[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1442-S1443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to reiterate 
that I am extremely concerned about President Bush's proposed Social 
Security restructuring, privatization--whatever the code word of the 
day is--restructuring, which I believe is going to put at real risk the 
security of all Americans in this country, from our young workers who 
will be retiring in future decades, to our seniors who are retiring 
today or who are already retired.
  As President Bush's plan has come out, we are realizing what it will 
do. It will end the guaranteed benefit that is such a critical part of 
this insurance program today. We also see that it is going to do 
nothing to fix the long-term issues that face Social Security. Just 
privatizing and restructuring it is not going to solve those long-term 
issues.
  I am also here today to emphasize the fact that this restructuring or 
privatization plan is going to add trillions of dollars to our national 
debt--trillions of dollars when we already have record deficits that 
future generations will be responsible for. This privatization plan 
adds trillions of dollars to our national debt.
  As President Bush has been traveling around the country to sell his 
privatization plan, we hear him say:

       We have an obligation and a duty to confront problems and 
     not pass them on to future generations.

  Well, many of us, on both sides of the aisle, agree with him. We 
should not create new problems for the next generation to handle. But 
the trouble is, that is exactly what this President's plan does. It 
actually adds to the problems of the next generation. It does nothing 
to solve them.
  I think it is time for President Bush to level with the American 
people about what his program really is. It really is a new recipe for 
a continuing fall into a black hole of debt. This plan, as the 
President is proposing, is going to run up $5 trillion in debt that our 
generation will not pay for. It is going to fall squarely on the 
shoulders of our children and our grandchildren.
  The President not only wants to gamble away the secure future that 
retirees count on today, he wants to burden them with a huge new $5 
trillion debt.
  Now, there is another point worth making about the President's plan 
as well. I keep hearing him say that anyone over 55 will not be 
affected. Anyone over 55--well, let's be clear. Anyone over 55 will be 
impacted by this tremendous new debt that is incurred.
  President Bush can say he will not cut your benefits now, but how can 
he guarantee that if we take trillions of dollars from the Social 
Security trust fund for this privatization plan?
  All we have to do, to understand this situation, is to look at the 
record.
  Just last week, we got a budget with the biggest deficit in our 
Nation's history--4 short years after the budget had the largest 
surplus in our Nation's history. A few days later, we saw cost 
estimates for the Medicare prescription drug benefit balloon from the 
$400 billion we were told it would cost to now it costing more than 
$700 billion.
  Now the Bush administration plans to add trillions to our balance 
sheet by privatizing Social Security. Let's take a look at this chart. 
It tells the picture clearly. As we see with this chart, there is more 
red ink in the President's budget than we care to see for years to 
come. Unfortunately, if his privatization plan goes into effect, 
massive new debt increases are added in the years after this plan takes 
effect. The President, as he did with Medicare, likes to talk about the 
cost of implementation over 10-year periods. What he does not mention 
is that for 5 years under those projections, the plan is not fully 
phased in. So rather than considering his already bloated $700 billion 
transition projection, let's look at an outside source.
  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the borrowing numbers 
we have heard from the administration ``are misleadingly low.''

       They are generated by using a ten-year budget window (2006 
     to 2015) that includes only five years of the fully phased-in 
     plan. The plan would not be launched until 2009 and not be in 
     full effect until 2011.
       Over the first ten years that the plan actually was in 
     effect (2009 to 2018) it would add $1.4 trillion to the debt. 
     Over the next ten years (2019 to 2028) it would add about 
     $3.5 trillion more to the debt. All told, the plan would add 
     $4.9 trillion (14 percent of GDP in 2028) to the debt over 
     the first 20 years.

  That is almost $5 trillion. That money is going to have to come from 
somewhere, and it is pretty naive to think that huge new borrowing will 
not affect our current retirees. It is naive to think massive new 
borrowing won't affect programs such as Medicare or Medicaid that do 
need our attention. And it is naive to think we will simply go along 
and pass this massive new problem on to our children and grandchildren.
  A story a couple of days ago in the Washington Post was headlined 
``After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget Costs Balloon.'' I want to read 
a few lines from that story.
  It warned that ``the numbers released in recent days add up to a 
budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves 
into the Oval Office.''

[[Page S1443]]

  Philip G. Joyce, professor of public policy at George Washington 
University, said in the piece:

       It's almost like you've got a budget and you've got a 
     shadow budget coming in behind that's a whole lot more 
     expensive.

  And a Republican adviser to one of our colleagues said:

       Hopefully some very difficult decisions will be addressed 
     between now and the time we have a new White House resident 
     so that occupant isn't faced with some very expensive 
     chickens coming home to roost. There are some things that we 
     can do, but unfortunately in the political world kicking down 
     the road is often seen as leadership.

  That is what kicking down the road is going to give us. That says it 
all.
  This huge new debt is not the only bad part of privatization. In 
fact, we need to remember this plan that is being put forward does 
nothing to extend Social Security solvency--not for a year, a day, not 
for an hour. That is the issue we are trying to solve. The President's 
plan, at least the part he has been willing to share with us, does not 
address that. It is an ideological gamble that we in the Senate and 
those who depend on Social Security today and tomorrow and around the 
country should not stand for.

  Rather than gambling away our security and running up this huge new 
debt, we should promote personal savings to help every American with 
their retirement security and we should stop raiding the Social 
Security trust fund to pay for misguided priorities such as massive tax 
cuts for the wealthy.
  The ideas we have heard from the President are too dangerous for this 
generation's retirees or those who are to follow. As you can imagine, 
like all of my colleagues, I have heard a lot about this proposal from 
my constituents in Washington. I have heard from current retirees, from 
disabled workers whom we have not even begun to talk about how this 
plan will affect, and from young people who would supposedly benefit. 
President Bush would be very surprised by the tremendous number of 
comments I have been getting and the tone of them. I will share a few.
  From a retiree who lives on Whidbey Island:

       The administration should be ashamed of its effort to 
     confuse and mislead the hard-working citizens of the United 
     States.

  I heard from a 20-something, who supposedly is going to benefit from 
privatization, who said:

       I want Social Security to be left in its current form.

  I heard from a 51-year-old self-employed fisherman who said:

       My main concern about Social Security is that it survive 
     for my children. The risks are simply too great for the 
     future of our citizens and our country.

  I agree with him. This plan is a plan for social insecurity. It is a 
guaranteed gamble, not a guaranteed benefit. We are going to continue 
to stand up for future generations, the young people who are following 
us, against a private solution that simply will add trillions of 
dollars in debt to the future generations we are supposedly thinking 
about here in the Senate. We want to be proud of what we pass along to 
our children and grandchildren.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  (The remarks of Mr. Akaka pertaining to the introduction of S. 393 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the clerk will call the 
roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allotted 
15 minutes of the 30 minutes of the time allotted to myself and the 
Senator from Vermont.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Leahy pertaining to the 
introduction of S. 394 are located in today's Record under ``Statements 
on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to take a second to convey my 
appreciation to the Senator from Vermont for his eloquent and I know 
heartfelt remarks. Today is a good day for open Government in the 
Senate.
  I wish to recognize the leadership of Senator DeWine for legislation 
he will be pursuing later today that enhances disclosure of records 
regarding Nazi war criminals. Senator DeWine, Senator Feinstein, and I 
are proud to be cosponsors of the legislation, as is the Senator from 
Vermont. We are all proud of that effort under the leadership of 
Senator DeWine.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President,I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, how much time is remaining in morning 
business on the Democratic side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Fifteen minutes.

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