[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 27708-27709]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, Republicans must take all of us for fools, 
standing on a soap box trying to convince the American public that they 
are the saviors of Social Security, when in fact they are like the 
thief who does not believe he has committed a crime until he gets 
caught. Then he goes, oh, I committed a crime.
  Instead of supporting Social Security, the Republican leadership has 
a long track record of hostility toward that good program.
  In fact, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader, 
has maligned Social Security as a rotten trick and as a bad retirement 
for American people. Republicans have tried to eliminate Social 
Security.

[[Page 27709]]

They have tried to privatize Social Security, and they are trying to 
steal from it.
  The Republican budget proposals before us this week and for the past 
few weeks would not add a single day to Social Security's solvency.

                              {time}  1915

  We are already into the fourth week of fiscal year 2000 and the 
Republicans are covertly dipping into the Social Security program. The 
reality is that the Republican spending bills have already spent the 
Social Security trust fund surplus for fiscal year 2000. And according 
to the Congressional Budget Office, despite the majority's smoke and 
mirrors, they have borrowed more than $13 billion of the Social 
Security surplus up to this date. And by the time we are finished with 
all of the spending bills, CBO estimates, if we go in the way that they 
are proposing, that $13 billion will actually be $24 billion. How does 
this extend the life of Social Security and the Social Security trust 
fund?
  From past remarks, we know that the Republicans would be perfectly 
okay to let Social Security dry up and go away. Social Security, 
however, faces a shortfall over the long term and Congress must work, 
and we must work together, with real numbers, to secure the future of 
Social Security for Americans and for American families in the future.
  I say to the Republicans, stop talking. Start working. Work with us. 
Work with the President. Work on a plan to extend the life of the 
program. Actually, the President has a plan to shore up Social Security 
over the long term. His plan would reduce the national debt by $3.1 
trillion over the next 15 years and eventually devote the savings to 
extend the life of Social Security. We have a responsibility to future 
generations, to ensure that Social Security remains the strong 
successful program it is and that our country's priorities are 
addressed at the same time.
  I have a message for the Republican leaders. You are not fooling 
anybody. Stop talking. Start working. Work with us. Work with the 
President and work for the people of this country.

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