[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3297]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL FOR PRIVATIZATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, March is Women's History 
Month, and we are proud to celebrate the contributions that women have 
made to American society. As mothers, as caregivers, as teachers, as 
providers, we honor the women in America this month of March.
  While home last week, I had an opportunity to hold two town hall 
meetings. My first meeting was in Wyandotte, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, 
and Ecorse communities, where we had hundreds of people who came out to 
hear about the Social Security proposals. My first point to them was 
that we have no bill. What we are hearing are discussion points, and 
right now we have no legislation that has come to the House or the 
Senate. What we are hearing are proposals being made by the President. 
Mr. Speaker, that calmed a lot of people down, many of whom were women.
  As we went on to discuss the problem of Social Security, I advised 
them that the Social Security trustees have said now that the trust 
fund is good until the year 2042 at least.

                              {time}  2030

  I also told them that per the Congressional Budget Office, the Social 
Security fund is good until at least 2052, so to calm down, make sure 
you are okay and do not send anyone the $1 or the $2 that they ask you 
to save your Social Security. Your Social Security is good.
  At our town hall meetings, first in the communities that I mentioned, 
and then moving on to Detroit, hundreds of citizens, many women, 
because 24 million women in America right now receive Social Security. 
Of that number, 7.5 million women disabled receive Social Security. And 
over 2.7 million children under 18, many of them receive Social 
Security, and many 18 and under are women. So when we talk about the 
Social Security issue in our town hall meetings, which were very 
successful, not combative, giving information, using some of the 
professors at Wayne State University, such as Professor Dankowski, a 
professor of gerontology and the aged at the university, we exchanged 
information.
  What my constituents found out at our town hall meetings was that 
more than 85 percent of Social Security funds that come into Social 
Security go right back out to beneficiaries. Over 85 percent, and that 
14-plus percent is set aside for the trust fund. If we set up private 
accounts as being proposed by the President and take money out of 
Social Security, then those people who are current beneficiaries who 
have paid into the system will have their benefits cut, or we will have 
to borrow money to make that up.
  At a time when we are in deficit spending in this country, it is not 
the time to borrow. As we discussed Social Security and what is 
happening with it, good until the year 2042 if you use the Social 
Security trustees' projections, or 2052 if we use the Congressional 
Budget Office, we calmed them down and were able to exchange 
information.
  Social Security is the most successful program this country has seen 
since 1935 when President Roosevelt signed the bill. In 1936, payroll 
deductions began to be made, and in 1940 the first checks went out to 
beneficiaries who had been paying into the system. As we know now, many 
disabled, widowers, and survivors also use their Social Security.
  Mr. Speaker, town hall meetings, we have to get out into America. We 
found that is the best way of communicating to give them the facts so 
they have the information they need. Without Social Security, women in 
particular would be living in poverty.
  Let us not throw out a good program. Yes, it needs fixing. As a 
Member who spoke earlier said, there are only three or four options. 
Either we raise the age, raise the deduction, which is if you make up 
to $90,000, your Social Security FICA comes out. If you make over 
$90,000, you do not pay any. I am not advocating that at this point, 
but that is one of the options, raise the age, increase the limit from 
which we make the payroll deductions, or cut benefits.
  There are not a lot of options, but we have time to do what is right 
for American citizens. Social Security is a good program. It was never 
intended to be the end all. It was a tripod: Social Security, pensions, 
and if you were able to save, then those three sides of the triangle 
would give Americans a comfortable life in their retirement.
  My constituents say do not mess with our Social Security. They want 
it, they have paid into it, and they believe they are entitled to it. 
As we continue our discussion, let us remember it is the people of 
America who we serve who we represent and who have paid in. Keep Social 
Security sound. Let us tweak it and not throw it out.

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