Major Decisions in the House and Senate on Social Security: 1935-2011

Gary Sidor
Information Research Specialist

Since its enactment in 1935, the Social Security Act has been amended numerous times. This paper is not fully comprehensive. It briefly summarizes discussions on individual major amendments. These summations do not characterize the complete range of motivations behind Social Security votes; rather, they record the arguments expressed at the time and, by so doing, attempt to give the reader the tone and context of the debate on major Social Security issues brought before the House and Senate chambers.

This report is intended to respond to the many inquiries that CRS gets for Social Security vote information, which range from requests for general information about legislative action over the years to requests for information about specific floor amendments. Thus, it is intended to be a reference document on the major statutory decisions made by Congress on the Social Security program. A detailed table of contents and a summary table of the legislation discussed are provided to aid the reader.


Date of Report: January 11, 2012
Number of Pages: 93
Order Number: RL30920
Price: $29.95

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