Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Larson announced today that the Subcommittee is beginning a hearing series on 'Protecting and Improving Social Security.'

Our seniors are not a burden. They have been an inspiration.

I do think this has been informative.

We have a responsibility to act and strengthen the program. Not to act, to do nothing is not an alternative here.

It can be done if we put our minds to it. If we don't, then we are going to have a real catastrophe here.

No one is saying don't feed your children. Come on.

We are going to have specific hearings on that alone, and as you are probably aware, both Mr. Brady and Mr. Neal have introduced legislation with respect to that.

If we were to let the 25 percent reduction happen in 2034... it could cost the economy about 2.3 million jobs.

Social Security is the greatest domestic policy achievement of the 20th century.

House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT), announced today that the Subcommittee is beginning a hearing series on 'Protecting and Improving Social Security.'

And since the last time Social Security was fixed in 1982 or 1983, I think, when Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill got together--and what they did was a mix of tax increases and benefit cuts, basically.

Talking about ways in which we can ensure that those making over $400,000 a year pay more into the system is a legitimate avenue to explore.

So in the end, what we are going to end up having to do is something similar to what they did, and everything is going to have to be on the table, and everything is going to have to be included if we want to actually reach a solution.

Without Social Security, the senior poverty rate would be nearly 40 percent, but because of Social Security, the senior poverty rate is less than 10 percent.

What I see in this group here, the people on this dais, is a group that is prepared to roll up their sleeves and get after a solution to a problem that we all know exists.

President Trump, to his credit, has already made that statement.

What a great debt of gratitude that we owe to Sam Johnson.

Nobody's getting rich off of Social Security. They are using these benefits to pay for essentials.

They are tired of the rhetoric, they are tired of people going to their separate corners and digging in and not getting anything done. That simply cannot stand anymore.

These benefits may be modest, but they are vital to the 63 million people who rely on them.

Social Security is not an entitlement. It is the insurance that people have paid for.

So I would just say, respectfully and particularly in deference to the Chairman's bill on Social Security 2021, let's look at getting a greater return for our government spending.

It was no different than it is today, except Ronald Reagan was adamantly opposed to advancing Social Security.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank the dean of the North Carolina delegation for putting together this Special Order on behalf of someone who truly epitomized the word ``gentleman,'' indeed, ``Southern gentleman,'' though…

We all--I think you can sense up here the bipartisan nature of our concern, as it relates to China.