[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 14 (Thursday, February 10, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-Lee of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have heard the President 
over the last 3 or 4 days present to the American people the idea of 
the crisis nature of revising, reforming, or altering completely the 
Social Security system. I go home and look forward to holding one of 
the first town hall meetings with my constituents to really lay out how 
we can work in a bipartisan manner and save Social Security.
  It is important for the American people to realize that $1.5 trillion 
will be needed to take away from Social Security to establish what one 
would call ``private accounts,'' private accounts that could be 
seperate and apart from Social Security. Many Americans do not realize 
it is not just a retirement benefit, it is a survivor benefit. It helps 
children of those who are deceased.
  More importantly, we forged a bipartisan response to Social Security 
in 1983 with Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan that caused this to be 
solvent for at least 60 years.
  This proposal will not only undermine, but it will destroy Social 
Security as we know it. Does it need reforming and fixing? Absolutely, 
and we can do that with a number of suggestions, but the plan that has 
now been proposed by the administration is one that will undermine and 
eliminate Social Security.

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