"Social Security has guaranteed every American worker a basic income in his or her retirement for more than 75 years, through good economic times and bad. We must do everything to preserve and protect this program. I am determined that the nation's greatest insurance program, which is the primary source of income for the majority of its beneficiaries and has prevented millions from falling into poverty, must remain viable and solvent and continue to serve as the nation's critical social safety net."
Today, Social Security has 53 million beneficiaries, of which 213,000 reside in Hawaii. Among the program's major beneficiaries are women, who do not have significant savings and other sources of income because they entered the workforce late after helping raise their families or earned less than their male counterparts.
Senator Akaka acknowledges that steps need to be taken to slow and reverse the growth of the federal deficits while stimulating job growth and increased productivity. Yet, the Senator notes that while many Americans saw their pension plans and assets (primarily homes) decline in value because of the collapse of the stock market and the housing sector, Social Security weathered the recent financial storms and all other financial storms and never once failed to provide its beneficiaries with their promised benefits. Senator Akaka knows that Social Security is actuarially sound and projected to remain so until 2037, and has never added a penny to any budget deficit. In fact, Social Security would be widely perceived today to be in robust fiscal health had its surpluses over the years not been used to offset deficits elsewhere in the federal budget.
As a member of the newly-created Defending Social Security Caucus, Senator Akaka will work to ensure that Social Security, the nation's most successful insurance program, continues to serve as a vitally important - and actuarially sound - social safety net for the nation and Hawaii.
