[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 44 (Thursday, April 18, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SOCIAL SECURITY CERTIFICATES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 2002

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, on Feb 15, 2002, House Majority Leader Dick 
Armey circulated a Memorandum where he called on Congress to push 
Social Security Privatization in the upcoming legislative session. I 
agree that addressing the long-term solvency of the Social Security 
program deserves our utmost attention in the upcoming legislative 
session. However, the recommendation that we privatize Social Security 
does nothing to strengthen the financial solvency of the program.
  The Majority Leader exclaims that his bill H.R. 3135, which allows 
workers to voluntarily put between three and eight percentage points of 
their Social Security tax into personal retirement accounts, is based 
on a progressive scale that allows lower-income workers to put more 
into their accounts and to build more wealth. The Majority Leader 
failed to take into account the volatility of the stock market. I do 
not believe that the American public is willing to gamble their 
retirement security in the up's and down of the stock market. 
Especially, with the recent collapse of Enron and the present economic 
recession, the American public is even more suspicious of any proposal 
that will partially or fully privatize Social Security. Americans know 
that Social Security provides guaranteed, lifelong benefits. No matter 
what the stock market does the day you retire or in the months leading 
up to your retirement, your benefits will be unaffected.
  In addition, the Majority Leader's plan to send out Social Security 
certificates to seniors that claim to guarantee their Social Security 
benefits is disingenuous at best. Not only will sending these bogus 
certificates cost the taxpayers 47 million dollars, but it does 
absolutely nothing to guarantee that Social Security benefits will be 
there in the future. The Congressional Research Service has concluded 
that the certificates provide no more protection than already exists 
under law. It's not an ironclad guarantee and Senior citizens will not 
be able to use these certificates in a court of law. The certificates 
should instead tell Seniors the truth about the Republican's plan to 
privatize Social Security and their reckless waste of the budget 
surplus, which will inevitably lead to a lack of benefits for Seniors.
  Nevertheless, the Social Security program faces serious financial 
challenges, however, those challenges are manageable and does not 
require us to dismantle the system via privatization.

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