[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H250-H251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE SURPLUS AND SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H251]]

  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, reports today indicate that the 
Office of Management and Budget is estimating that there will be a $4.5 
trillion surplus over the next 15 years. I think that is a tribute to 
the efforts of this Chamber, of the Senate, and of the President to 
work at reducing the expenditures of the Federal Government.
  It is also a tribute to the tremendous market-oriented system of free 
enterprise that we have in this country, where business has decided to 
expand and offer more job opportunities which has resulted in a lower 
unemployment rate in this country.
  I am particularly interested that reports show that the President is 
suggesting that $2.8 trillion be dedicated to social security. The 
question over the next several months is whether or not the President 
is willing to offer this Congress a proposal that can be scored by the 
Social Security Administration and their actuaries as keeping social 
security solvent.
  It has been all too easy in the past for politicians in the House of 
Representatives and in the Senate and the President to tweak at the 
fringes while indicating that we have to save social security. The fact 
that there have been surpluses coming in from the social security tax 
indicates that American workers are being overtaxed for social security 
benefits and contributions to the theoretical trust fund. I say 
``theoretical trust fund'' because it really does not exist.
  When it becomes time sometime in the area between 2007 and 2013 that 
there are less revenues coming in from social security taxes than is 
needed to pay benefits, the Federal Government has three choices: We 
can borrow more from the public, we can reduce existing expenditures to 
come up with the additional money needed to pay benefits, or we can 
increase taxes on workers.

                              {time}  1430

  In the past, many times when there is shortage of money, we have 
simply increased the tax on American workers. Since 1971, Mr. Speaker, 
taxes, social security taxes, on working Americans have been increased 
36 times. More often than once a year we have increased those taxes.
  Now I want to come back to the word ``surplus.'' The surplus coming 
in from the Social Security Trust Fund, in certain respects, can be 
considered taxing those workers for more than is necessary to meet the 
benefits. So I think there is merit in saying to the American workers, 
we are going to give some of that money back to them, that they have 
been paying more than what is needed to pay those benefits.
  I think when the President suggests that some of those monies be 
invested in the capital market, that is consistent with what many of us 
have been suggesting for the last several years; that we need to 
increase the return on the investment from the tax money coming in from 
Social Security. We have a great opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to move 
ahead with truly saving social security. It should not be just verbiage 
that is politically popular, it should make tough decisions to come up 
with a social security bill that can be scored by the actuaries to keep 
social security solvent over this next 100 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to look at the serious matters of 
social security and of medicare and to take this opportunity of 
surpluses coming in to this government as an opportunity to fix those 
two important programs.

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