    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [February 16, 2005]
    [Pages 230-241]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Discussion on Strengthening Social Security in Portsmouth,
    New Hampshire
    February 16, 2005

        The President. Thanks for coming. Hi, John. It's nice to be back with friends. Thank you all for being
    here. We're here to talk about a vital issue, and that is Social

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    Security. But before I do, I want to say hello to some folks, maybe talk
    about a few other things. And then we'll get our panel involved.
        Before I begin on other things, I just want you to know what I think
    my job is, to confront problems, and not to pass them on. And so, as you
    hear a discussion about issues, I hope you keep that in mind. I believe
    a leader ought to, when they see a problem, address it head on and not
    say, ``Okay, we'll wait for somebody else to take care of the problem.''
    That's what we're here to discuss.
        First, I want to really thank your Senators from the great State of
    New Hampshire, Senator Judd Gregg and Senator
    John Sununu. I appreciate their leadership. I
    appreciate their advice. I appreciate the fact that they're willing to
    jump on Air Force One any time I come to New Hampshire, for a free ride.
    [Laughter] Judd is in charge of the budget for the United States Senate.
    Believe me, he brings a sharp New Hampshire eye to the budget process,
    and that's good. I'm looking forward to working with him. He'll be a
    great budget leader.
        I want to thank the speaker of the house, Speaker Scamman, and the president of the New Hampshire
    Senate for joining us. Thank you, members,
    for being here. I'm proud you're here. I want to wish my friend
    Commissioner Dick Flynn a happy birthday.
    Today is his birthday. I want to thank the State and local officials who
    are here, appreciate you coming.
        I want to thank Reggie Wright. I met--
    where's Reggie? Yes, Mr. Wright, thank you for coming. Reggie Wright is
    81 years old--or will be 81 on Monday. He is a volunteer at the veterans
    hospital, and I appreciate that. The Portsmouth Veterans Affairs
    Community Based Outpatient Clinic, right here in--that's a long word,
    but anyway--a long series of words--here at Pease. And I appreciate his
    volunteering.
        See, here's the thing about volunteering. If you volunteer to make
    your community a better place, you're adding to the great compassion of
    America. And so, for those of you who are taking time out of your life
    to help feed the hungry or provide shelter for the homeless or love
    somebody who hurts, I want to thank you for being a soldier in the army
    of compassion. Thank you for setting such a good example,
    Reggie. I appreciate that.
        I'm getting ready to go to Europe, and I'm looking forward to it.
    I'm looking forward to talking about how we can work together to extend
    freedom around the world so that the world is more peaceful for
    generations to come. I'm looking forward to reminding the people of
    Europe that there has been some amazing events in the march of freedom,
    if you think about it. The Afghan people went to the polls in the
    millions to vote for a new leader, and that is
    important, providing an example for others to show what can happen when
    people are given a chance to live in a free society. Free societies are
    peaceful societies. Democracies produce peaceful nations. And the
    elections of Afghanistan--I hope you found them as hopeful as I did, and
    I'm convinced many in the--on the continent of Europe found hopeful as
    well.
        I will remind them about what happened in Iraq. It was a grand
    moment when millions defied the terrorists and went to the polls to say,
    ``We want to live in a free society.'' For those of you who have been to
    Iraq--I see we've got some marines here--or family members in Iraq, I
    want to thank you for your loved ones' sacrifices. I hope that the hug
    that took place at the State of the Union spoke to you as much as it
    spoke to a lot of people I've talked to. It certainly spoke to me. It
    said that there's a mom who's longing for--to
    be able to hug her son, but her son's sacrifice was recognized by the
    woman who got to vote. It was a--I
    thought it was a wonderful moment of compassion and freedom and,
    eventually, peace that we all want for our children and grandchildren.

