    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 7, 1998]
    [Pages 514-517]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Teleconference Remarks From Kansas City to Regional Social Security
    Forums
    April 7, 1998

        The President. Good afternoon. Thank you, Ken. As Ken said, I'm speaking to you from Kansas City, where
    we're talking about what we must do as a nation to strengthen Social
    Security for the 21st century, and I'm looking forward to continuing to
    talk with you today.
        Let me begin by thanking Representatives Bob Borski, Ben Cardin, Nancy
    Johnson, Jim Kolbe,
    and Jerry Weller for holding these town
    meetings across our Nation. For each of you lawmakers, these forums are
    not the only way you've worked to strengthen Social Security.
    Representatives Borski and Cardin are cosponsors of key legislation to
    establish the ``Save Social Security First Reserve Fund.''
    Representative Borski supports saving any budgetary surplus for
    investment in Social Security, and I know Representative Cardin does as
    well.
        Now, Representative Johnson has been a
    strong advocate for Social Security beneficiaries. She has urged her
    fellow Members of Congress to continue to act with fiscal restraint as
    they debate what to do with the budget surplus. Representative
    Kolbe is one of our foremost experts on retirement
    and pension policy and is the sponsor of a resolution to establish a
    joint commission on Social Security reform. And Representative
    Weller has been a powerful voice for protecting
    the Social Security Trust Fund and was an original cosponsor of the
    ``Social Security Preservation Act.''
        Together, all of you are proving that we can work in a bipartisan
    way to make sure that Social Security is as solid for our children as it
    was for our parents, and I thank you for that.
        As you know, this year, working together with Congress, we'll be
    balancing the budget for the first time in 30 years. We have a right to
    be proud of that achievement, but we must also build on it. In the State
    of the Union, I called on Congress to set aside every penny of any
    budget surplus until we save Social Security first. Social Security is
    deeply woven into our Nation's social fabric. For 60 years, it's meant
    more than an ID number on a tax form, even more than a monthly check in
    the mail. It reflects our deepest values and the duties we owe to one
    another.
        Today, 44 million Americans depend upon Social Security. For two-
    thirds of our seniors, it's the main source of income, and one in three
    beneficiaries are nonretirees. Social Security is life insurance and
    disability benefits as well as a rock-solid foundation of retirement
    security.
        Today, Social Security is sound, but a demographic crisis looms if
    we fail to act. For over the next 30 years, 76 million baby boomers will
    retire. By 2030 there will be twice as many elderly Americans as there
    are today. If we don't

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    act now, by then payroll contributions will only cover 75 percent of
    benefits. That's why I've challenged our Nation to act now to strengthen
    Social Security for the 21st century.
        Here are the principles I want to follow for meeting this challenge.
    First, any reform should strengthen and protect Social Security for the
    21st century. We can't abandon the basic core program that's been one of
    the great successes of our Nation's history.
        Second, we must maintain the universality and the fairness of Social
    Security. For a half-century this program has been a progressive
    guarantee for citizens. We have to keep it that way.
        Third, Social Security must provide a benefit people can count on.
    Regardless of the ups and downs of the economy or the financial markets,
    we must make certain that Social Security will provide a foundation of
    retirement security.
        Fourth, Social Security must continue to provide financial security
    for disabled and low-income beneficiaries. We can never forget the one
    out of three Social Security beneficiaries who aren't retirees.
        And fifth, any strengthening of Social Security must maintain
    America's hard-won fiscal discipline, one of the main reasons we're
    enjoying our prosperity today.
        These are the five principles that will guide me on Social Security,
    principles by which I'll judge all possible proposals. They're
    principles I believe can and should guide us all as we work to forge a
    national consensus for reform.
        Above all, I know that we can strengthen Social Security only if we
    reach across the lines of party, philosophy, and generation with open
    minds and generous spirits. For too long, politicians have called Social
    Security the ``third rail'' of American politics. That's Washington
    language for ``You can't really discuss any changes seriously.'' This
    year we have to prove them wrong.
        I know that on the political calendar, 1998 is an election year. But
    on the Social Security calendar, let's all resolve to make 1998 an
    education year, a year we come to grips with the problems of the system
    and come together to find the answers. These forums are a very hopeful
    beginning, and I'm pleased to have had this chance to start this vitally
    important dialog with all of you today. This December we'll host a White
    House Conference on Social Security, and in January I'll convene the
    leaders of Congress to draft a plan to save Social Security for the 21st
    century.
        I'm confident we'll meet this challenge as Americans always do, by
    working together, honoring our values, and preserving the solemn compact
    between generations that helped to build our Nation.
        Now I'd like to turn the discussion over to Congressman
    Borski. Bob, take it away.

    [At this point, Representatives hosting the regional forums each made
    brief remarks.]

        The President. Thank you very much, Congressmen. Let me try to go
    back over some of what all of you said.
        First of all, Congressman Cardin talked about the need to increase
    private saving; some others did. Congressman Borski talked about the
    fact that there were still some people on Social Security living in
    poverty. Let me try to address those things together, along with some of
    the other concerns which were mentioned. It is true that there are still
    about 11 percent of our elderly people in America living in poverty. But
    it's important to recognize that that's a lower percentage than in the
    overall population in America, and that it's just been since 1985 that
    the poverty rate among seniors was lower than the overall poverty rate.
        Now, what can we do to make it better? There have to be other
    sources of income. There have to be other sources of private savings.
    And that is--of course, the possibility that some part of that could
    come out of Social Security reform is one of the things we're
    discussing.
        But over and above that, I'd like to point out that Congress has
    done a lot of work with our administration over the last 5 years, first
    of all, to save 8\1/2\ million pensions that were under water when I
    took office, to stabilize 40 million others, and to make it increasingly
    more attractive for employees on modest wages and for small business
    employers to take out 401(k) plans, and then to make it easier for
    people to move from job to job and take their 401(k) with them. We've
    also dramatically expanded the availability of IRA's.
        So we've tried to do some things already to help increase the
    ability and the attractiveness of saving, over and above Social
    Security. I don't think--no matter what we do with Social Security, the
    American people are going to have to be sensitized, the younger
    generation is, to do more to save for their own retirement.

