[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 155 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 155
Protecting Social Security beneficiaries from COLA cuts.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 23, 2003
Mr. Specter (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Alexander, Mr.
Allard, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Biden, Mr.
Bingaman, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bunning,
Mr. Burns, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr.
Chafee, Mr. Chambliss, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Mr.
Conrad, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Craig, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daschle, Mr.
Dayton, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, Mr.
Durbin, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Feingold, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Frist, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Graham
of South Carolina, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Harkin, Mr.
Hatch, Mr. Hollings, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr.
Jeffords, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Kyl, Ms.
Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs.
Lincoln, Mr. Lott, Mr. Lugar, Mr. McCain, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Mikulski,
Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr.
Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr.
Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Smith, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Stevens,
Mr. Sununu, Mr. Talent, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Warner, and Mr.
Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and
agreed to
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RESOLUTION
Protecting Social Security beneficiaries from COLA cuts.
Resolved, That the Senate finds that:
(1) Social Security provides a relatively modest insurance
benefit for seniors--many of whom rely on Social Security for
part or all of their monthly income. Without Social Security,
forty eight percent of beneficiaries would be in poverty today.
(2) In order to protect benefit levels against inflation,
Social Security beneficiaries receive an annual cost-of-living
adjustment (COLA) based on Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
(3) The January 2003 COLA provided only a 1.4 percent
increase in Social Security benefits, increasing the average
monthly benefit for all retired workers by only $13 (from $882
to $895).
(4) Annual growth in Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket
health care costs for retired individuals on fixed incomes far
exceeded the small COLA increases provided to Social Security
beneficiaries.
(5) Reducing COLAs will disproportionately harm low-income
Social Security beneficiaries and push millions of seniors into
poverty.
Sec. 2. Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that
Social Security cost-of-living adjustments should not be reduced.
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