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        Freedom is on the march, and I look forward to working with our
    friends in Europe to continue that march, so when it is all said and
    done we can look back and say, ``The world is safer and more peaceful
    for our children and grandchildren.''
        Looking forward to working with the Congress to make sure we put
    things in place--plans in place to keep this economy growing. The
    unemployment rate here is 3.3 percent. That's pretty low. Things are
    going well. I suspect it's because the entrepreneurial spirit is strong,
    and so we've got to work on ways to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit
    remains strong all around the country.
        I've got some ideas. One is to make sure the budget is wise. I'm
    looking forward to working with Judd and Members
    of the House and the Senate to say, ``We'll set priorities with your
    money. We'll make sure there's clear priority. If a program doesn't
    work, we need to eliminate it.'' We need to be wise about spending the
    money. And I think that will set the tone for future economic growth,
    when people see that we're serious about dealing with our deficits.
        We're going to do something about lawsuits. The Senate voted out a
    good bill on class-action lawsuits. There's more lawsuit reform that
    needs to be done. I'm looking forward to working with the House and the
    Senate. We want to make sure the scales of justice are balanced. And
    they're not balanced around this country when frivolous lawsuits make it
    hard for small businesses to expand their employee base, and they're not
    balanced when doctors are getting run out of practice. This Congress
    needs to do something about asbestos, and they need to get a medical
    liability reform to my desk.
        There's a lot of issues we can work together on to make sure that
    the economy continues to grow. We need to get an energy policy--energy
    bill; I've put out a policy. I'm looking forward to working with
    Judd and John Sununu
    to get a bill out of the United States Senate that enhances
    conservation, that talks about renewable uses of energy. I am--believe
    that we ought to expand nuclear power to make us less dependent on
    foreign sources of energy and, at the same time, do a better job of
    protecting our environment.
        We need to continue to provide money for technologies to make the
    cars we drive cleaner. One of these days, it would be nice if biodiesel
    or ethanol becomes even more commercially available, so that when the
    crops are up, we're less dependent on a source of energy from coming
    overseas. And so I want to work with the Congress to promote a good
    energy plan--good energy bill that will enable this President and future
    Presidents to say that we're less dependent, that we're more self-
    sufficient when it comes to energy, which will be good for our economy
    and good for our national security as well.
        And now I want to talk about Social Security. And I'm sure there are
    some, when they heard the State of the Union, if they listened to it,
    that said, ``Why is he spending so much time on what had been--used to
    be called the `third rail of American politics'?'' That means, if you
    touched it, you were politically electrocuted. I guess that's what it
    meant. I've touched it. I touched it in 2000 when I campaigned here and
    around the country. I touched it in 2004, and I really touched it at the
    State of the Union, because I believe we have a problem. And I want to
    talk to you about the problem.
        And Tim Penny, my friend, former
    Democrat Member from Minnesota, is also going to talk about the problem.
    And I'm going to throw out some ideas about the solution as well, and I
    want to hear from our panelists here in a minute. Laura said, ``Make sure you tell everybody hello when you
    come, and make sure you give the panelists a chance to speak.''
    [Laughter] So far I'm not listening to her too well. [Laughter]