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        On the other hand, I think it would be a great mistake, even for the
    youngest members of these audiences today, to believe that we shouldn't
    preserve Social Security as a universal guarantee. Because without
    Social Security today, almost half the seniors in America would be
    living in poverty, even though most seniors have income over and above
    that. So the trick is to save Social Security but also to have more
    income coming to people from private savings.
        Now, let me mention just one or two other things. Nancy Johnson
    talked about wanting--made one Medicare statement about annual
    physicals. I believe that more and more, as people live to older ages
    and are healthier, we'll have to do more preventive care within the
    Medicare program. Nancy, you know, we've
    worked hard to deal with--to have more mammographies, for example. We're
    doing other preventive screening now. I think the more of that we do,
    the more we're going to save over the long run. And more importantly,
    we'll improve the length and the quality of life.
        And she said, ``People want to know whether the seniors can count on
    Social Security.'' The answer to that is, absolutely, yes. The Social
    Security Trust Fund, according to Mr. Apfel, who has got a legal responsibility to tell the truth about
    it, is stable until 2029. In 2029, shortly thereafter, the taxes coming
    in will only cover about 75 percent of our obligations. One of the
    reasons we want to move now is that by making relatively modest changes
    now we can extend the life of the Social Security Trust way out beyond
    2029.
        Can young people, the high school students here, look forward to
    drawing Social Security? The answer to that is, they certainly can if we
    do our jobs here in the next several months. You know, a few years ago,
    I can understand your skepticism because we were running huge deficits;
    we were projected to have $300-billion-a-year deficits as far as the eye
    can see. Now we're going to have a balanced budget sometime in the next
    year, and it's projected we'll have a trillion dollars in surpluses over
    the next decade--more than enough money if we do some other things to
    fix the Social Security system for the younger people listening here
    today. But I want to say again, no matter what we do to Social Security,
    those of you who are 16, 17, 20, and 21, I know it's hard to think about
    the end of your life, your later years, when you're that age, but you
    will have to do more, through your employer, through your own individual
    efforts, to save for your own retirement over and above Social Security
    if you want to maintain your standard of living when you retire.
        Now, Mr. Kolbe asked a couple of questions
    about raising the retirement age, and then Mr. Weller asked about specific plans. Let me say, I don't want to
    dodge any of that, but I think all those proposals should be out there
    on the table. And I think that the most important thing now is, if I
    advocate a specific plan right now, then all the debate will be about
    that. The first thing we've got to do is to get the American people
    solidly lined up behind change. Let's stick with these basic principles
    I've outlined, and I want to encourage other people to come forward with
    their ideas. In December we'll all sit down, come up with our--we'll all
    put our various ideas on the table, and we'll begin hammering out a plan
    that we can present in January.
        I still hear some new ideas almost every week coming from Democratic
    and Republican Members of Congress and private citizens that I think
    should be aired. If I put a specific plan on the table now, it will
    undermine and weaken debate, not strengthen it.
        I do agree with those of you who say it ought to be possible for us
    to save Social Security without a payroll tax increase. I don't think we
    ought to automatically rule out any ideas over the next 30 to 50 years,
    as some would do, but I think that we plainly know that we can do this
    and provide for increased strength of the system without a payroll tax
    increase, given current assumptions. So I believe that will be possible.
        Now, let me just answer one last question. You asked about raiding
    the Social Security Fund. Let me say that that just depends on how you
    look at it. The Social Security Trust Fund is basically a guarantee that
    certain obligations will be paid out to retirees, including the COLA, as
    well as to the disabled and to those who are the survivors who are
    eligible to be paid under it.
        Now, in 1983, when the Social Security reforms were passed, it is
    true that the Government was collecting more in Social Security taxes
    than were needed in any given year to pay for that. So rather than raise
    other taxes to pay for other governmental expenses, the rest of the
    Government borrowed and gave a bond to the Social Security Trust Fund,
    with the full

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    faith and credit of the United States behind it, a legal obligation to
    pay back the money with interest to the Social Security Trust Fund when
    it was needed to pay out. And so there is no reason to believe that all
    the money that's been taken out since 1983 will not be paid back in as
    soon as it's needed to meet the legal obligations of the Social Security
    Trust Fund.
        By doing that, by borrowing that money and paying it back, we didn't
    do anything to affect the obligations of the Fund to pay Social Security
    recipients in the future. But we did keep the Government from borrowing
    more money out in the private sector, competing with the private sector
    for money, and running interest rates up. So I think, on balance, it's
    been a safe and sound thing to do, and I do not believe that the raid
    has occurred on the Social Security Trust Fund. It would be a raid if
    the money were not paid back when it's due to be paid to you, but the
    money will be paid back when it's due to be paid to you.
        And that's one of the things that we have to make sure is never
    interfered with, the legal obligation of the United States Government to
    replenish that Trust Fund and pay back the money when it's needed for
    the recipients.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:20 p.m. by satellite from Room 5 at Penn
    Valley Community College to regional forums in Columbia, MD; New
    Britain, CT; Philadelphia, PA; Sierra Vista, AZ; and South Holland, IL.
    In his remarks, he referred to Commissioner of Social Security Kenneth
    S. Apfel.