Press releases Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., issued this week on a boost in Social Security benefits and President Obama’s announcement of the end of the war in Iraq:

Bingaman (Wednesday) welcomed news that millions of the country’s Social Security recipients will see a boost in their monthly benefits.

The Social Security Administration has announced that retirement benefits will increase by 3.6 percent beginning in 2012. The increase was determined by an inflation measure that determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

“This increase in benefits will provide a boost to thousands of New Mexico seniors who — like many Americans — have been feeling the terrible effects of the country’s current economic downturn,” Bingaman said.

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Bingaman (Friday) released the following statement in reaction to President Obama’s announcement that all U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of this year:

“I applaud the president’s announcement that our troops will

be coming home in a few months. I do not think our military involvement was ever justified by a threat to our own security. I think it is very good to see an end to this conflict, which has cost us much in lives and resources.”

Bingaman was one of 23 senators who, in October 2002, voted against an authorization to go to war in Iraq.