[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H8537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY
(Mr. GREEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. GREEN. Mr. Speaker, this Congress made a commitment to save and
protect Social Security for the future. It is one of the most
successful domestic programs that has ever been created, but now,
according to my Republican colleagues, we have a surplus, which means
that we can then provide a tax cut, while at the same time continue to
hide the real deficit with Social Security funds.
To make matters worse, it is estimated that the proposed tax cut
would benefit mostly those who earn over $100,000 a year. To spend this
illusionary surplus is wrong. We need to remove Social Security from
the budget and pay down the national debt.
Let us be honest, we do not have a surplus if we do not include
Social Security in the budget. What we have is borrowed money from the
Social Security trust fund, and this money will have to be paid back--
every penny of it. This surplus should go to the Social Security trust
fund and not a tax cut, because there is no surplus.
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