Seniors have worked hard their entire lives and should be able to retire with dignity. While Republicans frequently discuss making deep cuts to Medicare and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations, I have long championed policies to expand them. I support improving the Social Security Administration, increasing benefits by using a more accurate measure of seniors’ cost of living, and shoring up the long-term solvency of the program by scrapping the payroll tax cap to require the wealthy pay taxes like everyone else.

Social Security has stood the test of time, and for millions of seniors is the only thing left standing during their retirement years. With barely half of American workers receiving a retirement plan through their jobs, stagnating wages, and a slow economic recovery, many working families have been unable to save for retirement. We have a duty to uphold our promise to workers who have paid into the program their entire adult lives by ensuring that they receive every penny of their Social Security benefits. Maintaining a strong social security program is especially critical to millions of American women, who continue to face unjustified pay gaps.