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2 STATE OF ILLINOIS
3 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
4 SENATE
5 Senate Joint Resolution No. 32
6 Offered by Senators Parker, Geo-Karis, Bowles, Fawell,
7 Shadid, Klemm, DeLeo, Jacobs, Bomke, Peterson, Lauzen,
8 Radogno, Dudycz, Molaro, Donahue, Sullivan, del Valle,
9 Lightford and Trotter.
10 WHEREAS, Social Security provides American workers and
11 their families with universal, contributory, wage-related,
12 inflation-adjusted benefits in the event of the retirement,
13 disability or death of a wage earner; and
14 WHEREAS, Social Security is more than a retirement
15 program, it is a family program; without Social Security,
16 about 54 percent of the population aged 65 and over, and more
17 than 15 million beneficiaries overall, would be living in
18 poverty; about 98 percent of children under age 18 can count
19 on monthly cash benefits if a working parent dies; seven and
20 a half million Americans with disabilities currently benefit
21 from the program; and
22 WHEREAS, Throughout its existence as a federal program,
23 Social Security's trustees and administrators have carefully
24 modified the benefit and financing structure to ensure the
25 program's viability in light of demographic and economic
26 developments; and
27 WHEREAS, Congressional leaders and the President are
28 seeking to engage the American people in a dialogue about
29 Social Security that could lead toward enactment of
30 bipartisan legislation ensuring Social Security's long-term
31 solvency; and
32 WHEREAS, Social Security is not in crisis and, without
33 any changes, could pay full benefits until 2032 and 75
34 percent of benefits thereafter based on the most recent
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1 projections of the Social Security Board of Trustees; and
2 WHEREAS, The long-term solvency of Social Security can be
3 ensured for future generations with measured and timely
4 adjustments to the program made by Congress; and
5 WHEREAS, The federal Medicare program provides health
6 care for the nation's citizens who qualify for Medicare
7 benefits; and
8 WHEREAS, Medicare benefits are the subject of reform
9 discussions in the United States Congress; and
10 WHEREAS, Participants in the federal Medicare program do
11 not currently enjoy full coverage for prescription
12 medication; therefore, be it
13 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
14 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
15 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Congress of the
16 United States of America is hereby petitioned to preserve
17 Social Security as a contributory social insurance system
18 where risk is pooled among all workers and participation is
19 mandatory within a covered group; and be it further
20 RESOLVED, That the Congress of the United States of
21 America be urged to ensure the long-term financial viability
22 of Social Security, as described above, and restore public
23 confidence in the future of the program; and be it further
24 RESOLVED, That Social Security must continue as a federal
25 program; having a unified program allows for the portability
26 of benefits, disability and family support protections, and
27 maximum retirement security for low and moderate wage
28 earners; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That we urge the Congress of the United States
30 of America to provide full benefit coverage for prescription
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1 medication under the federal Medicare program; and be it
2 further
3 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
4 delivered to the President of the United States Senate, the
5 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and
6 each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.
7 Adopted by the Senate, May 20, 1999.
8 _______________________
9 President of the Senate
10 _______________________
11 Secretary of the Senate
12 Concurred in by the House of Representatives, May 25,
13 1999.
14 _________________________
15 Speaker of House of
16 Representatives
17 _________________________
18 Clerk of House of
19 Representatives
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