Payne, Jr., Colleagues Urge Obama to Expand Social Security
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10) and seventy-one of his Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House and Senate sent a letter urging President Obama to discuss and promote the expansion of Social Security benefits at the decennial White House Conference on Aging, taking place on July 13, 2015.
“Social Security is indispensable for the majority of our nation’s retirees, who depend on the program to maintain their standard of living,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “Expanding the program’s benefits will provide a source of stability for the millions of Americans who currently lack sufficient resources to be secure in their retirement.”
Currently, two-thirds of retirees depend on Social Security for the majority of their incomes. More than half (53 percent) of today’s working Americans are at risk of not having sufficient resources upon retirement to maintain their standard of living.
In the letter, the Congress members wrote, “We write today to request your help in ensuring that Americans continue to have sufficient resources to maintain their standard of living in old age. As employers continue moving from a defined benefit model to a defined contribution model of retirement savings, it is critical that we fight to protect and expand Social Security—the only guaranteed source of income in retirement. … Given the state of popular opinion and the impending retirement savings crisis facing this nation, we respectfully urge you to include proposals to expand Social Security benefits for millions of Americans to your policy brief at the upcoming Conference.”