{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-durbin-deliver-joint-speech-urging-senate-to-take-action-before-social-security-becomes-insolvent/", "CASSIDY, DURBIN DELIVER JOINT SPEECH URGING SENATE TO TAKE ACTION BEFORE SOCIAL SECURITY BECOMES INSOLVENT", "2026-08-05", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) delivered a joint speech on the U.S. Senate floor emphasizing the dire need for congressional action to address Social Security\u2019s looming insolvency. The Social Security trust fund is expected to become insolvent in 2032, resulting in an automatic reduction in benefits for millions of Americans. The Senators have introduced the bipartisan Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone (PROMISE) Act, legislation that would establish a bipartisan process to address Social Security\u2019s looming insolvency. The legislation merely sets up a process for Congress to consider debating proposals.\n\n\u201cMr. President, people won\u2019t even set up a process! We\u2019re not talking about a solution. We\u2019re talking about a process that would come to a solution!\u2026It is important for our country that Congress tackle this issue. And when I say our country, I mean the people who live here, whether they are older or whether they are younger; they\u2019re relying upon Congress to step up to its responsibility,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy.\n\n\u201cSo, to my colleagues who oppose this approach, who say we need more time to do it, I want to back up Senator Cassidy. It costs money over time. It costs benefits over time. The solution becomes more expensive over time. The longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes to save Social Security. And we absolutely, positively have to save it,\u201d said Senator Durbin.\n\nRemarks as delivered below:\n\nCASSIDY: Mr. President,\n\nWe have been trying to set up a process, a process whereby Congress would consider a solution.\n\nNot prescribe a solution, consider a solution for Social Security. A process that would have members of the House and members of the Senate come together fully open for input from stakeholders, from citizens, to have something to present.\n\nAmong all the proposals that are out there, two proposals, three proposals, and whatever we put up would not be the final solution, necessarily.\n\nIt could be replaced by any other member of the Senate with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.\n\nAnd, Mr. President, people won\u2019t even set up a process! We\u2019re not talking about a solution. We\u2019re talking about a process that would come to a solution, maybe, that still has to get 60 votes in the United States Senate.\n\nFolks say, \u201cWe need more time.\u201d\n\nDick Durbin just chuckled. He goes, \u201cThey\u2019ve had 44 years. They\u2019ve had 44 years, how much more time do they need?\u201d\n\nI\u2019ve got a couple cartoons just to make the case. I think that if we don\u2019t set up this process, Congress will be kicking granny off the cliff.\n\nThat was made famous long ago. There it is.\n\nShe earned it.\n\nShe deserves it.\n\nShe counts on it.\n\nAnd Congress will not set up a process by which to address the issue.\n\n75 million retirees, widows, widowers, others rely on Social.\n\nIn 6 years, the program, the trust fund goes insolvent.\n\nAnd when that happens, according to the actuaries, there will be either an almost 29% benefit reduction or a 40% increase in payroll taxes on working Americans.\n\nIf that trust fund goes insolvent, and that benefit is cut 28.5% as the actuaries say it will, the rate of poverty among Americans over age 65 will increase by 50%.\n\nBy 50%.\n\nSo here\u2019s another cartoon.\n\nCongress made a promise, and some people want to ignore it.\n\nShe paid in, she earned it, she relies on it. But\u2026if you ask, \u201cShould we do something about Social?\u201d Apparently, for some people, the time to do something on Social is never.\n\nDon\u2019t disturb Congress.\n\nThey don\u2019t want to take a tough vote, even if that vote only sets up a process.\n\nDoesn\u2019t even propose a solution. A process whereby Congress is required to fix the issue.\n\nBy the way, Social has always been important. It\u2019s even more important now that Americans are living longer.\n\nAnd every year we delay to fixing it, fixing Social, the amount of cuts required to balance it increase. The amount of taxes required to fix it increase. The amount of money we have to borrow to fix it increases.\n\nThere is no good thing about waiting, except that it allows Congress to dodge its responsibility.\n\nI want to compliment my colleague from Illinois. He came up to me and goes, \u201cBill, I\u2019m leaving the Senate. We need to make a run.\u201d\n\nBut, by the way, we have a solution, but we\u2019re not saying it has to be our solution.\n\nAll we\u2019re trying to do is set up a process by which solutions can be considered.\n\nAnd running out the clock, it may be politically convenient, but it is the wrong thing to do. Congress\u2019s obligation to the American people, to the people that rely upon Social Security, is to act and is to act now.