Susan Collins: “let me just briefly say that I have great admiration for the Senator from North Carolina. This is a rare instance in…”

“let me just briefly say that I have great admiration for the Senator from North Carolina. This is a rare instance in which we see the issue differently. But I appreciate his leadership and hard work. I rise today in strong support of the long overdue Social Security Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill would repeal two Social Security provisions that unfairly penalize many public servants in Maine and across the country. I also want to acknowledge and thank Senator Brown for his leadership. We have championed this bill together for several years. In fact, we have been debating this inequity in the Social Security System for decades--for decades. In 2003, I held the very first Senate hearing on this policy. In 2005, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein and I introduced the first Social Security Fairness Act. In 2007, Senator Barbara Mikulski and I introduced another version of the bill. Just last month, the House of Representatives passed the bill overwhelmingly by a vote of 327 to 75. It is now time for the Senate to finally pass this legislation so that it can become law. Social Security is the foundation of retirement income for most Americans. Yet many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants often see their earned Social Security benefits unfairly reduced by two provisions: the so-called windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset.…”