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        So here's the problem. In the olden days, in the 1950s, 16 workers
    would be paying in the system for every beneficiary. That means that the
    worker had less of a burden to pay the benefits that were promised. And
    the system was working great. And by the way, Social Security is vital.
    It's a really important system.
        But things have changed since the 1950s. First, baby boomers, like
    me and Judd and Penny and a couple others of you out there, are getting ready to
    retire. There's a lot of us. And instead of living to about 60 years,
    which was the life expectancy early in the Social Security calculations,
    we're now living to 77 years, and a bunch of us hope we do better than
    that. So you got a bunch of people fixing to retire, a bulge of retirees
    coming into the system, who are going to live longer. Plus, the benefits
    promised to the baby boomers are 40 percent higher, in real terms, than
    the seniors retiring today. So just think about that aspect of the
    environment in which we live, more people, living longer, being promised
    greater benefits.
        The problem is compounded by this: There's not enough people paying
    money into the system to pay for all that. The ratio of payers to
    beneficiaries is going from 16 to 1 to 3.3 to 1 today. And when--and
    down the road it's going to be 2 to 1. So you can see the formula begins
    to get a little disturbed. It makes it hard to pay the promises. As a
    matter of fact, in 2018, the system goes into the red.
        And by the way, there's not a Social Security trust. In other words,
    people think your money goes into the trust, and it's held for your
    account, and then you get it out. That's not the way it works. It's
    ``pay as you go.'' It goes in, and it goes out. And to the extent that
    there's money more than the retirees receive, like it is today, it goes
    to other programs. And so what you've got is an IOU, kind of a bank of
    IOUs. It's an important concept.
        So money that's going in is greater than money going out today for
    Social Security. But in 2018, the system goes into the red, and every
    year thereafter the situation gets worse; 2027 will cost the Federal
    Government $200 billion above and beyond payroll taxes to make the
    promises; and in 2042, the system goes broke. Those are the facts.
        Now, 13 years isn't very far down the road. You know, if you've got
    a 5-year-old child, it means when your child is getting ready to vote,
    the system goes negative. It may seem like a lot for some in the United
    States Congress who have got 2-year terms. But it's not a lot if you're
    a grandfather who's worried about whether or not your grandchild is
    going to have a retirement system that works and whether or not we've
    got the capability of dealing with the problem before it gets even
    worse, because the longer you wait, the more severe the remedies become.
        Now, I want to--I fully understand--you've got to know this about
    many of us in Congress who are discussing reforms--we understand that
    many people rely upon their Social Security check. And I know that any
    discussion about Social Security can frighten people who rely upon their
    Social Security check. I mean, I remember the campaigns where people
    would say, ``If you vote for George W., you're not going to get your
    Social Security check.'' In other words, it's been part of the political
    dynamic. People would say--even if you discussed it, that would frighten
    people. And so, not only am I going to spend time traveling our
    country--this is my ninth trip since the State of the Union--or ninth
    State--I'm going to continue traveling over and over and over again,
    making it clear to the American people we have a problem. I'm also going
    to travel over and over and over again to say to people who have
    received a check--who are receiving a check and those near retirement,
    people born before 1950, ``Nothing changes.'' It doesn't matter what the
    rhetoric might be, no matter what the mailers may say, nothing changes
    for people who have retired or near retirement, and that's really
    important.

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        Now, I have an obligation to talk about solutions as well. And in my
    State of the Union Address, I may have been the first President ever to
    have talked about different ideas about how to permanently fix the
    problem for younger generations of Americans. And Republicans and
    Democrats have both--have all come forth with different ideas. Tim is an
    example. He is on the leading edge of the Social Security debate. I
    mean, he was talking about it way before I was even thinking about
    running for President. And he's had some interesting ideas, and I
    mentioned his name in the State of the Union as being the kind of person
    who had the courage to step up and say, ``Here are different options.''
    And it's important to keep the options on the table. And it's important
    for me to say to the Members of Congress, ``If you've got a good idea,
    bring it forward. There will be no political retribution.''
        President Clinton thought raising the
    age might have made sense. Daniel Patrick Moynihan had an idea. Tim
    Penny had some ideas. And so my message
    today is: Bring them forth; let's sit down at the table and discuss ways
    to permanently fix the system. I'm openminded. And I think that's what
    you want from your President at this point--not for me to prescribe the
    solution, because I don't get to write the law, but to call Members
    forward and say, ``We'll work with you. We'll look at all the different
    options, with the exception of the payroll tax increase.''
        Now, I've got an idea that I'd like for Congress to consider, and I
    want to share the idea with you here. It's a novel idea--oh, it's really
    not that novel. As a matter of fact, it's a part of the Federal employee
    retirement plan. It's a thrift benefit plan. It's a plan that allows
    Federal employees to set aside some of their money and put it in safe
    stocks and bonds, so they get a better rate of return on their money
    than they would otherwise. So it's not new. The idea of allowing people
    to invest their money, their own money, is not a new thought. That's
    what's already happening with Federal employees. I'm the kind of fellow
    who believes if it's good enough for Federal employees, it ought to be
    considered for younger workers. In other words, there ought to be a--and
    that's the idea of letting younger workers set aside some of their own
    payroll taxes in a personal savings account.
        The benefits are these, in my judgment: One, you get a better rate
    of return on your money than that which is in the Social Security
    system. If you're a younger worker, and say--my proposal is, is that you
    can put 4 percent of your payroll taxes in the account, and the rest of
    it, obviously, will go into the Social Security system. If you're a
    younger worker who averages $35,000 over your lifetime, and you put the
    money set aside--the 4 percent allowed to be set aside into a personal
    account, because of the compounding rate of interest, that will
    accumulate--you'll accumulate $250,000 when it comes time to retire. So
    you've got money in the Social Security system, however much Congress
    can afford, plus your own nest egg of $250,000. That's for a worker who
    earns $35,000 over his or her lifetime.
        And the reason why the money grows is because interest compounds.
    I'm trying to sound like an economist; I was a simple history major. But
    nevertheless, people--if you keep reinvesting in safe stocks and bonds,
    money grows. And it's important for younger workers to be able to watch
    their money grow.
        Now, you can't take that money and put it in the lottery, in all due
    respect to those who like the lottery. In other words, there's going to
    be some safe guidelines. We've already done this. The Federal employee
    benefit plan does just that. It says, ``Here is a conservative mix of
    stocks and bonds available for you to get a better rate of return than
    that which you get with your money flowing through the Social Security
    system.''

