The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20502

Dear Mr. President:

It was with great interest that we reviewed the 2014 Fiscal Year budget proposal that you unveiled last week. It is critical that we work together to put our nation on a sustainable fiscal path forward that lays the foundation for economic growth, strengthens the middle class, and promotes opportunity for people across our great country.

We commend you for your commitment to investments in our national labs that are hubs of innovation, universal preschool to ensure our children get on the right path from their earliest years, and clean energy that will improve our environment while promoting economic growth and job creation.

We write, however, to express our concern with provisions in your budget that would impact Social Security and reduce benefits for seniors in New Mexico and across our nation. Using the Chained Consumer Price Index to calculate Social Security benefits, as many Congressional Republicans have called for, will place a greater financial burden on New Mexico’s seniors.

Social Security is a successful and important program that has provided millions of Americans with vital retirement benefits during their older years, contributing to their financial security after a lifetime of work. In our state of New Mexico, more than 61,000 individuals rely on Social Security’s guaranteed benefit. Reducing these benefits through chained CPI asks our seniors to bear the brunt of efforts to reduce the deficit despite the fact that Social Security has generated budget surpluses for thirty years and currently has sufficient assets to handle 100 percent of its promised benefits for the next two decades without any changes.

As the legislative process continues, we encourage you to reconsider Congressional Republicans’ call to reduce Social Security benefits through chained CPI and work with members of Congress to strengthen this program that is a vital component to a dignified retirement for millions of Americans.

Sincerely,