[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 53 (Friday, May 5, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S4107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

    LIMITING THE TERM OF THE PUBLIC TRUSTEES OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND 
                                MEDICARE

 Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise to comment on legislation 
that Chairman Grassley and I introduced yesterday that would limit 
public trustees for Social Security and Medicare to a single four-year 
term of service. The bill, S. 2752, will also codify that the President 
should consult with Congress on the nominations of public trustees for 
these important programs. This legislation was prompted by recent 
events.
  Upon learning last November that the White House intended to 
renominate John L. Palmer and Thomas R. Saving as pubic trustees, 
Chairman Grassley and I both responded immediately that the White House 
should find two new individuals to nominate as public trustees. Both 
individuals had already served one term as Social Security and Medicare 
public trustees, and their terms ended in March 2005. Dr. Palmer and 
Dr. Saving served admirably as public trustees during their term and 
the Chairman and I thank them for their service, but I did not want to 
see an important tradition abandoned. Never in the history of the 
public trustees have individuals served more than one term, and that's 
for good reason. Fresh thinking and new ideas are critical to the 
proper assessment and administration of the Social Security and 
Medicare programs. If the executive branch will not voluntarily follow 
this vital precedent, this principle must be written into law.
  There was a second problem last year. The White House is supposed to 
consult with the chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee 
before sending the nominations to the Senate. Unfortunately, no such 
consultation occurred last year prior to the nominations being 
forwarded to the Senate. Therefore, the blll a adds language to the 
Social Security Act requiring the President to consult with the 
chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Finance before 
considering individuals to be nominated as public trustees.
  Ignoring our views, on April 19 of this year, the White House 
announced the recess appointments of Mr. Palmer and Mr. Saving as 
public trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs. I 
immediately objected to this action by the White House because I 
believe the role of the public trustees is too important to be 
diminished by the recess appointment process. It was this extreme 
action on the part of the White House--in combination with the other 
two problems I mentioned previously--that prompted the chairman and me 
to introduce this bill today.
  I think some good has come out of this unfortunate episode regarding 
the public trustees. Hopefully, everyone has a better understanding of 
the role of the public trustees. The Greenspan Commission recommended 
creating the positions of two public trustees to help ensure that the 
reports on the Social Security and Medicare trust funds were objective 
and not solely the work of administration officials. The Greenspan 
Commission envisioned experts from outside the executive branch who are 
confirmed by the Senate. They are unlike most other Presidential 
appointments because they do not represent the administration, they 
represent the public. Because of that unique distinction, it is 
inappropriate to recess appoint the public trustees. Individuals who 
are nominated to be public trustees should be selected by a process of 
consultation between the White House and Members of Congress. Once 
confirmed by the Senate, they should only serve one term. To do 
otherwise undermines the public trustees' role as an objective check on 
the production of the trust fund reports.
  Since this legislation should not spark any controversy, I hope both 
Chambers will quickly consider and pass this bill and send it to the 
President for his signature.

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