text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Protection Act of 
  2011''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress makes the following findings:
              (1) Social Security is the most successful and reliable 
          social program in our Nation's history.
              (2) For 75 years, through good times and bad, Social 
          Security has reliably kept millions of senior citizens, 
          individuals with disabilities, and children out of poverty.
              (3) Before President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social 
          Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, approximately half of 
          the senior citizens in the United States lived in poverty; less 
          than 10 percent of seniors live in poverty today.
              (4) Social Security has succeeded in protecting working 
          Americans and their families from devastating drops in 
          household income due to lost wages resulting from retirement, 
          disability, or the death of a spouse or parent.
              (5) More than 53,000,000 Americans receive Social Security 
          benefits, including 36,500,000 retirees and their spouses, 
          9,200,000 veterans, 8,200,000 disabled individuals and their 
          spouses, 4,500,000 surviving spouses of deceased workers, and 
          4,300,000 dependent children.
              (6) Social Security has never contributed to the Federal 
          budget deficit or the national debt, and benefit cuts should 
          not be proposed as a solution to reducing the Federal budget 
          deficit.
              (7) Social Security is not in a crisis or going bankrupt, 
          as the Social Security Trust Funds have been running surpluses 
          for the last quarter of a century.
              (8) According to the Social Security Administration, the 
          Social Security Trust Funds currently maintain a 
          $2,600,000,000,000 surplus that is project to grow to 
          $4,200,000,000,000 by 2023.
              (9) According to the Social Security Administration, even 
          if no changes are made to the Social Security program, full 
          benefits will be available to every recipient until 2037, with 
          enough funding remaining after that date to pay about 78 
          percent of promised benefits.
              (10) According to the Social Security Administration, 
          ``money flowing into the [Social Security] trust funds is 
          invested in U.S. Government securities . . . the investments 
          held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit 
          of the U.S. Government. The Government has always repaid Social 
          Security, with interest.''.
              (11) All workers who contribute into Social Security 
          through the 12.4 percent payroll tax, which is divided equally 
          between employees and employers on income up to $106,800, 
          deserve to have a dignified and secure retirement.
              (12) Social Security provides the majority of income for 
          two-thirds of the elderly population in the United States, with 
          approximately one-third of elderly individuals receiving nearly 
          all of their income from Social Security.
              (13) Overall, Social Security benefits for retirees 
          currently average a modest $14,000 a year, with the average for 
          women receiving benefits being less than $12,000 per year.
              (14) Nearly 1 out of every 4 adult Social Security 
          beneficiaries has served in the United States military.
              (15) Social Security is not solely a retirement program, as 
          it also serves as a disability insurance program for American 
          workers who become permanently disabled and unable to work.
              (16) The Social Security Disability Insurance program is a 
          critical lifeline for millions of American workers, as a 20-
          year-old worker faces a 30 percent chance of becoming disabled 
          before reaching retirement age.
              (17) Proposals to privatize the Social Security program 
          would jeopardize the security of millions of Americans by 
          subjecting them to the ups-and-downs of the volatile stock 
          market as the source of their retirement benefits.
              (18) Raising the retirement age would jeopardize the 
          retirement future of millions of American workers, particularly 
          those in physically demanding jobs as well as lower-income 
          women, African-Americans, and Latinos, all of whom have a much 
          lower life expectancy than wealthier Americans.
              (19) Social Security benefits have already been cut by 13 
          percent, as the Normal Retirement Age was raised in 1983 from 
          65 years of age to 67 years of age by 2022.
              (20) According to the Social Security Administration, 
          raising the retirement age for future retirees would reduce 
          benefits by 6 to 7 percent for each year that the Normal 
          Retirement Age is raised.
              (21) Reducing cost-of-living adjustments for current or 
          future Social Security beneficiaries would force millions of 
          such individuals to choose between heating their homes, putting 
          food on the table, or paying for their prescription drugs.
              (22) Social Security is a promise that this Nation cannot 
          afford to break.
  
  SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM FOR 
                CURRENT AND FUTURE BENEFICIARIES.
  
      (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it 
  shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to 
  consider, for purposes of the old-age, survivors, and disability 
  insurance benefits program established under title II of the Social 
  Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), any legislation that--
              (1) increases the retirement age (as defined in section 
          216(l)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(l)(1))) or 
          the early retirement age (as defined in section 216(l)(2) of 
          the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(l)(2))) for individuals 
          receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
          or after the date of enactment of this Act;
              (2) reduces cost-of-living increases for individuals 
          receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
          or after the date of enactment of this Act, as determined under 
          section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i));
              (3) reduces benefit payment amounts for individuals 
          receiving benefits under title II of the Social Security Act on 
          or after the date of enactment of this Act; or
              (4) creates private retirement accounts for any of the 
          benefits individuals receive under title II of the Social 
          Security Act on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
      (b) Waiver or Suspension.--
              (1) In the senate.--The provisions of this section may be 
          waived or suspended in the Senate only by the affirmative vote 
          of two-thirds of the Members, present and voting.
              (2) In the house.--The provisions of this section may be 
          waived or suspended in the House of Representatives only by a 
          rule or order proposing only to waive such provisions by an 
          affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, present and 
          voting.
      (c) Point of Order Protection.--In the House of Representatives, it 
  shall not be in order to consider a rule or order that waives the 
  application of paragraph (2) of subsection (b).
      (d) Motion To Suspend.--It shall not be in order for the Speaker to 
  entertain a motion to suspend the application of this section under 
  clause 1 of rule XV of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
target: Social Security Protection Act of 2011 - Makes it out of order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any legislation that: (1) increases the retirement age or the early retirement age for individuals receiving benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act on or after the enactment of this Act; (2) reduces cost-of-living increases for them; (3) reduces benefit payment amounts for them; or (4) creates private retirement accounts for any of the OSADI benefits they receive.
feat_title: A bill to establish a point of order against any efforts to reduce benefits paid to Social Security recipients, raise the retirement age, or create private retirement accounts under title II of the Social Security Act.