[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3080-3081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to enter into a very 
important discussion that our President has kicked off for the Nation, 
and that has to do with strengthening and saving Social Security. 
Social Security has historically been a vital program in the history of 
America, saving many seniors from poverty, giving them peace of mind 
and giving them greater security.
  Madam Speaker, this is far more important than just a congressional 
debate to me. It is something that is very personal. You see, my 
parents are in their seventies. Social Security is part of their 
retirement. And I am committed to ensure that the Social Security 
benefits that my parents have earned, that they keep. But, Madam 
Speaker, not only do I have a sacred obligation to my parents, I have a 
sacred obligation to my children as well. My children are in diapers. 
Their world consists of Barney and Big Bird. They do not know about 
Social Security, but if we do not take action now, Social Security as 
we know it will not be there for my children.
  We have a number of challenges in Social Security. We have the 
challenge of demographics. When Social Security was first created, 
there were over 40 workers supporting every one beneficiary. By 1950, 
we were down to 16 workers for every beneficiary. And today, Madam 
Speaker, just three workers for every beneficiary. In addition, when 
Social Security was created, the life span of the average American was 
60 years old. You could not even retire and get your benefits until 65. 
Thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, the life expectancy of 
seniors today is 77, and increasing.
  Another phenomenon we have, because we have fewer people paying into 
the system, we have declining rates of return. My grandparents enjoyed 
about a 12 percent rate of return on their Social Security. My parents 
will enjoy about a 4 percent rate of return on Social Security. I 
myself about 2 percent. And if we do not reform Social Security, my 
children will pay more into Social Security than they take out. Madam 
Speaker, that is simply not fair.
  Besides the declining rates of return, we have a large, large deficit 
that we are facing in the future. The cost of doing nothing is 
profound. In the year 2008, the Social Security surplus begins to 
decline and by the year 2018, Social Security begins to go bankrupt. It 
begins to pay out more money than it takes in. That sea of red ink 
there, Madam Speaker, adds up to $10.4 trillion. Nobody knows what that 
is, but I can tell you, that adds up to about $35,000 for every man, 
woman and child to save Social Security.

                              {time}  1915

  If we do not do that, if we do not write out that check today, future 
generations are looking at unconscionable options. Number one, people 
who enter the workforce today, by the time they retire, if we do not 
take moves to strengthen Social Security now, they will be looking at 
having their benefits cut by almost a full third. How many seniors can 
afford to have their Social Security benefits cut by almost a third?
  And if we are not looking at massive benefit cuts, we are looking at 
massive tax hikes. This same group of people, people who enter the 
workforce today, if we do not take movement today, action today, they 
are going to be looking at a 42 percent increase in their payroll 
taxes. What will that do to families in America? How many hundreds of 
thousands of people will lose

[[Page 3081]]

their jobs because of that massive tax increase?
  But, Madam Speaker, there is a better way. And that better way is to 
do what the President has suggested, and that is to create personal 
Social Security accounts that take the best of traditional Social 
Security, our government guarantee, our inflation control, our social 
safety net, and add to it elements of the best of what company pension 
plans offer, and that is real assets that people own, giving workers 
and families a chance to start their own nest egg and pension grade 
investments that have proven over time to have a superior rate of 
return and be safe.
  Madam Speaker, some say that this is risky. I say it is risky to 
leave one's retirement security in Washington. Already Congress has 
raided the Social Security trust fund over 59 times. They have cut 
benefits a half dozen times. They have raised taxes 20 times.
  Madam Speaker, we need to move to personal Social Security accounts. 
Working together, Republicans and Democrats, we can save Social 
Security for my parents. We can save Social Security for my children. 
We can save Social Security forever.

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