Clay opposes attempts to privatize Social Security

In his latest newsletter, First District Congressman Lacy Clay, D-Mo, vows to fight any efforts to privatize Social Security:

In just a few weeks, on August 14th, Social Security will celebrate its 75th anniversary.


No single Act of Congress has helped more Americans than the passage of Social Security in 1935.

President Roosevelt’s bold idea was to create a sacred contract between the generations, and over the last 75 years, Social Security has lifted millions of senior citizens and disabled Americans out of poverty into security and dignity.

I will continue to fight to safeguard benefits, extend the solvency of the trust fund, and make absolutely certain that Social Security will be there for future generations.

Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans disagree, proposing yet again, a path that puts Social Security – and the livelihoods of those who depend on it – at risk.

Just five years ago, President Bush and his Republican allies pushed a risky plan to privatize and cut Social Security. If they had succeeded, seniors would have lost trillions more in the financial crisis.

Democrats and the American people said ‘no.’ And no one lost a penny in Social Security – even as America’s households lost more than $17 trillion in wealth under the reckless economic policies of the previous Administration.

This year, Republicans are charting a course right back to the failed ideas of the past. Again, Democrats and the American people are saying no.

Social Security has remained strong through 13 recessions, and will stand strong through this one; and the party responsible for Social Security—the Democrats—remains committed to ensuring the stable retirement that our seniors have earned.

What President Roosevelt said of the Republicans back in 1935 rings just as true today, that they are “Frozen in the ice of their own indifference towards the American people.”

Rest assured that as long as I have the honor to represent you in Congress, Social Security will remain a sacred promise, that will never be broken.