Chris Van Hollen: “I come to the floor with a simple question for my colleagues, especially my Republican colleagues: Why is it that this…”

“I come to the floor with a simple question for my colleagues, especially my Republican colleagues: Why is it that this Senate is working to pass a law which will deny millions of our fellow Americans access to the kind of retirement saving plans which we have access to as U.S. Senators? Why are we doing that? I know all of us recognize that we have a retirement savings crisis in this country. Too many Americans are saving too little for their retirement years. We should be making it easier for people to put aside some savings for their retirement rather than making it harder. Yet this legislation will indisputably make it harder for millions of Americans to put aside the kind of savings for their retirement that Members of the U.S. Senate enjoy. All of us know there are really about three legs to the retirement stool. The fundamental basic piece is the Social Security savings. That is the bedrock of the retirement system, but we all know that living off of a Social Security retirement benefit by itself is very difficult. After all, the average monthly Social Security benefit as of January of this year was $1,360 a month. That is the average. That means there are a lot below it and a lot above it. I can tell you, $1,360 a month and below is really difficult for somebody to get by on in terms of housing costs, medical costs, and other costs people are facing today. That is why we need to strengthen Social Security, not weaken it.…”