[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             SOLVING THE CHALLENGES FACING SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, over the past 70 years, 
Congress has tried repeatedly to fix the Social Security program. The 
payroll tax has been raised 22 times, and the amount of Social Security 
benefits taxed has increased from zero to 85 percent.
  Unfortunately, these changes did not solve the real challenges 
threatening the retirement of millions of Americans. Raising payroll 
taxes simply postpones the bankruptcy and would not be a permanent 
solution for Social Security.
  On Thursday, President Bush further outlined his proposal to provide 
a lasting solution for Social Security. Today, the Washington Times 
reported that the Heritage Foundation and the CATO Institute strongly 
support President Bush's proposal. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) 
is correct. Unfortunately, Democrats have yet to offer any positive 
suggestions that would fix Social Security.
  Procrastination will not solve the problem. We must act now to 
protect benefits for today's retirees and strengthen benefits for 
future generations.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops. We will never forget September 
11.

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