[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 98 (Thursday, July 18, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4924-H4925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CLOCKING REPUBLICAN RAID ON SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the compelling story 
of this incredible Member of Congress from Texas, Nick Lampson, who 
placed on the Record the story of his family and what Social Security 
has meant not just to seniors but to the disability insurance program 
and the insurance program for widows caring for children or widowers 
and millions of people. We never really know if we will be the one out 
of five families struck in America with tragedy beyond our ability to 
control and whether we will have the insurance to weather bad times. 
And is it not a credit to his mother and their family that every one of 
those six children has matured into a productive and really priceless 
citizen for our country. We need more citizens like Nick Lampson in 
this Chamber. We would build a different and better country with that 
kind of sensitivity and understanding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to continue what has become my weekly 
tradition of clocking the Republican raid on the Social Security trust 
fund. Since early June, I have been coming down here showing how much 
money they are taking out of the Social Security trust fund and using 
for other purposes, such as huge tax cuts to the richest 1 percent of 
people in this country. When I started these remarks, they were 
borrowing, as of early June, $208 billion. Every single week they have 
dipped into it more. It went up to $212 billion, then $218 billion, 
then $223 billion. By July 9 they were at $235 billion. Then at $241 
billion. The line of increase into the trust fund is every week growing 
at geometric proportions. That amounts to already $858 being taken out 
of your pocket as an American citizen from your Social Security 
payments.
  What is the Republican House leadership doing about this? Nothing. 
This House leadership has simply refused to address the ongoing raid in 
the Social Security trust fund. In January of 2001, our Nation had 
finally, after a 12-year struggle, actually managed to balance the 
budget. And we had surpluses. People were saying that we would be able 
to pay off our accumulated debt by the year 2011. There was euphoria. 
Even on Wall Street they took down the debt clock. What I would like to 
say to all the Bush administration friends on Wall Street, you ought to 
put the debt clock back, because the party that represents your big 
business interests, they are just increasing the debt again. So why do 
you not put the debt clock up? I would actually go and put one of those 
hooks in the wall at Times Square myself if I could find out who had 
that old clock.
  Not even 1\1/2\ years later, the Congressional Budget Office is 
projecting that under the Republican budget passed in March of this 
year, there will be a $1.8 trillion on-budget deficit over the next 10 
years. I have been asking myself, why does the Republican leadership of 
this House love this red ink so much? They are taking money out of the 
Social Security trust fund in order to give these big tax cuts. I 
thought, well, maybe they love to issue Federal debt securities because 
who sells those debt securities? Twenty big bond houses on Wall Street 
make all the fees. They do not sell savings bonds to average Americans. 
Try to buy a savings bond and have it sent to your house. It will not 
happen. You have to go fill out a special form, then they send it over 
to whoever you say should be the recipient a month later. They have 
actually taken away the right of individual citizens to buy savings 
bonds conveniently in this country. They prefer to sell debt securities 
through the 20 bond houses on Wall Street because they make all the 
fees, which we pay for out of our tax dollars.
  So instead of paying off the debt by 2011, under the Republican 
budget our publicly held debt is scheduled to increase by $2.8 trillion 
by fiscal year 2011 and they are covering it over right now by 
borrowing from what is left in the Social Security trust fund to cover 
the difference. The biggest reason for this radical reversal in our 
Nation's financial health is the Bush administration tax cut. How do 
you feel about $858 being taken out of your pocket and then given to a 
corporation like Enron this year which is going to take over $350 
million in the form of a tax rebate because of the Bush administration 
tax bill?
  Or how about this: Your money is going to the top 1 percent of the 
wealthiest people in this country who no longer have to pay an 
inheritance tax. They are taking your money. That is what is happening 
to the Social Security trust fund.
  What is the effect on all of this? The Republicans said they voted. 
They voted seven times not to do this. It is true, they did vote. But 
they are not keeping their promise.

[[Page H4925]]

                              {time}  1845

  They told us they wanted to assure that not a penny of the Social 
Security surplus would be used for other programs. But, in fact, their 
promises have not met the true test of time.
  So I would say I will be back next week. It is time for the 
Republicans to stop the raid on Social Security's trust fund, and we 
are going to stop them come November's election.

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