\n\nI have another cartoon here just to make the point.\n\nIt\u2019s not just older people affected; it is younger people.\n\nSorry, young folks, you\u2019re getting left behind. Because some say it\u2019s not our problem.\n\nThe Social Security system is going insolvent, and these folks can pay into it, they\u2019ll never receive a benefit.\n\nThese young Pages here, they don\u2019t recognize it yet, but they\u2019re contributing every month on the wages they\u2019re getting to a system that will not be there for them unless we do something now.\n\nSo, before I defer to my colleague, I\u2019ll say once more: all we\u2019re doing is setting up a process to propose solutions that may or may not pass, that any Senator can bring their own bill and have it as an amendment in the nature of a substitute.\n\nAnd it\u2019s up to Congress to find a solution.\n\nNow, history will decide whether Congress took up the responsibility of addressing the issue or whether because it was politically advantageous, politically expedient, to kick the can down the road once more, even though the road\u2019s about to end in a dead end.\n\nOr, in the case of one of our cartoons, with the cliff here, they built a bridge and decided not to finish it.\n\nHere, the folks who need to get across the bridge of Social Security will get to it someday.\n\nWe\u2019ve got to get to it now.\n\nThat\u2019s the point, Mr. President.\n\nLet\u2019s set up a process to be considered.\n\nWe\u2019re talking about the PROMISE Act, which is a Dick Durbin, lead author, Bill Cassidy bill.\n\nNow, there may be another way, but let\u2019s set up the process.\n\nWith that, I defer to my colleague.\n\nDURBIN: Mr. President,\n\nWhat a treat it is to be on the floor of the Senate with a colleague on the Republican side of the aisle, working together, to try to solve a problem.\n\nIt doesn\u2019t happen much around here. You see these empty desks?\n\nThey\u2019re empty almost all the days, week in, week out, month in, month out.\n\nWe do important things like nominations. There\u2019s nothing that\u2019s trivial about that.\n\nBut we don\u2019t tackle the issues that really affect the people at home with their families.\n\nHere\u2019s one: Social Security.\n\n75 million Americans rely on it.\n\nHalf of them, it\u2019s their only source of income. So, a Social Security check means a lot.\n\nSo, the experts on Social Security tell Dr. Cassidy and myself that just in a few years, six years, Social Security will be unable to make full promise payments. It\u2019ll be cut by 22% in terms of benefits.\n\nLet\u2019s take one example.\n\nThe average Social Security check now is around $2,400 a month. If you reduce that by 22%, it means that people receiving Social Security will receive about $450 to $500 less a month. If that is your only source of income, imagine for a moment that $2,400 just lopped off from the monthly payment.\n\nHow does if affect you? Paying your rent, paying your mortgage, paying your utility bills, paying what it might take at a grocery store to get by.\n\nIt\u2019s going to be a real hardship, as Senator Cassidy said.\n\nFor the citizens of America, it means that those under the poverty level will increase by 50%.\n\nWe can\u2019t let that happen.\n\nWe have to do something about it.\n\nAnd the bill that I\u2019ve introduced with Senator Cassidy basically doesn\u2019t pick a solution, although we can come up with a couple. It doesn\u2019t pick a solution. It just says, don\u2019t waste any time.\n\nStart talking about it.\n\nStart debating it.\n\nLet the American people engage in this conversation with you and vote on some alternatives. Now, vote is a word that used to be part of being a senator.\n\nNot so much anymore. Except when it comes to nominations, there aren\u2019t a lot of votes on substantive issues around this chamber. I know a little bit about this.\n\nI\u2019ve given more than half of my life to Congress. 14 years in the House, 30 years in the Senate.\n\nI know what you\u2019re saying. Sounds like a career politician.\n\nWell, maybe I am. And proud of it.\n\nAnd particularly proud of serving in this chamber. I\u2019ve seen some glorious things happen in this chamber on a bipartisan basis.\n\nBut it takes a couple senators, maybe more, to stand up and say, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do something that\u2019s risky and controversial, but important.\u201d\n\nThis is not the first time I faced Social Security. When I was a member of the House, elected in \u201982, came to serve in \u201983, I was told that in a matter of months, Social Security would run out of money.\n\nImagine that.\n\nYou\u2019re a brand-new member of Congress, scared to death you won\u2019t be reelected, and they tell you you\u2019ve got to make a big change in the biggest social program in America.\n\nScares you to death.\n\nBut you know what? We did it. Our goal was simple.\n\n50 years of solvency in Social Security.\n\nCan we change Social Security and guarantee 50 years of solvency? We made a lot of changes.