Political Quotes

“even though I hate to disagree with another Texan, particularly the majority leader, but let me tell the Members the real story. It is not the unions that are the problem. Congress made in 1983 Social Security participation by some local governments voluntary, school districts. In Texas, very few school districts participate in Social Security because they have a teacher retirement system. Some do. But the problem we need to address in this legislation that we are not and it makes it worse is that we have a widow's benefit under Social Security. I do not care if they have never paid into Social Security at all. They receive a widow's benefit if they were married to someone for more than 10 years. And we have cases in Texas that educators, not just teachers, custodial staff, lunchroom staff, administrators, maybe even superintendents, the highest paid, but it covers so many people that they may work under that system their whole life. They are career educators, and yet they are married to someone who pays into Social Security for over 10 years, maybe 30 or 40 years, and when their spouse passes away, that person may be receiving teacher retirement then. All of a sudden, they say, I should get my spousal benefit because I am a widow. Tough luck. That spouse they may have been married with for 30 years, they receive very little, in fact, almost nothing under their Social Security benefits. That is what is wrong with the current law.”