Nick Lampson: “I wanted to talk about the issue of Social Security and what we are facing with changes. I know that one of my…”

“I wanted to talk about the issue of Social Security and what we are facing with changes. I know that one of my colleagues soon, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), will be talking specifically about this and thought it might be appropriate to remind people of what some of the benefits of this program are to certain individuals and when it is done right, the significant opportunities that it presents not only to the individuals but for the gain for our country. We want to produce productive citizens. That opportunity came for me when I was but a young kid. When my father died at my age of 12 years old, he was 54, leaving six children and a wife who did not have an opportunity for employment because she had very little or no education earlier in her own life. Had it not been for the support that our community gave us, this family, with the six kids, with one of them being in a wheelchair because of an illness that left her paralyzed, this family would not have been able to stay together. But through the support of Social Security, as long as we were students, up until the age of 21 years old at that time, we could get that help. It gave us the opportunity to stay together as a family.”