Brian Schatz: “Leave Social Security alone. Leave Social Security alone. Donald Trump wants to gut the most successful antipoverty…”

“Leave Social Security alone. Leave Social Security alone. Donald Trump wants to gut the most successful antipoverty program in American history. Over the past 3 months, his administration has made sweeping cuts to Social Security in ways that are already being felt across the country. Wait times have doubled to as many as 4 or 5 hours. Local field offices are closing. Websites are crashing, and people are understandably panicked about getting checks or missing payments altogether. But according to Commerce Secretary Lutnick, there is nothing to worry about: Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law who is 94, she wouldn't call and complain. She just wouldn't. She'd think something got messed up, and she'd get it next month. ``She wouldn't complain.'' Well, when your son-in-law is a billionaire, a missed check is not a very big deal, but when you are a senior on the island of Oahu, where the average rent far exceeds the average benefit--I want you to understand that the average benefit is about $1,900. The average rent is more than $2,000. Three hundred thousand people in the State of Hawaii depend on Social Security, and the vast majority of them, Social Security is either all of their income or most of their income. The idea that we are going to balance the budget on the backs of seniors who have paid into an earned benefit is immoral. It is wrong. I speak on behalf of all of my constituents who depend on it.…”