[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 7 (Friday, January 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H495-H496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATION'S LOOMING FINANCIAL CRISIS NEEDS A BIPARTISAN SOLUTION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, last spring I took a trip to Antietam National
Battlefield. As I walked along Bloody Lane, the site of one of the most
vicious battles of the Civil War, I was struck by how many individuals
made the ultimate sacrifice.
September 18, 1862, was the bloodiest day in American history. There
were more than 23,000 casualties, nine times as many Americans killed
or wounded in World War II's D-day on June 6, 1944. More soldiers were
killed and wounded at the Battle of Antietam than the deaths of all
Americans in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War
and the Spanish-American war combined.
I also visited the site of the George Washington's crossing of the
Delaware in anticipation of the Battle of Trenton. Washington was down
to only 3,000 soldiers and the war was almost lost. Yet with great
courage and sacrifice, Washington and his forces were successful in
changing the direction of the American Revolution.
I also think of the tremendous sacrifice being made by thousands of
men and women serving today not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but around
the globe. Their families at home are also making great sacrifices.
After those visits and the lessons in history they brought, I began
reading about the looming financial crisis on the Nation's horizon with
the impending retirement of the baby boom generation. That information
was chilling.
In less than a year, the baby boom generation will begin trickling
into retirement. A few years later, that trickle will become a flood.
And within 5 more years, it will become a tsunami that will begin to
wreak havoc on the Social Security and Medicare systems.
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security consume 40 percent of the
budget in 2006, but will consume 51 percent in 2016, which is just the
tip of the Democratic iceberg.
There is near unanimous consent by all who have looked at this issue.
Social Security and Medicare are amassing huge deficits, and we are ill
prepared for the coming flood of new baby boom retirees. When our
retirement security programs like Social Security and Medicare were
established, the ratio of workers supporting each retiree was more than
10 times the number supporting retirees today. In 1945, there were 42
workers for each retiree. Last year, the ratio dropped to three workers
for each retiree and is expected to drop to just two workers for each
retiree in 2030.
In reading about the coming financial emergency, my mind kept going
back to Antietam and Washington's crossing and all the substantive
examples of sacrifice for country by Americans. I asked myself, what
kind of financial security as a Nation are we passing on to those who
are coming after us?
While there never is a convenient time to make hard decisions, the
longer we wait, the more dramatic the remedy will be that is required.
According to the Government Accountability Office, balancing the
budget in 2040 necessitates one of two alternatives: Cutting total
Federal spending by 60 percent, and this place will never do that; or
raising Federal taxes by two-and-a-half times today's level. Either of
these options would devastate our economy.
But if we can summon the resolve to begin these difficult
conversations now, and make hard choices on the front end, we can
change the current course. Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest
Presidents, said ``you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by
evading it today,'' yet that is precisely what we are doing in avoiding
our responsibility to future generations by passing on a broken system
in the form of unfunded Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
That is why next week Senator George Voinovich in the Senate and I in
the House will join to introduce identical legislation to establish a
national commission that will put everything, everything, entitlement
benefits and all other Federal programs, as well as our tax policies,
on the table and to require, require Congress to vote up or down on its
recommendations in their entirety, similar to the base realignment and
base closure commission, BRAC.
This commission would be called the SAFE Commission, to secure
America's future economy. We first introduced the SAFE Commission last
summer. Since that time, the proposal has received strong support from
across the political spectrum, including the Heritage Foundation, the
Concord Coalition, former Members of Congress on both sides of the
aisle, and former Congressional Budget Office directors. It is being
endorsed by major newspapers across the country, including the Dallas
Morning News, the Orlando Sentinel and syndicated columnist David
Broder.
It is in the hope of building a consensus on this very difficult
issue that we will again offer this legislation. One of the most
critical responsibilities of the Commission will be explaining the
crisis we face and listening to the American people about how to get
the country back on sound financial footing.
It will also develop a strategic plan for the future. It will look
beyond the beltway for solutions, holding at least 12 hearings, one in
each Federal Reserve district, over the span of 12 months in order to
hear directly from the American people.
After its 12-month listening tour, the commission will present to
Congress a report describing the long-term fiscal problems, public
[[Page H496]]
suggestions and views expressed during the town meetings and policy
options available to ensure Federal programs and entitlements are
available for future generations.
With a bipartisan three-fourths majority vote, the commission will
send to Congress a legislative package to implement the commission
recommendations no later than 60 days after the interim report. The
administration and Congress will have 90 additional days to develop
actuarially equivalent proposals to achieve the same cost savings.
Essentially, no later than 16 months from the organization of the
commission, Congress would be required to vote--up or down--on each
proposal.
We have put in the legislation procedures for expedited consideration
of the commission's legislation to ensure that the Congress acts. I do
not want this to simply be another blue-ribbon commission whose
findings end up on a bookshelf somewhere only to collect dust and never
be acted upon.
The SAFE Commission will be comprised of 16 voting members, four
appointed by the Senate Majority Leader, three by the Senate Minority
Leader, four by the Speaker of the House, and three by the House
Minority Leader.
Four of the 14 Congressional appointments must be sitting Members of
Congress. Additionally, the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget as well as the Secretary of the Treasury will serve as voting
ex-officio members.
The Congressional Budget Office and the Comptroller General of the
United States will be appointed as non-voting ex-officio members of the
commission to lend their expertise. The President will have the ability
to appoint bipartisan co-chairs from among the 10 voting members
appointed by Congress.
As a father of five and grandfather of 12, the challenge posed by the
pending retirement of baby boomers strikes me as much more than a
routine policy discussion. Without action, just what kind of future are
we leaving to our children and grandchildren?
I also deeply believe there is a moral component to this issue that
goes to the heart of who we are as Americans. By that I mean, I wonder
if we have lost the national will to make tough decisions that may
require sacrifice?
Moreover, have we lost the political courage to reject the partisan
and special interest demands and do what is best for our country?
If we remember the legacy we have inherited--the sacrifices of
Washington's crossing and Antietam and so many other examples from the
over two centuries of our Nation's history--and the debt we owe to
previous generations--our grandparents and our parents and the
sacrifices they made to make our country what it is today--I believe we
all will be moved to do our duty.
I have heard criticism that such weighty decisions on the Nation's
financial future are the responsibility of Congress. I couldn't agree
more. The SAFE Commission has two provisions to protect congressional
prerogatives. First, of the 14 members appointed to the commission,
four must be sitting Members of Congress. Second, if Congress enacts
significant legislation aimed at addressing this looming crisis, the
SAFE Commission would terminate and cease to exist.
The SAFE Commission should be embraced by both sides of the aisle.
This is a national issue; not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. I
am open to suggestions about the legislation from members of both
parties. We also welcome a forthright national dialogue.
Only by working together in a truly bipartisan manner will we be able
to secure America's future economy. I believe most Americans will
welcome it as well, especially considering we all want what is best for
our children and grandchildren.
We must heed the cautionary words of George Washington's 1796
farewell address: ``We should avoid ungenerously throwing upon
posterity the burden of which we ourselves ought to bear.''
I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this
legislation.
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