[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16894]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




DELTA AIRLINES' TROUBLES REMINDS US OF NEED TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Today's Wall Street 
Journal reports that Delta Airlines executives have warned that the 
airline's current turnaround plan may be futile and that avoiding 
chapter 11 will soon be impossible.
  In other words, we may soon add Delta to the list of bankrupt 
airlines and Delta's employees to the list of those whose pension plans 
are now going to be bailed out by the taxpayers at PBGC.
  That should serve as a stark reminder of what is at stake in this 
debate about the future of Social Security.
  Delta Airlines' news is yet another example of America's retirement 
insecurity. Now we should go ask those Delta employees what they think 
of Social Security.
  For airline employees, steel industry employees, and probably the 
future of auto industry employees, Social Security is the linchpin to 
their retirement.
  It may come as a shock to some in this Chamber, but the American 
people like the security that comes with Social Security. They reject 
the idea of doing to Social Security what is now happening to their 
private retirement plans. And, most of all, they reject the 
privatization of one of the most successful programs in the Nation's 
history.
  Mr. Speaker, this debate is about more than the solvency of Social 
Security; it is about the financial security of every American.

                          ____________________