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        It makes sense for younger workers to hold their own account,
    because when they pass on, they can leave their own assets to whomever
    they choose. I think that's a wonderful idea.
        Certainly the personal account doesn't fix the system. There needs
    to be better reforms, more meaningful reforms than that. But what the
    personal account will do, it will make it more likely--it will make it
    so that a younger worker gets closer to the promises made, because of
    the compounding rate of interest.
        There's going to be a lot of discussion about how to fund these
    accounts. I look forward to working with Congress. I'm interested; I'm
    openminded. One of the suggestions we made is the accounts start very
    slowly, so they become easier to finance, and they grow over time.
    Senators and Congressmen may have different ideas. I just want the idea
    of people being able to manage their own money to be a part of the
    debate. It makes financial sense, and it makes sense to promote
    ownership in America. I think that when more people own something, the
    more they'll have a stake in the future of this country.
        Now, a couple of other guidelines that you need to know about, and
    then we'll get to our panel. Laura's voice is
    beginning to kind of echo in my ears. You can't take all your money when
    you retire and take a trip. In other words, this is your account, but
    there's got to be guidelines because the account is set up to help
    supplement your Social Security check. And so you can't withdraw it.
    There will be withdraw requirements, for example.
        However, if you do pass it on to a survivor, that survivor can
    liquidate the account and live on it, which oftentimes does not happen
    in Social Security today. For example, if a person were to die prior to
    60 years old, all the money going into the account--and the kids are
    over a certain age--all the money in the account goes away. I've talked
    to widows who would like to see at least something left over for all the
    hard work their husband has done--or vice versa, if the woman is working
    and the husband is the beneficiary--that there's an account to pass on.
        So what I'm telling you is, is that there's ways to make this system
    conservative, is the right word to use. It's easy to come--develop a mix
    of stocks and bonds that can beat the rate of return that the money now
    earns in the--going through the Social Security system and enable a
    younger worker to have a compounded rate of interest that grows over
    time. And that's what I want the Congress to discuss and think about.
        I understand it's novel and it's different. But when the Members of
    Congress think about it, it's not all that novel and different. And
    we're going to talk to some people who are thinking about 401(k)s, what
    that means. We're developing an investor society.
        Let me conclude by this thought: Investors aren't just Wall Street
    people, as far as I'm concerned. You've got ``the investor class''--if
    you think about that, that means only certain people are capable of
    investing. I disagree. I think every citizen--every citizen--has got the
    capacity to manage his or her own money. And if they don't, we'll help
    them understand how to, and the rules will be such that they can. And I
    believe the so-called investor class ought to be every American,
    regardless of his or her background.
        So that's what's on my mind, Social Security. And I'm excited about
    the issue. I like getting out with the people and talking about it, and
    I told Tim this coming in. He said, ``Mr.
    President, you're going to have to work this issue.'' I said, ``Don't
    worry about it. Every week, I'm out of Washington, DC, in forums like
    this.'' And I'll continue to do it. I'm going to talk to the American
    people over and over and over again until the Members of Congress
    recognize we have a problem. And then I'm going to ask them the same
    question that people have asked me, ``If we've got

