Portland Observer, March 23, 1983 Page 5
Washington Hot Line
Eestar B re a k fa s t, Sunday. A p ril 3 ,9 a m .-1:30 p.m . Adults S3 and chil­
dren SI .30. Immaculate Heart School, on N .E . Stanton o f f W illiams Ave.
by Congrtxman Ron Wydtn
Two weeks ago, during the consid­
eration o f the Social Security reform
package in the House o f Represen­
tatives, M em bers voted to include
an amendment that w ould, by early
in the next century, raise the normal
age at which individuals can receive
full Social Security benefits from 6 )
to 67.
ate conference meetings on the b ill
— that would perm it workers to re­
ceive full retirement benefits at 65 if
they can show that it would endan­
ger their health to continue working
in the occupation for which they are
tra in e d . Such a p ro v is io n w o u ld
complement existing disability law
and alleviate many o f the concerns
o f working Americans.
I opposed this am en dm en t and
will continue to oppose it because 1
think it will work a hardship on sev­
eral m illion older Americans whose
health makes it virtually impossible
for them to work, but who still can­
not qualify for disability. Because a
m ajority o f my colleagues support­
ed (he provision to raise the retire­
ment age, however, I recognize (hat
there is little hope o f completely re­
versing the action at this point.
T h is p ro visio n co u ld serve as a
failsafe mechanism that would offer
a flo o r o f protection to those who
w o rk in o ur m ines, fac to rie s and
other jobs requiring hard physical
la b o r. Several m illio n Am ericans
w ho fin d it v irtu a lly impossible to
keep working, but who can't qualify
for disability, would be able to retire
at 63 w ith dignity under this p ro vi­
sion.
That's why 1 suggested to my col­
leagues in a speech on the House
floor Friday, that before this legisla­
tion is sent to the President, we at
least take steps to alleviate some o f
the hardships that raising the retire­
ment age will create.
T o that end, I recommended add­
ing a new pro vision — either in the
Senate or during the House and Sen­
Such a pro vision also w ould fit
within the structure o f the Social Se­
curity Administration, and could be
adm inistered w ith o u t undue d if f i ­
culty. And the cost projections are
favorable. The estimate is that less
th an o n e -te n th o f one percent o f
payroll is all that would be needed.
M a k in g people w o rk longer or
suffer Financial penalties is one way
to elim inate Social Security's long­
term d e fic it. But it is not a smart
way. Surveys reported in articles by
U n iv e rs ity o f M a ry la n d professor
D r . E ric Kingson sound th a t, o f
those who dropped out o f the labor
fo rce b e fo re 6 3 , o n e -h a lf to tw o-
thirds o f them said they did so be­
cause o f poor health.
D r. Kingson also reports his own
studies showed higher death rates
fo r very ea rly retirees, suggesting
they left w ork because they had no
other choice.
M oreo ver, a N atio n al Center for
Health Statistics study showed that
w hile people are living longer, the
p ro p o rtio n o f men in the 30 to 69
age segment reported as being un­
able to w ork because o f illness in ­
creased between 1970 and 1980
Building a fair, just and efficient
retirement system for the long-term
w o n 't be easy. I believe we should
let those people over the age o f 63
who want to continue working to do
so. But it is also critical that those
who have worked hard all their lives
and reach the age o f 63 should not
be penalized if they cannot continue
to work because of poor health. M y
proposal w ill help that they are not.
Berry learns from mayor race
E d w in C . “ B i l l" B e rry , fo rm e r
executive d ire c to r o f the U rb a n
League o f P o rtlan d, was chairman
o f H a ro ld W a s h in g to n ’ s election
steering com m ittee. Berry, 72, was
d ire c to r o f the C h icag o U rb a n
League during the 1930s and 1960s
and had w orked closely w ith the
white business community.
As re p o rte d by The N a tio n
(M arch 12), Berry soon learned that
businessmen and lib erals w ho are
w illin g to give money to the U rban
League feel differently about giving
to a black candidate for mayor.
" I have concluded sad ly," Berry
said, " t h a t racism is much deeper
than all my study had led me to be­
lieve. Those who said they believed
in decency and democracy were ly­
ing. They were w illin g to help in a
sm all w ay (in (he 1960s), but the
b alked at helpin g to change our
s ta tu s ." Less than 10 percent o f
W ashington's contributions and 8
percent o f his voles cam e fro m
whites.
B ILL BER RY
Street Beat
by Lenita Duka and Richard Brown
It seems like the personnel changes
have stabilized w ith in the E n viro n ­
mental Protection Agency (E P A ). The
S tre e t B eet team asked Portlanders,
" D o you feel these changes will make
the E P A fulfill its responsibility to the
taxpayers?"
[
Willi« Haywood
Truck Driver
H o p efu lly, but 1 really d on ’ t
kn o w fo r sure. I d o n ’ t th in k
they have been doing their jobs
before these personnel changes.
Just lik e a lo t o f govern m en t
agencies w ho d o n ’ t do th e ir
jobs. I wasn’t surprised to Find
out about corporate influence
on a govern m en t agency. T o
me, large c o rp o ra tio n s tell
everyone what to do. It's one o f
Jim Faubion
Retired
I d o n 't th in k there w ill be a
change. N or do 1 believe our en­
vironm ent w ill b en efit. I t ’ s all
for big business.
If you are not sure that
your 1982 Income Tax
Returns are correct,
make use of our TAX
EXPERTS. Under our NO
CHANGE, NO CHARGE
SERVICE we will review
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no-charge. Plus (if you wish), the three prior
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there will be no charge unless you want us to
redo your tax return for you.
Ed Halllnan
Stora Clark
It w o n 't m ake a d iffe ren ce .
Big c o rp o ra tio n s are ru n n in g
the country anyway so they just
lobby to get the bills they want
passed. The E P A is just a pup­
pet
those thing«.
CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY!
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Look in the yellow
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C. Toman
Student
Dave Hutchens
Unemployed
They are not going to do any­
thing. W hat you have to do is to
take them dow n on C o lu m b ia
Blvd. between 3 and 7 p.m . and
just inhale the a ir. It's enough
to make your eyes water.
I believe it w ill take a w hile
fo r change to occur. T h e fact
that big business had some con­
tro l o ver the E P A ju s t shows
that large corporations run the
government.
Lyn Franklin
Ratall
1 don’t think it will make any
d ifferen ce at a ll. They need to
put a new person in there who
has never had any a f f ilia t io n
w ith them a t a ll. T h a t m ight
make a difference.
The new tax laws. This year’s number one reason to go to H & R Block
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