mr. speaker , there are over 91 million americans who own shares of stock in companies in this country , 91 million americans who have invested in that capital creation process , invested in these companies . 
when we talk about capital gains and dividends , sometimes we think as you are saying , well , that is just somebody else . 
that does not apply to me . 
but for individuals that have 401 ( k ) s and retirement plans , yes it does . 
what we are seeing is that 51 percent of our tax-paying senior citizens are claiming dividend income , and 47 percent of total dividend income earned in america is by senior citizens . 
