[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, sometime during the year 2013, the funds we 
pay out to Social Security recipients are going to exceed the funds 
coming in to finance the system.
  Despite the White House war room rhetoric, the Clinton budget does 
nothing to save Social Security. If my colleagues do not believe me, 
they should listen to this. In February, David Walker, the Comptroller 
General of the United States, stated, and I quote, ``The President's 
proposal does not alter the projected cash flow imbalances in the 
Social Security program.''
  It is true. The President's proposal does not save Social Security. 
The only way that Clinton's numbers add up is through a faulty double-
counting scheme.
  This is not a Republican complaint. Some of Social Security's chief 
defenders, members of the President's party, have said that the 
President's approach is based largely on imaginative accounting.
  We do not need any more shell games and number schemes for Social 
Security. We just need a system that can ensure tomorrow's seniors that 
their savings will be there when they retire without government 
interference. We desperately need the President to be a leader on the 
tough issues.
  We cannot waste this historic opportunity to preserve the Nation's 
Social Security program. Unfortunately, the President's budget 
represents his typical rhetoric and sloganeering at its worst.

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