Shout out to all of you who are struggling in the trenches in the social security administration we very much appreciate what you're doing As you know Jeff and Peter and I and others worked hard to finally get you some money we got your 480 million dollars last year the first increase for the administration of social security in many many years because we know we know that we know that in vermont or in oregon and all over this country when people are walking into or calling up social security offices they are not getting the kind of Response that they need because of lack of staffing so we have made a start in that area but we're gonna keep going to make sure that the people of this country know that when they have a problem with social security are they gonna get the prompt attention that they deserve I also wanna thank social security works Nancy and everybody else for the great work that they have done over the years To thank the National Committee to preserve social security and medicaid max thank you for all that you've done The alliance for retired Americans latinos for secure retirement the restaurant opportunity Center and others for being here with us this morning this is an issue of enormous consequence to tens of millions of people it does not get the attention that it deserves and we hear today to change that in my humble opinion a great nation is not judged historically by the number of Billionaires it has but by the number of nuclear weapons it has it is judged by how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable people amongst us And when we talk about vulnerable people you know it's it goes without saying these are folks who are in their 80 's and the 90 's people who have worked their entire lives people who have raised us as children people have gone out into the economy and work for 40 or 50 years to grow our economy people have put their lives on the line to defend us in war and what we are saying today to those Who are struggling economically to live out their last years with dignity we will no longer turn our backs on you Now there is there is some kind of mythology circulating around this country that says it all seniors are doing well not a problem and what we are saying is that is absolutely untrue in America today 20 percent of senior citizens are trying to survive on an income of less than $13500 you know I throw out as my colleagues here do we throw out a lot of numbers but this one is always thoughtful and I want you to think for a moment being 85 years of age having health candidates having to keep your home warm in the winter How in god's name do you do that on $13500 you don't And everybody up here in one way or another is involved with the meals on wheels program or other programs for seniors waiting lists all over this country seniors desperately trying to get one good meal a day and we don't even have the ability to provide that to all of the seniors in need furthermore we're not just here talking about people who are 7080 or 90 we are talking about workers 55 years of age or older half of home have no retirement savings I think about Done Click about that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world you got people by the millions who are 60 years of age have worked their entire lives scared to death about what happens to them when they retire from their jobs they got zero in the bike and they turn on the television there is mitch mcconnell Paul Ryan or other Republicans saying we are gonna cut social security while giving tax breaks to billionaires and we say today they got their priorities backwards we're gonna tax the billionaires and expand social security When you turn on the Tv our Republican friends say well it's too bad but social security is going broke that is a lie Social security as a two point nine trillion dollars surplus in its trust fund and can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 15 years and after that the social security administration estimates that there will be enough funding available to pay out 79 percent of the benefits to eligible Americans we are here today to say that we can and must do much better than that we're here to say today to say we are going to expand social security benefits and we are going to extend the Life of social security for our kids and our Grand prize Well how do we do that alright easy to say well how do we do that and we are United here to say that we're gonna do that by having the wealthiest people in this country finally start paying their fair share of taxes As everybody in this room knows because of the earnings cap on social security taxes a multibillion app pays exactly the same amount of money into social security as someone who earns a hundred and $32900 a year this is an absolutely regressive approach to taxation and today we say that is going to end it is time to scrap the car And I will legislation does that by applying the social security payroll tax on all income including capital gains and dividends for those who make over $250000 a year on the our bill 98 point two percent of the American people will not pay a nickel more in taxes Let me give you an example of the absurdity of the current social security payroll tax system donald trump said no it doesn't always tell us the truth we know that donald truth donald trump claim that he made 694694 million in 2016 if that is accurate he stop paying social security payroll taxes 40 minutes into January first of that year meanwhile The average Middle class person paid social security taxes for the entire year that is absurd and that has got to end the other thing that I will legislation does which is also quite important is it makes more accurate the measure for colors right now the cola measures the purchasing practices of all Americans seniors have different purchasing needs and often they are spending more than the general public so We are here today and I'm delighted to have so many members of the House and the Senate we are here today to stand with seniors and to say that at a time when so many are hurting we're gonna do everything we can to protect and expand social security and not just be a great deal of pleasure to introduce somebody who has been in this fight for many many years one of the leaders in the House congressman Peter the All sensible things take a long time to happen in this in this somewhat addled town and Bernie and I have been working on this for a quarter century at least and I think it's time has come you know 15 years is not so far into the future when social security will have to reduce promise benefits yet won't be broke but you know 20 percent cut is very substantial and the benefits of people have been expecting to receive particularly now that most people do not have guaranteed pensions anymore and they're subject to the vicissitudes of the market and 401 case so you know and they say well how are you gonna do that Heard a former Speaker Paul Ryan say well it will increase the retirement age again I haven't ever met well there may be a somewhere in my district a 70 year old logger out there but most people are pretty broken up by the by the actual retirement age today they say well we'll just have to reduce benefits well