[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H8539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY FIRST

  (Mr. BERRY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BERRY. Mr. Speaker, over 500,000 retired Arkansans depend on 
their Social Security monthly check as a necessary source to supplement 
their retirement income. In fact, the First Congressional District of 
Arkansas has the largest number of seniors for whom Social Security is 
their only source of income.
  Right now, millions of working Americans are paying into the Social 
Security system and are counting on it for when they retire. This year, 
some have suggested that we have a budget surplus. That just simply is 
not so.
  Of course, there is an enormous temptation to use the so-called 
surplus or the Social Security Trust Fund to cut taxes. I am all for 
tax cuts, but not on the backs of our children and grandchildren, not 
on the backs of our retirees who depend on Social Security as their 
only source of income.
  Mr. Speaker, it must be there when we need it. Congress must save 
Social Security and not rob the Social Security Trust Fund.

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