[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11003]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           STOP PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES WITH SOCIAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Kucinich) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, 3 months ago, 276 experts on Social 
Security, the Federal budget or the economy wrote to President Obama 
``to correct a commonly held misconception that Social Security somehow 
contributes to the Federal Government's deficit.''
  Despite the fact that Social Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus and 
can pay 100 percent of its benefits through 2037 without any cuts or 
tax increases, President Obama declared yesterday that Social Security 
checks may not go out after August 2, presumably unless there is a deal 
on the Federal deficit, which has nothing to do with Social Security.
  According to today's Washington Post, 15 years ago, Congress passed 
laws which stated Social Security did not count against the debt limit 
and gave Treasury clear authority to use Social Security trust funds to 
pay benefits and administration expenses in the event a debt ceiling is 
reached.
  A fake Social Security crisis will do nothing to solve a real debt 
crisis, will undermine the public's faith in government, and will 
create unnecessary anxiety among our elderly. Stop playing political 
games with Social Security.

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