\n\nAnd you know what we got for it? 2032.\n\n1983 to 2032, we kept our word. 50 years. It\u2019s not too much to ask this Congress to fix Social Security and keep it solvent for 50 years.\n\nWe can do it. The longer we wait to do it, the more difficult it becomes.\n\nI look back on voting for that, and I thought it was the end of my political career, which was only a few months old.\n\nBut it turned out no member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, in 1983 and \u201984 lost an election because they voted for Social Security changes.\n\nThe American people expect us to make the best choices we can. And they accepted what we did, and we bout 50 years of solvency.\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing thing when you consider how important this program is.\n\nAnd so, what Senator Cassidy and I have suggested is a process which basically says we won\u2019t go by the Senate rules.\n\nI might add, I was going to show it, but I think it violates the Senate rules.\n\nThe Senate is a chamber of tradition.\n\nDown here, a few of you can see it, is a brass spittoon. A brass spittoon.\n\nIt\u2019s been held onto as part of the tradition of the Senate.\n\nWell, we have traditions in the rules that make things almost impossible to pass except after a long period of time. Weeks go by sometimes. Days certainly go by. Trying to get a measure on the floor to an actual vote.\n\nThe Senate rules are not kindly. They\u2019re tough.\n\nSo, the bill that I introduced basically cuts through some of this red tape of delay and says we\u2019ll move after several weeks to consider alternative Social Security.\n\nThe bottom line is it isn\u2019t enough to get a majority in the Senate under the current rules, and it isn\u2019t changed at all under our proposal.\n\nYou still need 60 votes to ultimately pass any change in Social Security.\n\nWell, Democrats don\u2019t have 60 votes.\n\nRepublicans don\u2019t have 60 votes, but together we think we can reach that goal.\n\nNow, I\u2019ve been a little disappointed but not surprised that some of my colleagues that I\u2019ve talked to about this said they thought it was a good idea, but on reflection they\u2019ve decided it\u2019s too risky, that we\u2019re moving things too fast.\n\nThe Senate\u2019s never been accused successfully of moving too fast on almost anything.\n\nWe take our time. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\n\nThe Senate is different than the House, and I served in both and respect both.\n\nSo, to my colleagues who oppose this approach, who say we need more time to do it, I want to back up Senator Cassidy.\n\nIt costs money over time.\n\nIt costs benefits over time.\n\nThe solution becomes more expensive over time. The longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes to save Social Security. And we absolutely, positively have to save it.\n\nToo many people are counting on it.\n\nI\u2019ll bet you the folks who gather here today have many relatives of their own who count on Social Security, either because they\u2019re disabled or elderly.\n\nI understand that in my own family.\n\nI think everybody does.\n\nSo, it is a great day in the Senate when a Democrat and a Republican stand on the floor and don\u2019t criticize one another, but actually talk about working together.\n\nIt\u2019s been a real pleasure for me, I\u2019d say to Senator Cassidy, to be part of the Cassidy\u2013Durbin Team.\n\nWe\u2019re both ending our Senate careers on January 3rd of next year. We hoped that this would be one of the things we could achieve before we left.\n\nI\u2019m still not giving up completely.\n\nMiracles do occur.\n\nBut I had to step up and make a proposal with Senator Cassidy to get my colleagues in conversation.\n\nThe conversation about Social Security has increased dramatically since we started this effort.\n\nAnd I think it should.\n\nThe sooner, the better.\n\nThe more expensive it becomes the longer we wait.\n\nAnd I yield back to Senator Cassidy.\n\nCASSIDY: Thank you, Senator Durbin.\n\nAnd Senator Durbin is referring to what is called the PROMISE Act.\n\nAgain, it is a bill which sets up a process to come to a solution. It doesn\u2019t dictate what the solution is.\n\nWe have colleagues who are objecting to coming up with a process.\n\nAnd so, it is important for our country that Congress tackle this issue. And when I say our country, I mean the people who live here, whether they are older or whether they are younger, they\u2019re relying upon Congress to step up to its responsibility.\n\nThank you, Senator Durbin. We\u2019ll continue to push on this.\n\nIt is important for our Congress, important for our country, important for our people.\n\nWith that, I yield.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-06T07:37:31Z", "2026-08-06T07:38:34Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-durbin-deliver-joint-speech-urging-senate-to-take-action-before-social-security-becomes-insolvent/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8054450154304504, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}