[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8679]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. THOMPSON of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, last weekend, the President 
finished his 60 stops in 60 days tour. He traveled to a lot of places, 
but I wish he had come to my district because my district and my 
constituents would have told him, in no uncertain terms, that 
privatizing Social Security just does not cut it.
  I have here over 3,000 petitions that were submitted to me by 
Rosalind Peterson and Becky Curry on behalf of the residents of three 
of my counties--Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma. They speak for people all 
along California's north coast who know that privatization will do 
three things: it will worsen the solvency of Social Security, it will 
lead to benefit cuts for everyone, and it will cause an explosion in 
our already record level national debt and our deficit.
  My constituents know that Social Security is the most successful 
Federal program in our Nation's history. We need to strengthen Social 
Security to make sure it is solvent for future generations, but 
privatization is not the answer.
  My constituents know that, and given the nationwide opposition to the 
President's privatization scheme, his constituents know it, also.

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