[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks, and include 
extraneous material.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, continuing the discussion on do 
we really have a surplus, yesterday the Congressional Budget Office 
estimated that this year we would have a surplus of $8 billion. 
However, this year we are borrowing about $90 billion from the Social 
Security trust fund, so we are hoodwinking the American people, 
pretending there is a surplus.
  We have come a long ways. We have cut down overspending by over $200 
billion over the last 3 years, but it is not a surplus. We still have a 
long way to go, and it is important that we put Social Security first. 
Anybody that would like a copy of this survey, please let me know. I 
will include this for the Record.
  In this survey, the voters profoundly dislike using Social Security 
surpluses to subsidize the remainder of the Federal Government. Ninety-
three percent want Congress to balance the budget without using the 
Social Security deposits.
  Let us still stay on track. Let us get a more efficient, more 
constructive government that is going to serve the needs of government 
at a lesser tax rate and more efficiently and not use the surplus to 
mask the deficit.
  We have asked questions about Social Security on three national 
surveys this year.
  The primary observations are:

       Voters profoundly dislike using the Social Security 
     surpluses to subsidize the remainder of the federal 
     government. 93% want Congress to balance the budget without 
     using SS deposits.
       Voters overwhelmingly reject ``raiding'' of the Trust Fund. 
     74% approve of a new federal law prohibiting Congress and the 
     President from raiding the Social Security Trust Fund to 
     cover deficit spending.
       Voters are inclined to believe that the federal government 
     is using Social Security Trust Fund surpluses to mask the 
     size of the deficit.
       The President's credibility on Social Security is not 
     secure.
       Voters would rather use the overall budget surplus to shore 
     up Social Security than to cut taxes, pay down debt or spend 
     on federal programs.
       Younger voters don't believe they'll get Social Security 
     when they retire, and Republicans are especially dubious.
       Voters do not consider the Social Security system to be 
     basically sound.
       Personal Savings Accounts is the preferred approach to 
     strengthen Social Security.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               ALL    GOP    DEMS   IND 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal Savings Accounts...................     43     52     34     47
Eliminate benefits/rich.....................     18     13     22     21
Raise retirement age........................     10     11     11      9
Raise payroll taxes.........................      6      4      8      4
Reduce benefits for everyone................      3      3      4      3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

       Voters are strongly in favor (six to one) of allowing those 
     under 40 to privately invest a portion of their payroll taxes 
     for their future retirement.

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