On the recordJuly 12, 2011
Madam Speaker, we can all agree that we need to bring down our deficit, but we disagree on how to do it. Republicans in Congress say that the only way to do this is to gut the services that American families rely on. Their priority is to protect the wealthiest among us who continue to enjoy loopholes and tax breaks. They should be paying their fair share. Social Security is a promise to every American worker for years of hard work and provides dignity in retirement and help to support surviving children. Today nearly 55 million Americans rely on Social Security, including 214,000 in Hawaii. The program is vital to women, particularly single women, who disproportionately face poverty in old age. The American middle class and our seniors deserve a fair solution on the deficit that gets our economy back on track and creates jobs--but not, not on the backs of our families and seniors. ____________________
