SOCIAL SECURITY BIRTHDAY Social Security Celebrates 77 Years
Reported by: Darrah Wilcox
Web Producer: Darrah Wilcox
Reported: Aug. 14, 2012 5:32 PM EDT
Updated: Aug. 14, 2012 10:49 PM EDT
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Huntington
, Cabell County
, West Virginia
Seventy-seven years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that created Social Security. That's why a group came out to celebrate Tuesday at the Carpenters Local 302 Hall in Huntington.
"It's helped keep millions of Americans out of poverty,” Rick Wilson, director of the American Friends Service Committee, said. “It's provided a basic safety net."
More than 450,000 West Virginians receive benefits each year, and U.S. Rep. Nick Joe Rahall, D-W.Va., spoke about Social Security's importance at the event.
"Our state had truly been on the advantage side of that program, and I think it's something that our seniors should expect with certainty in the future," Rahall said.
Some came out not only to show their appreciation for Social Security's past, but think about its future. Wilson said programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid “are probably under attack today as they haven't been in the past. That's why we're here, both to celebrate them and to prepare to defend them if necessary."
Rahall said changes are inevitable, but they hope they are for the betterment of the programs. "We make reforms in it as provided under the Affordable Healthcare Act, but we don't end it as we know it today. Those reforms would reduce paperwork, reduce a lot of the tests, thereby providing savings in Medicare that would go back into the future solvency of the program."
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Darrah Wilcox
