's Commission to Strengthen Social 
        Security, which will report its recommendations this fall.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the President's Commission to Strengthen Social 
        Security, recognizing the immense financial commitment of every 
        American worker into the Social Security system, should present 
        in its recommendations innovative ways to protect that 
        commitment without lowering benefits or increasing taxes; and
            (2) the President and the Congress should join to develop 
        legislation to strengthen Social Security as soon as possible, 
        and such legislation should--
                    (A) recognize the obstacles women face in securing 
                financial stability at retirement or in cases of 
                disability or death and the essential role that the 
                Social Security program plays in providing income 
                security for women;
                    (B) recognize the unique needs of minorities and 
                the critical role the Social Security program plays in 
                preventing poverty and providing financial security for 
                them and their families when income is reduced or lost 
                due to retirement, disability, or death; and
                    (C) guarantee current law promised benefits, 
                including cost-of-living adjustments that fully index 
                for inflation, for current and future retirees, without 
                increasing taxes.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 12, 2001.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.

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