[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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