Protecting Social Security

I joined 126 of my colleagues this week in a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) opposing the $1.7 billion cut to the operating budget of the Social Security Administration included in the Republican spending plan for the rest of this year. Social Security officials say the agency will have to shut down operations for up to 4 weeks due to the budget cut. That means people won’t be able to get social security cards, track down missing checks, or get any direct assistance from Social Security for a month. I find it unacceptable that people in the Northern Marianas and those throughout our nation, who rely on Social Security for survival or whose applications for retirement and disability benefits are being processed, should have to wait. My thanks to Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) for their leadership in this fight to protect Social Security for all Americans.