Russ Feingold: “I rise to support the Reid amendment. I want to commend my friend and the distinguished Senator from Nevada for offering…”

“I rise to support the Reid amendment. I want to commend my friend and the distinguished Senator from Nevada for offering it. Mr. President, Social Security is unlike any other program in the unified budget. In fact, the surpluses generated by Social Security are the principal reason that the unified budget was created in the first place. Social Security is, fiscally and politically, a special program, and those special traits require us to separate it out from the rest of the budget. Social Security is singular as a public contract between the people of the United States and their elected Government. What happened here with Social Security, Mr. President, is that the elected Government promised that if workers and their employers paid into the Social Security fund, they would be able to draw upon that fund when they retire--a simple proposition. But the singular nature of Social Security and the special regard in which it is held by the public, Mr. President, does not flow from some fleeting sense of nostalgia. Rather, Social Security has provided real help for millions of seniors. According to AARP, Social Security keeps 15 million beneficiaries of all ages out of poverty. Today, 13 percent of recipients rely on Social Security for all of their income; 1 in 4 count on it for at least 90 percent of their income; 3 in 5, Mr. President--60 percent--depend on it for at least half of their income.”