[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S1080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SENATE RESOLUTION 185--RELATIVE TO SOCIAL SECURITY

  Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Daschle,  Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
Johnson, Mr. Ford, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. Reid) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Finance:

                              S. Res. 185

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE BUDGET AND SOCIAL 
                   SECURITY.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds that--
       (1) the Social Security system provides benefits to 
     44,000,000 Americans, including 27,300,000 retirees, over 
     4,500,000 people with disabilities, 3,800,000 surviving 
     children, and 8,400,000 surviving adults, and is essential to 
     the dignity and security of the Nation's elderly and 
     disabled;
       (2) the Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 
     Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds have reported 
     to Congress that the ``total income'' of the Social Security 
     system ``is estimated to fall short of expenditures beginning 
     in 2019 and in each year thereafter...until [trust fund] 
     assets are exhausted in 2029'';
       (3) intergenerational fairness, honest accounting 
     principles, prudent budgeting, and sound economic policy all 
     require saving Social Security first, in order that the 
     Nation may better afford the retirement of the baby boom 
     generation beginning in 2010;
       (4) in reforming Social Security in 1983, Congress intended 
     that near-term Social Security trust fund surpluses be used 
     to prefund the retirement of the baby boom generation;
       (5) in his State of the Union message to the joint session 
     of Congress on January 27, 1998, President Clinton called on 
     Congress to ``save Social Security first'' and to ``reserve 
     one hundred percent of the surplus, that is any penny of any 
     surplus, until we have taken all the necessary measures to 
     strengthen the Social Security system for the twenty-first 
     century''; and
       (6) saving Social Security first would work to expand 
     national savings, reduce interest rates, enhance private 
     investment, increase labor productivity, and boost economic 
     growth.
       (b) Sense of the Sense.--It is the sense of the Senate that 
     Congress should save Social Security first by reserving any 
     unified budget surplus until legislation is enacted to make 
     Social Security actuarially sound and capable of paying 
     future retirees the benefits to which they are entitled.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, today I address President Clinton's 
admonition: ``save Social Security first.'' I consider the President's 
plea essential; in fact, it is the most important business confronting 
this body. Saving Social Security is not a new crusade for me; for over 
two decades, I have dedicated myself to this cause. As a former 
Chairman and the senior member of the Budget Committee, I have worked 
to ensure that we are honest and responsible in our treatment of the 
trust funds and that Social Security will be viable for decades to 
come.
  The debate over Social Security is not a new one. I recall when we 
formed the Greenspan Commission in 1983 for just this purpose: to save 
Social Security. That commission recommended the higher Social Security 
payroll tax that took effect in the mid-1980s. This tax was intended to 
produce a large surplus in the Social Security trust fund, to be used 
to support the retirement of the Baby Boom generation in the next 
century. But because the surplus has been used to pay for general 
operations of the federal government, there is in fact an enormous 
deficit in Social Security. This government owes a great deal of money 
to current workers; under the current system, we will be unable to pay 
them their benefits when they retire. That is why it is crucial we 
reform Social Security.
  Consider President Clinton's Social Security proposal--as elaborated 
in his State of the Union address--in its entirety: ``Tonight I propose 
we reserve 100 percent of the surplus. That's every penny of any 
surplus.''
  The President is right. Reserving any surplus is essential to 
ensuring that Social Security remains not only solvent, but fully 
capable of paying benefits to future retirees. If we are serious about 
saving Social Security--the most effective federal program since its 
enactment in 1935--we must protect the Social Security trust fund.
  To help achieve this, I am dropping in a resolution that would 
express the sense of the Senate that Congress must not use any Social 
Security surplus to increase spending or cut taxes. I will offer this 
as an amendment to the first appropriate piece of legislation.
  The first way to save Social Security is to stop spending the trust 
funds. One way to do this is to force an up-or-down vote on my 
resolution. Force Congress to promise not to use surpluses for 
irresponsible spending or tax cuts. If we can do this, we will have 
eliminated the immediate obstacle to saving Social Security.
  This sense of the Senate is the first step towards saving Social 
Security. The next step is to address the program's long-term solvency. 
But before we can remedy Social Security's fundamental problems and 
save it for future retirees, we must restore truth in budgeting and put 
the ``trust'' back in trust funds. That is why I have introduced this 
resolution, and that is why I strongly urge my colleagues to support 
it.

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