[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4335-H4336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  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 come to the House floor this evening to 
talk again about the Republican raid on Social Security a year ago to 
cover their growing deficits because of the Bush administration tax 
breaks to the upper crust that created no new jobs. Where did they get 
the money to do it?
  This first chart goes back about a year to June 18 of last year. At 
that point, they had taken from Social Security's' trust funds over 
$218,095,890,410, or about $775 per American. We just asked the 
Department of the Treasury to give us the update. Now, this year 
already, clocking the Republican raid on Social Security to cover their 
tax breaks mainly to the top earners in this country, they have now 
taken $498,863,013,099, or about $1,714.24 per American. That is nearly 
a half a trillion dollars just as of May 20, just as of this week.
  Now, Social Security is a financial lifeline for 46 million 
Americans, but the Republicans continue to play a game of fiscal 
``chicken'' with the Federal deficit. They are borrowing from Social 
Security's trust funds to give tax breaks aimed at next year's 
elections.
  Let us make one thing clear: Americans might have elected some 
Republicans into this House and the other body, but they did not give 
them a mandate to rob Social Security.
  Now, this past March, the Republican leadership of this House voted 
on a budget that will give us deficits as far as the eye can see. I 
thought that this particular editorial cartoon from the Rocky Mountain 
News was particularly illustrative, with this giant deficit that is 
being created for the future as a result of the type of tax program 
that they have put in place, with absolutely no jobs being yielded, but 
in fact giving us a debt that will kill jobs and weaken Social Security 
and Medicare, just when 77 million baby boomers start to retire.
  Earlier this month, the same House Republicans voted a $550 billion, 
more than half-a-trillion, in tax breaks, mostly to the wealthiest 1 
percent of earners in this country, and there is no requirement that 
money be invested in this country. According to the Congressional 
Budget Office, the Federal Government has run a deficit of 
approximately $202 billion in the first 7 months of this fiscal year. 
And where do we think they are getting the money from? Where does the 
money exist? In our Social Security trust funds.
  Now that amount of debt that has been added this year is $138 billion 
more than the same period last year, so it is getting worse. The 
Congressional Budget Office now expects that the government will end up 
this year with a deficit of over $300 billion.
  What is the biggest reason for this most radical fiscal reversal in 
American history and the raid that is going on on Social Security? The 
Bush tax program aimed at the next election, not the next generation.
  What is the effect of this burgeoning public debt? They are 
mortgaging Social Security's future payouts. They are forcing our 
country to cover the rest of their borrowing with more dependence on 
foreign investors who buy our debt bonds, starting with China and Japan 
and then Saudi Arabia, and they are taking away independence for this 
Republic and for the American people and a lot less independence for 
future generations.
  I am no longer surprised, but I am amazed at how President Bush and 
his fellow Republicans are so eager to chip away at Social Security, 
weaken Social Security, and ultimately play roulette with our people's 
Social Security trust funds, which we voted seven times to put in the 
Social Security lockbox. They are raiding the lockbox.

                              {time}  1730

  The American people deserve better. Working families deserve better. 
Your grandmothers and grandfathers deserve better. They have earned a 
secure retirement.
  We have to get back to the fiscal basics and put Social Security 
first. Would you rather have $300 today, or Social Security for all of 
your retirement tomorrows? Congress is the protector of Social 
Security, the primary

[[Page H4336]]

protector. It is the people's program, intended by President Roosevelt 
and its authors to allow generations of retirees to live with 
independence and dignity.
  It is time for the Republican Party to stop the raid on Social 
Security, which as of today, again, amounts to, as of May 20, 2003, out 
of the trust funds, your trust funds, $498,863,013,699 or $1,714.24 for 
each single American who has paid into the system.

                          ____________________