Social Security
October 05, 2016
ARA Endorsement of Smith for Congress
A group of WA State Alliance members met recently with Congressman Adam Smith over coffee to discuss his support for seniors. It was also an opportunity for President Jackie Boschok to announce that he received the endorsement of the Alliance for Retired Americans in his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives from District 9 of Washington. The ARA represents more than 4.3 million retirees, older Americans and community activists in our country, including 83,059 members in our state.
Smith has taken positions that demonstrate a strong commitment to improve the quality of life for older Americans. His leadership on issues such as preserving and protecting Social Security and Medicare from privatization and benefit cuts ensures these programs will be around for current and future generations. In addition, our members support his candidacy because he believes in the need to provide more affordable health care for older Americans, as well as the need for stronger retirement and pension security, and quality long term care.
During our meeting we thanked Congressman Smith for his co-sponsorship of The Strengthening Social Security Act of 2016 (H.R. 5952), a bill introduced last month to improve the retirement security of American families by strengthening Social Security. If passed it would gradually eliminate the “cap” on taxed income and correct the way cost-of-living is calculated for seniors. We support this bill and are asking our members to urge all of our Representatives to support it.
“He really listened and shares my concerns for future retirees” declared retired Boeing employee Pam Harris, when she told him about the problems the younger generation like her daughter face in saving for retirement. The Congressman responded that he will continue to fight to make the Social Security and Medicare programs available for current and future workers and keep her remarks in mind when voting on future legislative proposals. And after hearing from others about the high cost of drug prices, he agreed seniors need help to afford them and talked about a bill he has introduced to help keep generic drug prices more competitive.
The Alliance for Retired Americans believes that Adam Smith’s election to the House of Representatives will enhance the quality of life for older Americans. We here in Washington State agree and congratulated him on earning their endorsement.