this is a contract with the American people and it's not necessary to do that so you know this is pretty simple if you think about it as Bernie said Miniscule portion of the American people would pay more in taxes under this bill it would make social security solvent for the predictable future we also would have a meaningful cost of living index of real one upper seniors on the things that really have to buy with Bernie and I have also been working on for a quarter of a century the C e and we would also help the lowest income workers by raising their replacement ratio by a bit this would benefit not only today's seniors but Future generations of Americans who are gonna have trouble in retirement as much as people are having today or maybe even more trouble cuz even fewer of them will have pensions just think of it this way it's valentine's week and what a gift for someone who earns a million dollars a year they stop paying social security taxes and their income goes up by $46500 which is about four times what many 20 percent of seniors are trying to get by on I don't think you know maybe they would Delay polishing the yard or I don't know what what the deal would be but you know if they're good citizens they should not object to this this is for all Americans all Americans about safety and security in retirement after lives well in hard lived in productive part of our economy so scrap the cap now A senator Jeff berkeley has been a long and strong ties strong fight of senior citizenship thank you Well I look across America right now I don't see the vision of our constitution that we the people vision of our constitution being implemented what have we seen in the Senate we've seen an effort to Strip health care from some 20 to 30 million Americans is that government by and for the people we have seen a tax bill that reaches in and takes a trillion and half dollars two trillion with interest and gives it to the richest Americans is that government by and for the people is the neglect and undermine Of a fair retirement for our seniors government by and for the people so how about this how about we restore government by and for the people and start by getting so security restored to a strong foundation When franklin roosevelt signed social security into law in 1935 he said a cornerstone in a structure that is being built but is by no means complete and as we stand here today in the year 2019 the structure is in need of repair is it okay that 15 years from now we're only going to be able to pay some 78 percent and not a hundred percent of the benefits promised to Americans And think about it this way it's more important now than it was 20 years ago because so many Americans no longer have pensions that they had previously so they're depending on this rock this contract between generations this social security foundation to have a decent decent retirement and here's the thing right now for a good a two thirds of Americans it constitutes more than 50 percent of their income in retirement and for a So let's think of every senior we know across the land picture that grandmother wrestling with whether to pay rent or to buy food or that grandfather who's wrestling with the fact that well their R was wiped out by the Wall Street collapse of 2008 they didn't have a pension or their pension went bankrupt before they could be paid so dependent so a third of Americans depending on it for essentially their entire retirement their entire retirement income so here we are today Getting up and saying we want government by and for the people and we want to fix social security and we want to do it this year right now let's get it done thank you all and God bless He's welcome senator kirsten gillibrand Thank you Bernie I love the fire in this room I gotta tell you I love the fire in this room we know that social security was the greatest social safety net ever created in the history of America Americans will tell you people who voted for trump will tell you get your hands off my social security it's something people have earned it's an earned benefit they bought into it their whole lives but it was not structured in a way that is resilient enough it is not strong enough to take on the needs of today and for most people that social security check is not enough to make ends meet it is not enough to actually By what families need for medicines for heat for food it's not enough it's below the poverty line for many people and many people in America are on fixed income so when you say you're gonna privatize social security and make it at the whims of the stock market they are going to be very afraid because they know is their lifeline and it is so much a lifeline for people when they go through trauma and death and lost one of my constituents when his wife died they had a special needs daughter he had to give up his job and go into poverty to care for his special needs daughter another Husband lost his wife and did not have enough money to make ends meet without her income couldn't afford his prescription drugs this is a reality it is a reality for two many American families so the reason why this bill is so strong is because it fixes the problem first of all it blows the cap most important thing you could do is make sure everyone invest their money into social security making sure you don't get a preference for ownership as opposed to work today the only people paying in Security is earned income what about dividend income what about capital games why do owners get a lower tax rate than everybody else why do owners have to pay less money than everyone else this should be the common good fund it should be the social safety net that everyone invests in they should invest six point two percent of all their income so this bills really smart it blows a cap make sure all income above 250 is covered which makes a huge difference it also changes how we account for what the social security check Is it will actually begin to cover the real cost of things you know I can't stand it when the political elites say oh why don't we just do a chained cpi okay well that's a fancy word to say give you less money because it doesn't cover the cost of things that is not how you sure up social security you sure of social security by blowing the cap by making sure the reimbursement rates and the numbers that are used as your analysis for how much you're gonna get reflect the Of things so this is a great bill it is strong it is effective it will strengthen social security it will make it more resilient it will make sure that every American is paying in for the common good for this best of social safety nets and I believe we can get this done with your voices the only time anything ever works in Washington is when you stand up and demand it with your voices we will get this done Please welcome senator cory booker of New Jersey It is so good to be here with everyone this morning where we stand together to support our common values and our common ideals everything we enjoy in this vast nation I love ideals of rugged individualism but rugged individualism didn't build this country didn't get us to the moon didn't map the human geno didn't build the underground railroad we are Americans and we