With Congressman Zach Wamp voting "Yes," Congress completed work late Tuesday on a bill to eliminate the Social Security "earnings penalty" on people between 65 and 69 who want to work.

"This has been a major goal of those of us who are in the Congressional majority," Wamp said. "This change lets seniors who enjoy working or who want to work to maintain their lifestyle a chance to stay in the job market without being punished."

Some 800,000 Americans and 15,000 Tennesseans are affected by the earnings penalty. The Senate completed work on the bill eliminating the penalty earlier, so the bill is now on its way to President Clinton, who has said he will sign it.

Wamp said, "The old law had cost folks who chose to work and draw Social Security $1 in benefits for every $3 they earned above $17,000. It?s high time we ended this unfair feature."