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For more than forty years, the United States Congress has shamelessly used payroll taxes intended for Social Security to fund big government spending.

More retirees, longer life expectancy, larger benefits, and fewer workers - these trends have meant substantial increases in the payroll tax. Since the social security program began, the payroll tax has increased more than 500 percent.

There is a need for Social Security reform to ensure its stability, and Congress must act.

Social Security is a tax.

There's been a lot said about Social Security reform. What has been left out of the debate is the double tax on Social Security benefits. I believe it's time to get rid of a tax that punishes seniors and discourages work and retirement savings.

I have the highest number of Social Security recipients of any Member of Congress, and it is always good to hear about how women in their districts are affected by any changes, by the need for changes in Social Security.

It is not secret here in Congress we have not had the discipline in many instances to keep our hands out of the cookie jar of Social Security. Now to stop this I propose that in the future that Congress cannot get its hands on the money in the first place.

Social Security is not just another government spending program. It is a promise from generation to generation.

It has to have a payroll tax that's dedicated to Social Security. The Social Security tax has been very successful over the years in raising almost all of our elderly citizens out of poverty.

Social Security is a plan that actually was designed in a much different time, in a different era, and with a different set of American demographics in mind.