Bob Casey

That is a really stunning number.

In Pennsylvania, Social Security benefits supported 470,442 jobs, $70.9 billion in output, and $4 billion in State and local tax revenues.

Let us not look at Social Security as a piggy bank to solve the deficit.

I do not think there is any question that you do not need to have a degree in economics or a lot of advanced learning to look at the data on what has happened to the middle class over the last 4 years, the last 10 years, or the last 45.

I think we all have a pretty serious obligation to get this right.

It is just stunning, the hammer blows that the middle class has endured--and the folks who are just below the middle class.

I want to thank Senator Brown for calling the hearing and for the work that he and Senator Toomey did to bring this hearing about.

I hope that, should you be confirmed, which I expect you will be, with my support, that you will be willing to really dig into this and get to the bottom of it and be able to provide this committee the answers that Chairman Baucus and…

It is, obviously, a big population of people for our State, but I think you can go across the country...

We are grateful that you are here with us today, not just for your testimony and your willingness to serve.

I appreciate your attention to that.

I'm out of time, but I'll submit a question for the record as to what the Federal Government might do to help.

Why are we just kind of dropping Pell students with just a voucher and saying that that's enough? They need more than that.

They need assistance walking through the application process.

We appreciate our witnesses' testimony and the expertise and experience they bring to bear on these difficult issues.

Many high schools and colleges, particularly public institutions, are insufficiently staffed to provide such support with student to counselor ratios at public colleges as high as 1,500 to one.

Obviously, I know often in this town when there is a problem, some people think the solution is always a Federal law, and I understand the concerns about that.

It does not seem to make sense that it is not a violation presently.

And in terms of your direct experience, the differential between the bids between you and, say, a firm that is not playing by the rules, can be in that range of 10 to 30 percent. Is that accurate?

The only thing that really changed is that you had a lot less protection and therefore later had to pay a very severe price for not having those protections.

Without this monetary and tax incentive for employers to fix the problem, it will continue unabated.

I think it is, in a word, not just necessary or essential but really, in a word, reasonable.

You felt that you had to do that in order to keep your job and have income for your family.

The Payroll Fraud Prevention Act would provide important transparency for workers and employers.

Thank you, Senator Isakson. What I will do is provide an overview of the backgrounds of our witnesses.