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    a problem, what are you going to do about it?'' People expect us to lead
    on this issue. They expect us to put our parties aside and move forward
    on this issue to solve the problem for the American people, which is
    exactly what we're going to do.
        And here's a guy--he is a man who has
    put party aside, put his country first. He's served as a United States
    Congressman from Minnesota, like I told you. And he is our expert on the
    subject. He's a senior fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute Policy
    Forum in Minnesota. Thanks for coming. Give us your thoughts.
        Representative Timothy J. Penny. Well,
    thank you, first of all, Mr. President, for your leadership on this
    issue, because this is the most important domestic program ever created.
    It's provided enormous security to senior citizens in America, that they
    know they have a safety net they can't fall below, and that's important
    to maintain. But as you've articulated, we need to strengthen this
    program for the 21st century. It was created 70 years ago, different
    time, different place, circumstances have changed. We've got new
    generations coming along, and they rightfully are worried about the
    future of this program. And we need to give them a voice in how to
    change this program for the future.

    [At this point, Representative Penny, senior fellow and co-director,
    Hubert H. Humphrey Institute Policy Forum at the University of
    Minnesota, Waseca, MN, made further remarks.]

        The President. Yes. Let me just give an example. Today, a retired
    average-wage earner gets 14,200 a year in benefits. So think about what
    two workers per beneficiary means. It means that one worker would have
    to pay $7,000 to support that retiree. So my--sorry, Tim, I'm just trying to quantify the burden.
        Representative Penny. That's fine. And
    it does put it in very real terms, because that's a big chunk of change.
    I was at a dinner last night with another leader on this issue, retired
    Congressman Charlie Stenholm, and he said, ``Well, I've got it all
    figured out. Since there's only going to be two workers to support my
    retirement, I'm picking Tiger Woods and Jessica Simpson.'' [Laughter]
    But we don't have that luxury.

    [Representative Penny made further remarks.]

        The President. Tim, help me on this. I
    need for you to, if you feel like it, talk to the seniors who are
    receiving checks today. I mean, people have got to understand--I know I
    sound like a broken record, but I've heard people say, ``Well, he's
    talking about Social Security reform. It means seniors aren't going to
    get their checks or are not going to get their full amount promised.''
    You've looked at this----
        Representative Penny. Well, I can talk
    to this on two levels, one, as a member of your Commission a few years
    ago. We said that all changes would be phased in over time, so anyone
    that's currently retired or anyone that's near retirement would be in
    the traditional system, the current system, no changes whatsoever.
        But I can also speak to this from my own life experience. My mother
    lives on Social Security and nothing else, so she's in that category of
    people that rely on this current system. And for her there will be no
    changes. I have two younger brothers who are disabled, and they get
    disability assistance, and we're going to protect that program for those
    people that need the program. So that's a separate issue. We're talking
    about what we need to do for the next generation of workers coming along
    and how to strengthen and improve this system for them. So they're
    really separate issues.
        The President. Perfect. All right, Frank, Frank Partin and his daughter, Amy. It's a
    interesting idea, whoever--I want to congratulate the people who picked
    our panelists, because this is really a generational

