FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 10, 2005

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi: ‘Social Security Has Represented Dignity and Independence to Millions of Women'

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today joined Senator Barbara Boxer of California, Congresswomen Hilda Solis of California, Lois Capps of California, Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, and Members of the Democratic Women’s Working Group to hold a forum on Women and Social Security.  The forum focused on families and children and women in the workforce, and included experts and middle-class citizens concerned about the future of Social Security.  Below are Pelosi’s remarks:

“The President’s risky privatization plan would strike another blow to the middle class by assessing the single-largest Social Security benefit cut in history, at a time when middle-class families are already struggling to pay for rising health care costs, higher prices at the pump, and escalating tuition costs due to misguided Republican economic policies.

“On top of that, the President’s misleading proposal glosses over the fact that survivor benefits would be cut under his privatization plan.  Workers earning $58,000 a year would be hit with a 42 percent benefit cut for survivors and retirees.  Middle-class Americans making more than $58,000 would receive an even larger benefit cut.

“My colleagues have addressed the impact on women and we’ll hear more from our experts today.  But I want to emphasize that Social Security has represented dignity and independence to millions of women over the years.  More than 24 million women receive Social Security benefits.  Women make up 58 percent of seniors receiving Social Security.   Without Social Security, 53 percent of all senior women would be living in poverty.

“Democrats won’t let President Bush turn this proud legacy of the New Deal into a Raw Deal for millions of American women.  We will not allow him to turn Social Security’s guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble.

“There is no Social Security crisis.  We all agree that there is a problem down the road that we should address before it becomes a bigger problem.  But according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, that problem doesn’t begin until the middle of this century.  What we need to do is to have a fix for the middle of the century, until the end of the 21st century.  We have time to do it right.

“Democrats do have a plan.  Our plan is to save Social Security first, to stop the privatization of Social Security, to stop President Bush from taking money out of the Social Security trust fund and demand that he pay it back.

"We are ready for the fight.  I’m proud of my Democrats for the communication they have done by going out across the country to do 350 town hall meetings on the subject.  We are not dependent on what is going on in Washington D.C., but we are taking it out to the country to point out the danger of privatization and the cuts that would come from it.

“Democrats believe that whatever solution we have for Social Security should not add to the deficit, that it should not harm the middle class, and it should not start by slashing benefits.”

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi