[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 98 (Friday, July 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SOCIAL SECURITY FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 10, 1997

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, along with the vast majority of Americans, I 
strongly support the Social Security program and believe that we have a 
responsibility to make it financially secure for generations to come.
  When I am in my congressional district, I see this highly successful 
program at work. More than 63,000 residents of my district receive a 
Social Security benefit every month. Social Security provides a 
guaranteed benefit to 99 percent of retirees in the United States. 
Social Security provides a secure base for senior citizens and allows 
their children to concentrate more financial resources on their own 
families.
  However, we all realize that Social Security has a financing problem 
that we must address. The sooner we resolve it, the less drastic the 
solutions and the greater the lead time for people to adjust for their 
own retirement. I do want to point out, however, that we have time to 
discuss and decide on wise and prudent adjustments. In 1983, the Social 
Security trust fund would have been insolvent in 2 months if Congress 
had not acted. Today, we have 30 years to avoid a similar situation.
  Radically altering the system is not warranted--the projected 
shortfall in the trust fund can be fixed with relatively minor changes 
to the system. Privatization and gambling with retirement income is not 
the answer. The Social Security Administration has been aware of the 
problem posed by the retirement of the baby boom generation for 
decades. Social Security has faced challenges in the past and can face 
this challenge of the future without dismantling the entire system.
  As we search for solutions to Social Security's long-term problems, 
we should think about the features of the program that work. Foremost 
among them is the availability of benefits to all workers who earned 
them, regardless of income. Therefore, I agree with the Social Security 
Advisory Council that we should reject means testing. Tying benefits to 
need sends the wrong message to workers and beneficiaries--a signal 
that if they save for retirement, their Social Security, to which they 
are currently contributing, could be reduced or lost.
  In addition, the program's progressive benefit formula already 
differentiates between those who are more highly compensated and those 
who are not. Lower wage workers currently receive a greater return on 
their payroll taxes than average and high earners. This practice works, 
but additional tilting away from those who earn more could punish 
productivity and create the impression that Social Security is somehow 
a welfare program. Nothing could be further from the truth.
  On the other hand, privatization would tilt the Social Security 
program far away from lower wage workers, by introducing a huge element 
of uncertainty into the economy and into a retirees' monthly income. 
Therefore, we must reject this change. Social Security currently is the 
secure portion of a retirement portfolio. An individual's savings and 
investments now are the risk-taking segment. Privatizing makes Social 
Security and an individual's retirement income subject to the whims of 
the stock market and the skills, or lack thereof, of a person's 
financial advisor. In short, gambling with our seniors' future 
livelihoods is unacceptable.
  With privatization, we would be placing all of our retirement eggs in 
one unstable basket--risking scrambling all of our retirement plans.
  Proponents of privatization suggest that it will promote national 
savings, but shifting payroll taxes from the Social Security trust 
funds into individual accounts does not increase the national savings 
by one penny.
  Misinformation regarding Social Security has been spread by powerful 
groups determined to turn the entire fate of America's retirees over to 
Wall Street. In contrast, making reasonable modifications to restore 
Social Security's long-term imbalance is a more sound and prudent 
course.
  Let me repeat--we have time to fix the problems. Social Security has 
stood the test of time and has proven to be a fair and successful 
program. We do not need to rush into unknown waters with privatization 
and other radical proposals. Our seniors and future seniors deserve to 
have this body take a moderate and deliberative approach to altering a 
program that has served so many so well.

                          ____________________