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    issue when you think about it, in many ways--dad/daughter, retired/not
    retired. [Laughter] Frank, what did you do? What did you do here?
        Franklin Partin. Thank you, Mr.
    President.
        The President. How did you make a living for a while?
        Mr. Partin. How did I make my living,
    Mr. President?
        The President. Yes.
        Mr. Partin. I was in the Air Force for
    many years, and I----
        The President. There you go. Thanks for serving. [Applause] I
    appreciate that.
        Mr. Partin. I beg your pardon?
        The President. I appreciate it, and so do the people out here,
    obviously.
        Mr. Partin. Thank you. We appreciate
    you, Mr. President.
        The President. Well, thank you.
        Mr. Partin. My name is Franklin Partin,
    Jr. My wife and family and I reside in New Boston, New Hampshire. My
    lovely wife----
        The President. Where is she?
        Mr. Partin. Right down there in the blue
    jacket.
        The President. You're right. She is lovely. We'll see you
    afterwards.
        Mr. Partin. I'm 69 years old. I've been
    retired for about 6 years now. And I'm receiving Social Security. It
    comprises about 40 percent of our retirement income. I'm very thankful
    for it. But I recognize that there's a serious problem with it, and I
    appreciate the plan that you have because I think it's something that my
    daughter, when she gets to be my age and wants to think about it, will
    have something viable to count on.
        The President. So Social Security is important for you--obviously
    not to the extent that it's important for Tim's mom, but 40 percent of a person's money, what they're
    living on, is important. And as you discuss this issue with people,
    Frank, you hear people say, ``Yes, it looks like Congress is going to
    reduce my benefits for retired people.'' Is that out there still?
        Mr. Partin. I've heard things like that,
    but that's not my experience at all.
        The President. It's not what you're thinking. That's good to know.
    Well, it's not going to happen. And this is important. I'll tell you why
    it's important, because once the people who get their Social Security
    checks realize nothing changes, then all of a sudden they're going to
    start saying, ``How about my daughter? What are you going to do about
    the next generation coming up?'' One of the great things about the
    generation which is retired is they've always worried about the next
    generation. And that's what we need to be worried about. That's why
    Frank has agreed to stand here in front of
    all these cameras, sitting up here with the President, worried about
    speaking, I'm sure, because he was worried about his daughter. That's why he came--once he's assured that the check, his
    check, isn't going to change.
        And by the way, before I talk to Amy, I do
    want to say something to the people who are going to be voting on this
    legislation. Once the seniors realize nothing changes, the voices you'll
    hear from are the Amys of America who are saying, ``Mr. Elected
    Official, what you going to do about it to make sure I don't get stuck
    with 200 billion a year, near 300 billion a year deficits over time? Why
    don't you address the problem now and not wait and pass it on so the
    next generation coming up has to deal with it?''
        So Dad did good, didn't he? Your dad did
    good?
        Amy Partin. Yes, he did.
        The President. Yes. All right, Amy, what do
    you do?
        Ms. Partin. My name is Amy Partin. I'm a
    senior at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester. I'm studying
    English.
        The President. Good, yes. I could use a few lessons. [Laughter]
        Ms. Partin. I'll see you afterwards.
    [Laughter]

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        The President. Yes, quick tutorial. [Laughter]
        Ms. Partin. I am also working as a part-time
    tutor as I go to school. [Laughter]

    [Ms. Partin, student, University of New Hampshire at Manchester, New
    Boston, NH, made further remarks.]

