Elaine Chao Quotes

Careful economic research has shown public-sector workers receive a level of compensation, pension benefits, and retiree health coverage in excess of what comparable workers in the private sector enjoy. In some instances, the total premium can be 30 percent or higher.

We can't be paying pensions to the next generation of federal workers when hardly anyone in the private sector gets them.

People have less health care and less retirement benefits than they had 10 years ago.

Most private-sector folks don't get a pension.

There are hardly any private sector employees who get both a 401k and a pension. There's just no need that Congress should get both.

From the employees' standpoint, in 1935, Social Security was a big gamble. Employees would be required to participate in the program, contributing a percentage of their income for their entire adult working life.

The retirement system that is in place for members of Congress and other federal workers features what is known as the Federal Employment Retirement Plan.

We owe our public servants, from school teachers to state employees, a sustainable and well-funded retirement that they can count on.

I respect public employees and school teachers. They deserve a secure retirement.

I spent 19 years as a local government official; I spent two years in the Iowa Senate; my daughter is a public school teacher. We're all counting on IPERS. The public servants are counting on the system they were promised when entering public service.

The U.K. is one of the few places in the world that has final salary pensions.

The President's proposed privatization plan would jeopardize that security by cutting guaranteed benefits for future retirees and endangering the benefits of current retirees, people with disabilities, and children who have lost a parent.

We must ensure that every worker has healthcare and is able to save for their retirement. We must ensure that our workers have safe and health working conditions.

As Americans, we can choose where we work and live, what we drive, which insurance plan is best for us, so why can we not give workers a choice when it comes to their retirement?

The NFL pension is the worst in the world of business. It's an embarrassment.

A pension is nothing more than deferred compensation.

Were the workers who sweated to put food on my table paid at least minimum wage? Did they get health benefits? Overtime? Were they unionized? Protected from pesticide exposure?

Your health benefits are not a gift - you work hard for them every day.

Companies have told us that they have employees who are near retirement age. We created a $5 billion reinsurance pool to help them bear the cost of those employees on the brink of retirement.

The benefits that were offered to me as a congressman don't even compare to the benefits that you get as a state employee.

The pension system ties you to companies much longer in Japan.

Working for company X and having a substantial portion of your retirement plan in company X is simply exposing yourself to too much risk, because the company is both your employer and the source of your retirement income. So if something goes wrong, you lose both your job and your retirement plan.

Union members not only earn higher median wages; they are more likely to have paid sick leave, short-term disability, and employer-provided child care. Giving people a voice at work - the ability to organize and negotiate for their fair share of the value they helped create - is absolutely essential to a growing, vibrant middle class.

However, the Administration's plan to privatize Social Security will undermine retirement security for all Americans by cutting guaranteed benefits by more than 40 percent, and risky private accounts won't make up for the loss of benefits for millions of Americans.

Indeed, I think most Americans now know that in 1935 when Social Security was created, there were some 42 Americans working for every American collecting retirement benefits.