Sanders, Warren, Brown, Hirono & 68 House Dems to Obama: Expand Social Security

Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and John Conyers (MI-13) led a group of 72 members of the Congressional Democratic Caucus in a letter to President Obama calling on him to make expanding Social Security a top White House priority at the White House Conference on Aging, which begins today.

The letter details the current precarious situation for current and future retirees and the wide public support for expanding Social Security. It concludes, "As Social Security is affordable, universal, efficient, secure, portable, distributionally fair, and popular, expanding its modest benefits should be the number one retirement security recommendation of the White House Conference on Aging."

Here is the full text of the letter:

Dear President Obama, This August marks 80 years since the creation of Social Security, a program that has enabled tens of millions of Americans to realize the dream of retirement. We greatly appreciate your support for the program and your broader efforts to promote financial security.

We write today to request your help in ensuring that Americans continue to have sufficient resources to maintain their standard of living in old age. As employers continue moving from a defined benefit model to a defined contribution model of retirement savings, it is critical that we fight to protect and expand Social Security—the only guaranteed source of income in retirement. Today, two-thirds of retirees depend on social security for the majority of their income. More than half (53 percent) of today’s working Americans are not expected to have sufficient resources upon retirement to maintain their standard of living.

We believe that the decennial White House Conference on Aging, taking place on July 13, presents an excellent opportunity to open a discussion on expanding Social Security benefits. A clear majority of Americans support expanding Social Security. According to a 2014 survey, 79 percent of likely voters support “increasing Social Security benefits.” This support crosses party lines: 90 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of Independents, and 73 percent of Republicans favor expanding Social Security.

Given the state of popular opinion and the impending retirement savings crisis facing the nation, we respectfully urge you to include proposals to expand Social Security benefits for millions of Americans to your policy brief at the upcoming Conference. As Social Security is affordable, universal, efficient, secure, portable, distributionally fair, and popular, expanding its modest benefits should be the number one retirement security recommendation of the White House Conference on Aging. We look forward to working with you to accomplish this as part of the longstanding mission guaranteeing universal retirement security.

The group of 72 consists of 4 senators, 66 representatives, and two delegates (non-voting representatives). 

 

The three senators to sign on, besides Sanders, were Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Here are the 68 House Democrats:

Raul Grijalva (AZ-03)
Jerry McNerney (CA-09)
Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)
Barbara Lee (CA-13)
Mike Honda (CA-17)
Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)
Sam Farr (CA-20)
Judy Chu (CA-27)
Tony Cardenas (CA-29)
Grace Napolitano (CA-32)
Ted Lieu (CA-33)
Norma Torres (CA-35)
Linda Sanchez (CA-38)
Mark Takano (CA-41)
Maxine Waters (CA-43)
Janice Hahn (CA-44)
Juan Vargas (CA-51)
John Larson (CT-01)
Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Elizabeth Esty (CT-05)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL)
Corrine Brown (FL-05)
Alan Grayson (FL-09)
Alcee Hastings (FL-20)
Ted Deutch (FL-21)
Lois Frankel (FL-22)
Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
Hank Johnson (GA-04)
John Lewis (GA-05)
Mark Takai (HI-01)
Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Andre Carson (IN-07)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
Jim McGovern (MA-02)
Katherine Clark (MA-05)
Mike Capuano (MA-07)
Bill Keating (MA-09)
Donna Edwards (MD-04)
Elijah Cummings (MD-07)
Chris Van Hollen (MD-08)
Daniel Kildee (MI-05)
Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
John Conyers (MI-13)
Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)
Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Rick Nolan (MN-08)
Albio Sires (NJ-08)
Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Jerry Nadler (NY-10)
Jose Serrano (NY-15)
Paul Tonko (NY-20)
Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Bob Brady (PA-01)
Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Brendan Boyle (PA-13)
Mike Doyle (PA-14)
Matt Cartwright (PA-17)
David Cicilline (RI-01)
Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Bobby Scott (VA-03)
Stacey Plaskett (Virgin Islands)
Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)