[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2207]]



INTRODUCTION OF THE STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE ACT OF 1999

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                        HON. RICHARD A. GEPHARDT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 28, 1999

  Mr. GEPHARDT.  Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to join Representatives 
Rangel, Matsui, Pomeroy, Bonior, Frost, DeLauro and a number of other 
Democrats in introducing the ``Strengthen Social Security and Medicare 
Act of 1999.'' This bill represents President Clinton's proposal to 
protect Social Security by locking up the Social Security surplus so 
that it will not be available to be spent on other things and to 
strengthen Social Security by extending the solvency of the Trust Fund 
to 2050. Of equal importance, we will reserve by law one-third of the 
projected on-budget surpluses over the next ten years to strengthen 
Medicare.
  This is a simple proposal that takes the first step in the direction 
of preserving and strengthening Social Security and Medicare so that 
they will have the financial resources to provide the benefits that 
America's senior citizens have come to rely on. Democrats created 
Social Security and Medicare to provide not just a retirement program, 
but a true safety net for senior citizens, their survivors and the 
disabled. Social Security is the most successful Federal government 
program, lifting nearly 15 million seniors out of poverty. It is the 
cornerstone of the entire retirement system and is the principal source 
of retirement income for two-thirds of the elderly. The baby-boomers 
and their children have been promised the support that they see their 
parents getting today. We have a responsibility to keep those promises.
  This bill saves 100 percent of the Social Security surpluses, and 
ensures that the Social Security surplus will be saved to reduce the 
debt that was created by the profligate fiscal policies of the 1980's. 
Beginning in 2011 the interest payments that will not have to be made 
on that debt will be reinvested in the Social Security Trust Fund 
through 2044. The Social Security Actuary has analyzed the proposal and 
found that it will extend the solvency of the Trust Fund until 2050, an 
additional 16 years beyond current projections.
  Medicare also faces a financial squeeze as the baby-boomers retire. 
This bill creates a special reserve fund equal to one-third of the on-
budget--non-Social Security--surplus over the next ten years that can 
only be used for extending the solvency of Medicare or providing a 
prescription drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries.
  This is not the final word on either Social Security or Medicare, but 
it does lay the foundation on which long-term solutions to ensure long-
term solvency can be built. In this respect it stands in sharp contrast 
to the Republican proposals which neither add a single day to the 
solvency of Social Security nor make any provision for using the 
surplus to strengthen Medicare.
  Finally, the Republican proposals have an escape hatch that would 
allow Social Security money to be used for anything that the 
Republicans want to call ``reform''; even a plan that could lead to 
cuts in benefits or the ultimate conversion of Social Security into a 
privatized plan that gives little protection to average workers and 
their families. We reject that false promise in favor of keeping the 
commitments to Americans of all ages that have been the touchstone of 
Democratic policies for more than 60 years.

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