{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-benefit-increase-too-small-for-americans-relying-on-social-security", "Sanders: Benefit Increase Too Small for Americans Relying on Social Security", "2016-10-18", "2016", "2016-10", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders: Benefit Increase Too Small for Americans Relying on Social Security\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, October 18, 2016\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON, Oct. 18 \u2013\u00a0Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Tuesday after the Social Security Administration announced a 0.3 percent increase, between $2 and $6, for Americans who\u00a0receive Social Security benefits:\r\n\u201cSeniors and disabled veterans need more help than a few extra dollars in their monthly checks. These are the people who built this country \u2013 our parents, our grandparents and our soldiers. At a time when senior poverty is going up and more than two-thirds of the elderly population rely on Social Security for more than half of their income, we must do everything we can to expand Social Security. Seniors and disabled veterans deserve\u00a0a fair cost-of-living adjustment\u00a0to\u00a0keep up with the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs and health care. Unfortunately, the increase announced today doesn\u2019t\u00a0come close to\u00a0doing\u00a0that.\u201d\r\nSanders has proposed\u00a0legislation\u00a0to boost\u00a0yearly cost-of-living adjustments by making the consumer price index better reflect rising costs for health care and prescription medicine.\u00a0Sanders has also\u00a0cosponsored\u00a0legislation to give Social Security beneficiaries a one-time, 3.9 percent benefit increase.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-benefit-increase-too-small-for-americans-relying-on-social-security"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7831558361649513, "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"}