Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) released the following statement on the state of America’s Social Security program:

“Social Security is one of the bedrocks of America’s middle class. It is an essential safety net for millions of our nation’s seniors and their families who rely on this program for their basic necessities.

“Social Security is a self-financed program and does not contribute to the federal deficit. Its current funding is not only sufficient to pay all costs, but to add to a surplus trust fund. According to a recent report by the Social Security Board of Trustees, asset reserves of the Social Security Trust Funds increased by $54 billion in 2012, bringing the total amount of its funds to $2.73 trillion. In short, Social Security is healthy and, if anything, its benefits should be expanded.

“The so-called reform efforts stubbornly pushed by Republicans – and unfortunately some centrist Democrats – are really nothing more than a means of cutting Social Security benefits and shifting costs gradually onto seniors and the disabled.

“Democrats and progressives should be concentrating on celebrating and expanding one of the greatest domestic programs in our nation’s history, not allying with conservatives who have the sole goal of dismantling Social Security benefits as we know it.”

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