[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23806]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 23806]]

                        SOCIAL SECURITY LOCKBOX

  (Mr. VITTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. Speaker, on May 26 of this year, 3 days before my 
election, this body passed a Social Security lockbox bill authored by 
my distinguished colleague the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger). 
It was by an overwhelming vote of 416-12.
  We are here today, and we will be here every day to demand that the 
Senate act on this measure. A lot has happened since passage on May 26. 
Four months, a total of 131 days, have gone by. The American League won 
the All Star game. The NHL and the NFL began play. The President got a 
home loan. And the other body voted six times to block Social Security 
lockbox legislation.
  But one thing has not changed. The American people are rightly 
demanding that we protect Social Security through institutional 
safeguards like the lockbox. Simply put, the other body is holding the 
lockbox bill hostage. One hundred thirty-one days is long enough.

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