[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 37 (Monday, March 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E461]]
                    SUPPORT FOR THE SAFE COMMISSION

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 5, 2007

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, earlier this year I reintroduced legislation 
in the House of Representatives aimed at addressing the looming 
financial crisis facing the Nation, the Securing America's Future 
Economy (SAFE) Commission Act. The bill would establish a national 
bipartisan commission that will put everything--entitlement spending as 
well as all other Federal programs and our Nation's tax policies--on 
the table and require Congress to vote up or down on its 
recommendations in their entirety, similar to the process set in 1988 
to close military bases. Mandating congressional action on the panel's 
recommendations is what differentiates this commission from previous 
ones.
  I submit for the Record an op-ed by Dr. Ed Feulner, President of the 
Heritage Foundation. Dr. Feulner believes that the SAFE Commission 
provides an opportunity to address this looming crisis. This 
legislation can provide a path toward a safe and secure economy for 
generations to come--a renaissance for America.
  This legislation will be good for the future of America.

                  [From the Sun Times, Feb. 28, 2007]

        We Need a New Commission To Tackle Entitlement Programs

                            (By Ed Feulner)

       In any policy battle, it helps to have allies. So it's good 
     that AARP seems finally ready to help press for reform of 
     entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
       AARP's shift can be seen in its latest TV ad, ``Future 
     Champions.'' It shows children stressing the need to ``find 
     real long-term solutions to some of America's most pressing 
     issues--health care and long-term financial security.''
       The ad is misleading in some ways. Speaking about 
     entitlements, one boy asks, ``Will we keep those promises?'' 
     when, of course, this child has made no promises. In fact, 
     the big three entitlement programs are promises made by older 
     generations--to give themselves benefits that younger workers 
     will have to pay for through ever-rising payroll taxes.
       But the overall message of the ad is that we need to make 
     some big changes to fix entitlements. That's a refreshing 
     change from two years ago. Back then, when President Bush was 
     urging the creation of individual retirement accounts within 
     Social Security, AARP's ads insisted, ``If you had a problem 
     with the kitchen sink, you wouldn't tear down the entire 
     house,'' hinting that entitlement problems weren't all that 
     bad.
       But the organization now seems to understand that the 
     country's on the verge of a fiscal catastrophe.
       The Congressional Budget Office predicts that spending on 
     Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will soar from just 
     over 8 percent of GDP today to almost 19 percent in 2050, 
     when the cute children in today's TV ads will be middle-aged 
     parents. Their bill will be gigantic: $38 trillion to pay for 
     the Social Security and Medicare benefits their parents have 
     promised themselves--but not arranged to pay for. Add in the 
     national debt and other entitlements, and it works out to 
     $440,000 for every household in the United States today--
     enough to buy each of those families a new home. Or two.
       So how can we fix things? Well, as we learned in the debate 
     over Social Security, we can't simply take on one problem at 
     a time. If we try to reform just one of the big programs, 
     some group will always fight for the status quo. We need to 
     fix all three at once.
       Also, we need to give lawmakers some cover. To accomplish 
     that, Congress should form a commission such as the one Rep. 
     Frank Wolf (R-Va.) proposed last year. Wolf would label it 
     ``SAFE,'' for ``Securing America's Future Economy.'' It would 
     have 16 voting members, including at least four members of 
     Congress, the director of the Office of Management and Budget 
     and the secretary of the Treasury.
       The commission would be bipartisan and have one year to 
     develop plans to:
       Fix the imbalance between long-term federal spending 
     promises and projected revenues.
       Boost national savings to spur domestic investment and 
     economic growth.
       Simplify the budget process to place greater emphasis on 
     long-term fiscal issues.
       The first thing the commission would do is leave Washington 
     and discuss reform options with Americans. That should help 
     it avoid the temptation to hatch some scheme behind closed 
     committee-room doors. Plus, the members would surely find, as 
     the Heritage Foundation has with our ongoing Fiscal Wake-Up 
     Tour, a real desire out there to fix entitlement programs.
       Once it reports to Congress, lawmakers would be required to 
     hold a simple up-or-down vote on each of its recommendations. 
     This should help break the legislative logjam. Just as base-
     closing commissions enabled lawmakers to shutter obsolete 
     military bases (even those in their own districts or states), 
     a SAFE Commission would help lawmakers make necessary changes 
     without being accused of ``destroying'' entitlement programs.
       Many of us over 50 realize that our generation, however 
     inadvertently, created the coming entitlement crisis, and we 
     understand it's up to us to solve it. AARP will be a welcome 
     ally--if we can believe their ads. Establishing a SAFE 
     Commission should help us find out.

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