[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H4123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEMOCRATS NOT REVEALING THEIR HAND ON SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I was stunned today when I picked up a copy 
of The Hill magazine and saw an article written by Hans Nichols, and 
the headline was ``Rubin Urges Democrats Not to Reveal Their Hand, 
Clinton Aide Tells Party to Hold Firm on Social Security.''
  They go on to describe, ``The steward of President Clinton's economic 
policy told the House Democratic Caucus yesterday that it needs to 
continue to hold firm in opposition to the President's plan and advised 
Democrats not to introduce their own plan, according to aides and 
lawmakers in the meeting.''
  It goes on to say, ``The aide said that Rubin told his party that his 
party's colleagues would be hard-pressed to win a battle of 
specifics.''
  Hard-pressed to win a battle of specifics, this from the former 
Treasury Secretary, a man largely credited with building the 
international reputation of Goldman Sachs, which is all about 
specifics, tells the party, the Democrats, not to offer specifics.
  And they say, ``Democratic lawmakers said that the encouragement from 
a Clinton administration figure would steel the Caucus in its resolve 
to defeat the President's plan.'' Steel the caucus to defeat a plan. Of 
course, they do not have one of their own.
  Since they are using President Clinton as an example, his experts 
say, ``Do not offer a plan,'' let me read to you Morton Kondracke's 
editorial, ``Democrats Need Their Own Social Security Plan.''
  ``It is time for Democrats to declare what kind of Social Security 
reform they favor. Even former President Clinton thinks so. Yet the 
Democrats persist in attacking President Bush's ideas, often 
misleadingly.
  President Clinton told ABC's ``Good Morning, America'' in an exchange 
curiously not broadcast, curiously not broadcast, `` `I think Democrats 
should say what they are for on Social Security in the next couple 
weeks. Democrats should have a plan and they should talk to the 
President and congressional Republicans about it.'
  ``According to ABC's political blog, The Note, Clinton said he didn't 
think Democrats deserved criticism for not producing a plan yet, but 
they still had time to produce one. He added, `I think they need to 
come up with a plan of their own.'
  ``One Member,'' the gentleman from Florida, Robert Wexler, whom I 
respect and admire, ``came up with a plan and he was largely booed by 
his colleagues.'' Largely booed. ``According to numerous aides, 
minority leader Pelosi's strategy is to wait until we see the whites of 
their eyes before offering a Democratic alternative. Democratic 
leadership aides were critical of Wexler's timing, saying it clashed 
with Pelosi's strategy of waiting until they see the whites of their 
eyes before offering a Democratic alternative.''

                              {time}  1645

  Wait until they see the whites of their eyes. Like this is a battle, 
like this is a combat mission. It is, after all, about saving Social 
Security for future generations, not about fighting an enemy force. 
Seeing the whites of their eyes has largely been equated to battle, to 
taking down the enemy. They are using those same kinds of conversations 
about American citizens trying to build a safety net in Social 
Security.
  Lo and behold: ``Teamsters President Praises Bush's Social Security 
Work. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, breaking his estrangement 
from the White House, praised President Bush on Tuesday for attempting 
to fix Social Security and said Democrats were wrong to oppose any 
discussion until Mr. Bush drops his personal retirement account plan.'' 
That is Jimmy Hoffa representing 1.4 million members of a union. And he 
said he was willing to work with the administration and the Republican 
majority in Congress to come up with a bipartisan solution.
  I quote Mr. Hoffa: ``Social Security is a major problem in this 
country. We have to make sure that it is preserved for those that come 
after us,'' Mr. Hoffa said in an interview with Gannett News Service. 
``I think President Bush should be given credit for the fact that he 
has initiated a debate regarding what we should do.''
  Now let me read some quotes from Democrats who, when President 
Clinton had a plan, oh, they were enthusiastic. This refers to 
President Clinton: ``This fiscal crisis in Social Security affects 
every generation.''
  Let us read Harry Reid, the minority leader of the Senate: ``Most of 
us have no problem with taking a small amount of the Social Security 
proceeds and putting it into the private sector.''
  When asked by Tony Snow on Fox News, ``Are you opposed to letting 
people make the investment decisions? In other words, having some 
component where they say, I will save the money rather than letting 
Uncle Sam doing it for me?'' Senator Reid in 1999: ``I think it is 
important that we look, and I am totally in favor to do this. And, in 
fact, there are a couple of programs now that we are taking a look at 
to see if it works for Social Security.''
  Now, I agree in my heart that there is opportunity for negotiations, 
but simply saying ``no'' by the Democrats is unacceptable to every 
senior and every future generation to follow.

                          ____________________