[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14499-14500]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      THE SOCIAL SECURITY LOCKBOX

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, today is a great day for American 
taxpayers and especially for senior citizens. I come to the floor to 
welcome the President's endorsement of the lockbox plan to protect the 
Social Security surplus. I am gratified to hear that he now agrees with 
our congressional effort to protect every dollar of the current Social 
Security surplus for future obligations that the Social Security trust 
fund has to America's retirees.
  I believe the President's statement today can lead to a bipartisan 
agreement to protect Social Security. It is a fact that the President's 
statement today reverses his earlier policy to use $158 billion out of 
the Social Security trust fund surpluses over the next 5 years to 
finance increased spending. So this is welcome news. It is good news. 
It provides us with the basis for an

[[Page 14500]]

agreement and the achievement of a public good--to help American 
citizens, particularly older Americans, in their concerns about their 
retirement.
  When the President first submitted his budget proposal that included 
spending, instead of saving, a portion of the Social Security surplus, 
congressional Republicans, in the House and in the Senate, began 
working to ensure that every dollar--not just some of the money but 
every dollar--of the forthcoming Social Security surplus was reserved 
for one thing--for Social Security.
  In March, Senator Domenici and I introduced S. 502, the Protect 
Social Security Benefits Act, which would have instituted a point of 
order preventing Congress from spending any Social Security dollars for 
non-Social Security purposes.
  In April, under the strong direction of Senator Domenici, the Senate 
passed a budget resolution that did not spend any of the Social 
Security surpluses for the next decade, and included in the resolution 
was language endorsing the idea of locking away the Social Security 
surpluses. This language passed with the unanimous approval of the 
Senate.
  Also in April, Senators Abraham and Domenici and I introduced the 
Social Security lockbox amendment which would have added executive 
responsibilities to the congressional requirement to protect Social 
Security surpluses. That executive responsibility would have demanded 
that the President submit budgets that did not invade the Social 
Security surplus as a means of covering deficits in the rest of 
Government. The Senate has voted on the Abraham-Domenici-Ashcroft plan 
three times, and the measure has yet to win a single Democratic vote.
  On May 26, the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1259. That was 
Congressman Herger's measure to protect the surpluses of Social 
Security. It did so in a bipartisan vote in the House, a vote of 416 to 
12. On June 10, the Democrats in the Senate blocked the Herger measure 
as well, just as they had blocked the measures which had been proposed 
in this body. But the House, in a bipartisan way, voted 416 to 12.
  These repeated votes on a Social Security lockbox demonstrate 
congressional Republicans' dedication to protecting every dollar of the 
projected Social Security surpluses and using them to shore up the 
Social Security system. It is essential to protect Social Security so 
we can ensure the long-term viability of America's most vital social 
program. We must restore the public's confidence that money paid into 
Social Security will be paid out only for Social Security benefits. The 
lockbox would accomplish this important goal.
  Over the next 5 years, Social Security taxes will bring in an 
estimated $776 billion in surpluses. Those who say they want to protect 
Social Security should join us in our efforts to create this lockbox so 
that every dime, every cent, of this money for Social Security, paid in 
for Social Security, will be reserved for Social Security's future 
beneficiaries. The lockbox is the way to make this happen.
  The Congress is and has been moving to create a Social Security 
lockbox for this entire year. The President's staff said yesterday that 
the President will unveil his own Social Security lockbox proposal. If 
the President does, indeed, have a plan he wishes to offer, I urge him 
to bring it to Congress immediately so we can examine it and perhaps 
even vote on it before the Independence Day district work period for 
the Congress. If he does not have his own plan, I urge the President to 
support the existing congressional lockbox proposals, one of which has 
already passed the House with substantial momentum; 416 to 12 is not a 
vote to be disregarded. In spite of that, it has been disregarded by 
those on the other side of the aisle in the Senate.
  In addition, I ask that the President reach out to his Democratic 
colleagues, now that he has joined the idea of building a lockbox, and 
a strong one, to protect Social Security and urge the Democrat Members 
of the Senate to support efforts to protect Social Security. This is 
the best way to ensure Social Security's financial integrity for this 
and future generations.
  Again, I say that the American people are the winners when the 
President of the United States announces that he will support the 
efforts in Congress to protect all of the Social Security surplus, 
basically changing his position from spending $158 billion over the 
next 5 years to saying that he wants to stop the raid and no longer 
cover shortfalls in Federal spending programs by using Social Security 
surpluses.
  The President's Rose Garden announcement is welcome news. It is a 
rosy scenario, if it can be carried out. I urge President Clinton to 
join us in demonstrating his commitment to Social Security protection 
by backing the congressional Social Security lockbox, which we have 
been working so carefully to bring into place, as a means of protecting 
Social Security taxes that people across America work day after day 
after day to pay. They should be entitled to look forward to the day 
when those taxes will come back to them in terms of Social Security 
retirement benefits.

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