[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 101 (Thursday, July 28, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         BUDGET DEFICITS AND THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, Robert Myers recently published an 
article in the Valley News Dispatch that I recommend to each and every 
one of my colleagues.
  Many of us know Robert Myers as a renowned expert on the Social 
Security Administration. He served as chief actuary of the 
Administration from 1947 to 1970, and as Deputy Commissioner in 1981 
and 1982. From 1982 to 1983, he served as the Executive Director of the 
National Commission on Social Security Reform. He has been referred to 
in this body as a ``person of legendary integrity and authority.''
  Robert Myers' article discusses the future of the Social Security 
System. He concludes that ``the most serious threat to Social Security 
is the Federal Government's fiscal irresponsibility.'' Here are his 
words:

       If we continue to run deficits year after year, and if 
     interest payments continue to rise at an alarming rate, we 
     will face two dangerous possibilities. Either we will raid 
     the Social Security trust funds to pay for our current 
     profligacy, or we will print money, dishonestly inflating our 
     way out of indebtedness * * *.

  Mr. Myers prescription is straightforward: Enact the Balanced Budget 
Amendment. ``Passing the balanced budget amendment,'' he states, 
``would protect current employees from paying more today and getting 
less tomorrow, when they'll need it most.'' These are wise words--words 
we ignore at our peril.
  Mr. President, I ask that the entire text of Mr. Myers' article be 
printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

                    [From the Valley News Dispatch]

             Budget Deficits Could Threaten Benefits' Value

                           (By Robert Myers)

       Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Social Security program is one 
     of the great social policy successes of this century. Fifty-
     eight years after the program was voted into law, the Social 
     Security trust funds not only are self-sustaining; they also 
     have significant excesses of income over expenditures. As a 
     result, the program's trust funds will continue to help 
     millions of elderly, disabled and survivor beneficiaries for 
     generations, so long as the rest of the federal government 
     acts with fiscal prudence.
       Unfortunately, that's a big ``if.''
       The federal government's ambitions are virtually always 
     more expansive than its bank balance. With the government 
     running stubborn deficits year after year, fiscal hawks have 
     begun eying Social Security's balance sheets--with an 
     accumulated excess of $378 billion at the end of 1993--as a 
     deep pocket into which the government could dip to make up 
     its current horrendous budget deficits and national debt.
       For a number of reasons, that would be a terrible mistake. 
     It is also why I favor the balanced budget amendment. Such an 
     amendment would prevent the federal government from spending 
     more than it earns, and it would reduce the temptation to 
     plunder Social Security to make up for shortfalls in other 
     government programs.
       Many people claim that if the balanced budget amendment 
     were to be adopted and if the federal government could not 
     meet its obligations, Social Security recipients would pay 
     the difference through reduced benefits. This, indeed, could 
     occur. However, on grounds of integrity, logic and fair play, 
     I strongly doubt that Congress would take such an alarming 
     step.
       Cutting Social Security expenditures alone would not 
     accomplish the goal of reducing the national debt; it would 
     merely shift the burden from the general public to the Social 
     Security trust funds, which are safely invested in interest-
     bearing government bonds. Also, cutting expenditures while 
     continuing to tax Americans for benefits they would no longer 
     receive, would be unfair.
       If Social Security benefits are reduced, then Social 
     Security taxes should be reduced as well. And if someone in 
     Congress did propose reducing benefits--with or without a tax 
     reduction--the political outcry would likely be deafening. 
     Social Security currently guarantees the nation's 26 million 
     retired workers, who otherwise would have to fend for 
     themselves, an income of about $675 a month for life, plus 
     cost of living adjustments in the future. That doesn't count 
     the monthly benefit checks for spouses and children of 
     retirees; for workers who are disabled; and for the surviving 
     spouses and children of workers who have died.
       All told, some 43 million Americans rely on Social Security 
     for some part of their income. They comprise a constituency 
     that no member of Congress could easily ignore.
       The most serious threat of Social Security is the federal 
     government's fiscal irresponsibility. If we continue to run 
     deficits year after year, and if interest payments continue 
     to rise at an alarming rate, we will face two dangerous 
     possibilities. Either we will raid the Social Security trust 
     funds to pay for our current profligacy, or we will print 
     money, dishonestly inflating our way out of indebtedness. 
     Both cases would sharply diminish the real value of the trust 
     funds and, even more important, the real value of the 
     benefits for million of beneficiaries.
       Passing a balanced budget amendment would protect current 
     employees from paying more today and getting less tomorrow, 
     when they'll need it most.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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