[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 2960]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, clearly, this administration 
and the Congress have done a good job at tackling the issue of 
terrorism, but there are many other important issues which need our 
attention, and one of these is Social Security.
  Last May, this administration was giving us a different message on 
Social Security. We were told we could have a tax cut, save the Social 
Security surpluses, pay down the debt, and fund other urgent national 
priorities. Today, we are in a far different situation. We are not 
saving any of the surpluses; in fact, we are spending them. Mr. 
Speaker, $1.5 trillion over 10 years of Social Security surpluses are 
going to be spent under the current budget plans. We are not paying 
down the debt. We are, in fact, increasing the debt, unlike the 
predictions that were made. Plans are under way to increase the 
national debt ceiling, so we are headed into more debt, rather than as 
it was promised earlier we were going to be out of debt in 10 years.
  Why is the erasing the debt important? It is important because by 
paying down debt, we are freeing up resources to help save Social 
Security.
  At points in our history in dealing with this debt, 25 cents of every 
tax dollar that comes in has been spent on just servicing the debt. So 
if we lower that debt amount, that 25 cents, then we are freeing up 
resources, current resources that are coming in to protect Social 
Security. That means we are going to have Social Security there for the 
long term.
  Last year, all of us repeatedly promised to protect the Social 
Security and Medicare trust fund surpluses and promoted a series of 
lock box proposals as evidence of their commitment. Now, however, this 
administration's budget diverts $1.5 trillion of the Social Security 
Trust Fund surpluses for day-to-day government operations for the next 
10 years and beyond.

                              {time}  1245

  Even taking the administration's optimistic numbers at face value, 
according to the CBO this administration's budget spends hundreds of 
billions of dollars from the Social Security trust fund.
  Moreover, the Social Security surpluses that the budget depletes are 
needed to finance the benefits promised under existing law. 
Strengthening these programs to prepare for the baby boom's retirement 
or adding even the administration's inadequate prescription drug 
benefit requires resources outside of these surpluses. Since the budget 
does not provide such resources, these programs will require benefit 
cuts or even more borrowing to remain sound for the long term, as noted 
in the recent report of the President's hand-picked Social Security 
Commission.
  The administration proposes a budget with a $1.5 trillion on-budget 
deficit over the next 10 years. Two weeks ago, the Congressional Budget 
Office confirmed that the enacted tax cut was the largest single factor 
in the $4 trillion deterioration of the budget. Now, the administration 
proposes to undermine the fiscal outlook with about an additional $600 
billion in tax cuts. Every penny of these additional tax cuts comes out 
of Social Security and Medicare trust fund surpluses.
  In addition to this assault on the Social Security surplus, the 
Social Security Commission marks further danger to this highly 
successful program. To nobody's surprise, the commission is a strong 
advocate to create individually controlled, voluntary personal 
retirement accounts.
  I supported the establishment of USA accounts, which would exist as a 
separate retirement vehicle outside of Social Security and would 
include Federal matching funds to encourage Americans to save. However, 
this administration's plan, through this commission, would divert $1 
trillion out of the Social Security system and into private accounts. 
This will double Social Security's shortfall and deplete the trust fund 
by 2003, 15 years earlier than currently projected.
  Moreover, under President Bush's plan, seniors will be forced to rely 
on private accounts that rise and fall with the stock market, thereby 
leaving their retirement security vulnerable to fluctuations in the 
market.
  This program is too important to gamble with a volatile stock market, 
and Social Security must continue to be a vital safety net in the 
future. We must do everything possible to ensure it survives to provide 
benefits for all Americans.

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