[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 WE MUST NOT PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, conservatives in the Republican Party 
are proposing that Congress privatize Social Security, turning it over 
to Wall Street, even though Social Security will be solvent at least 
until 2034.
  Privatization in many parts of government has simply gone too far. 
The purpose of public prisons, for example, is to protect the public, 
to punish and to rehabilitate. The purpose of privatized prisons is to 
maximize profit by reducing staff and too often cutting back on 
security. The purpose of public medical systems is to provide the best 
health care possible to all people. The purpose of privatized medical 
systems is to maximize profit, often meaning that the quality of care 
is compromised.
  The purpose of a public pension system, a public Social Security 
system is to provide a bedrock source of income for the elderly to keep 
them out of poverty. A privatized Social Security system would end that 
guaranteed income.
  Mr. Speaker, we must not privatize Social Security. Let us keep 
Social Security the very important public program that it has been for 
60 years.

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