got here through collective sacrifice through common struggle we all understand that we reap blessings but unfortunately that idea of common sacrifice collective struggle all of us in this together see To have fallen drastically short when it came to it comes to investing in what should be our critical most important priority those who are at the youngest ages of life and those who are in their senior years we have a system right now that is fundamentally broken fundamentally unfair violates the very ideals and principles of collective struggle and common sacrifice this cap constitute It's a regressive backwards unfair limit on our ability to create a system that supports us all we need to scrap the cap and we need to make sure that in this country everyone is paying their fair share I am We have seen too much of recent manufactured crisis that don't really exist there is no crisis in social security if we had a fair taxation system than everyone in this country would have what governments are formed to give the common defense to give for common security the stories in this country from Coast to Coast from the great lakes to the Gulf States are painful millions of Americans in their senior Living in poverty making the most painful of decisions being left isolated and alone that's not who America is this legislation is just this legislation is right this legislation reflects our deepest values and honors or history of collective sacrifice and struggle and the beautiful thing about the design of this legislation is it not only creates a fairness but it fixes the problem and doesn't affect literally millions of Americans I am Out of this legislation I wanna thank the congressman and the senator for sponsoring it but it's not enough for us to push this forward now we must get it done we must get this done we have the legislation but remember change doesn't come from Washington it comes to Washington and so I call upon everyone here who knows the crisis who doesn't believe this nation should leave anybody behind who understands the pain of those seniors who make the most painful decisions every day who have been rendered into poverty or see their cost of living go up and up and up and social security not keeping enough all of us now must join again in a collective chorus of consciousness to spark the moral imagination of this country so we be who we say we Are one nation under God indivisible with liberty and Justice for all thank you Thank you corey sometimes I think we take social security for granted and it stay up and now we're gonna hear from a gentleman who is going to remind us of the importance of social security what these benefits mean to ordinary Americans please welcome julian Blair Good morning morning morning morning it's wonderful that we're having this conversation is wonderful that this bill is coming before the country to be passed but I wanna remind you that it affects real people I just wanna tell you a couple of series a first one I came with my father I step my step dad he's passed but he worked 40 - two years a full time and a part time job a pride for man I My family I can do the things that I need to do to make sure that I'm a good citizen he retired his retirement income presses social security caused him to go back to work he could not make it and I watched this man cry because his dignity was gone it's a shame we should not live like that in this country secondly I have a friend her name is Jan Brown I even tell you a name she lives in silver spring Maryland 87 years old work all our life retired When you retired for 50 and you know what you did six months ago she had to go back to work because her income could not cover basic needs I'm not talking about vacations I'm not talking about cadillac I'm talking about food drink medicine that's why this is important it affects real people and I'm here today to do two things I'm begging everyone who had any voice here read any newspaper to get behind this bill and also to offer mine whatever Made to get this passed because scrap in the second question that I get a lot is what is fair in this country is it fair for me to make $50000 and pay this percentage on myself you get and you make $200000 and paid this person is that fair with where his fairness in what we do in the bottom line is until all of our neighbors are doing well we are not doing well so please get Mr jay David cox is the President of after he has been a busy man lately trying to make sure that the government stays open and hundreds of thousands of workers And he has been a strong strong fighter for social security David come on up Thank you so much senator senator senator I started drawing social security when I was six years old because my father passed away I still remember with small memories in my mind my mom getting me in the car going down to the social security office to apply for that benefit and I really know what was going on no I was a six year old kid but most of all I now remember clearly it was a social security employees a government employee that matter at the door that helped her figure out how to get the earned benefits that my father had paid in for us They made all the difference in our lives so I come to you today I support this legislation m G supports at wholeheartedly but a benefit of social security is having your community social security offices available to service the American people We've got to have that we cannot close social security offices we can't have less social security employees processing the claims and slowing them down and and and bogging up the system people have paid it's an earned benefit it is our right to receive social security And all government employees all of us pay into social security it is part of our retirement also so we're doubly vested in the social security process it's our job it's also part of our retirement and we believe in it so much and when you talk to the social security employees they will tell you those that work on the disability claims I mean they you'll see the passion that they can't get the claims process fast enough because they know those people are in desperate need that they need those claims process So we have to scrap the cast scrap that cap with everything that we have got number one to expand benefits for the American people but also to have those employees who can service the American people as part of the social security benefits so scrap the cab scrap the cap with everything you've got and thank you thank you We'll tell you you've heard from everybody up here one simple point very few people believe in tax breaks for billionaires that's what trump and his friends did the vast majority of the American people believe that we should expand and extend social security benefits you got a government that represents the wealthy and the powerful our job is to get a government that represents all of us And the only way we do that is when we mobilize the millions of people to say that we're gonna protect our seniors we're gonna extend the life of social security we're gonna expand social security benefits and when the American people speak by the millions this Congress will listen let's go out and do it thank you all very much S