        The President. Interesting idea, isn't it? Here's a person getting
    ready to get out of college, and she says she's
    thinking about how to save her own money. And remember, the payroll tax
    is not the Government's money; it's your money. And I think the people--
    there are a lot of young people around America saying, ``Why don't you
    think of a system that will work, that enables us to watch our assets
    grow.'' I think there's nothing healthier for a society in which they
    see an asset base grow.
        And by the way, Amy, because she's younger,
    can find a--amongst conservative portfolios, a little higher return
    portfolio, and as she gets ready to retire, can shift from stocks and
    bonds to Treasury bills or whatever may be available at the time, so
    that it can--it helps to make sure that you deal with market
    adjustments. But over time, money grows. That's what Tim's committee, I suspect, discovered. They
    discovered--you might assure people of that.
        Representative Penny. Well, we did ask
    the Social Security actuaries to run numbers on what a modest account
    for young workers would mean to them over the course of their lifetimes,
    contributing 4 percent of payroll per year into these accounts. And in
    every instance, they did markedly better than what the current system is
    promising them. And bear in mind, the current system is promising them
    about 30 percent more than it can pay them, because there won't be
    enough money in the current system to pay them. So with these personal
    accounts, they come out better, even assuming very conservative growth
    in their fund over the course of their working lives.
        The President. So if she starts early with
    her own money, which I think you just told me you'd like to do----
        Ms. Partin. That's right.
        The President. ----it grows. It grows to a substantial amount. If
    you think about the worker making 35,000 over his or her lifetime, and
    they set 4 percent of the payroll taxes aside and it turns into 250,000,
    imagine the person who makes 50,000 over his or her lifetime, or 70,000.
    In other words, we're talking about the accumulation of significant
    amounts of wealth to help complement, not replace but complement the
    Social Security check. And that's important as well for people to
    understand.
        We've got us a dairy farmer with us. That would be you,
    Bill.
        William Yeaton. Yes, welcome to New
    Hampshire.
        The President. Did you ever envision coming off the dairy farm to--
    lending your wisdom here about Social Security?
        Mr. Yeaton. Up at 4 this morning, quick
    shower, and now we're down here.
        The President. That's good. [Laughter] Like, when was the last time
    you wore a tie, just out of curiosity? [Laughter]
        Mr. Yeaton. It wasn't yesterday.
    [Laughter]
        The President. That's good. [Laughter] I don't blame you, man. I'm
    stuck, though. [Laughter]
        Mr. Yeaton. Well, my name is Bill Yeaton.
    I'm here with my wife, Cerina.
        The President. Where is she? Thanks.
        Mr. Yeaton. The girl beside her, Shannon,
    my daughter, and Samuel, and also my mother, Beulah.
        The President. Good, talk to Mom, that's
    for certain.
        Mr. Yeaton. So we're----
        The President. Is your mother still giving
    you instructions?
        Mr. Yeaton. I was getting dressed this
    morning, so I was getting some help. [Laughter]
        The President. So is mine. [Laughter]

    [[Page 239]]

        Mr. Yeaton. And I was up--[laughter]--I
    was up most of the night, hoping I wouldn't forget their names, so we
    got that by--we have to keep going.
        The President. Yes, that's good. [Laughter] So you're a dairy
    farmer. A little bit about the history of the farm, just out of
    curiosity.
        Mr. Yeaton. The history of the farm, I'm
    a fourth-generation dairy farmer.
        The President. Same farm?
        Mr. Yeaton. Same farm.
        The President. Fantastic.

    [Mr. Yeaton, co-owner, Yeaton Dairy Farm, Epsom, NH, made further
    remarks.]

        The President. That's 4 percent of the payroll tax. It's not 4--it's
    4 percent out of the payroll tax; that's important. So it's like a third
    of the payroll tax.
        So how is the milk business?
        Mr. Yeaton. Last year, we had a pretty
    good year. The cows are doing well.
        The President. It's never good enough, though, if you're a farmer,
    right?
        Mr. Yeaton. I was going to sit up here
    and say we need more milk----
        The President. Wait a minute. [Laughter]
        Mr. Yeaton. ----the price of milk is too
    low.
        The President. Write your Congressman. [Laughter]
        Mr. Yeaton. I practiced that speech last
    night, talking about milk prices, and said, ``No, we're not going to use
    that.''
        The President. Okay, good, yes, thanks. [Laughter] So you and your
    wife have got a 401(k)?
        Mr. Yeaton. Oh, yes, my wife has a
    401(k).
        The President. She's got the 401(k)?
        Mr. Yeaton. Yes.
        The President. Everybody know what a 401(k) is? It's a defined
    contribution plan. You contribute your money into a plan and watch it
    grow. When I was your age, I don't--let me say when I was younger than
    your age, there weren't a lot of 401(k)s. I don't remember coming up
    talking about 401(k)s. And by the way, I never remember, when I was
    Amy's age, talking about whether Social Security
    would be around. I mean, baby boomers just assumed it would be around,
    and it is for us. This is an interesting dialog, isn't it? The dynamics
    have shifted a lot. Here we've got a dairy farmer talking about how he and his wife manage their own money. That's what you're doing,
    right?
        Mr. Yeaton. Yes. In the old days, they
    used to say, ``Farmers don't retire. We just pass on.'' But that has
    changed.
        The President. That's good, pretty good. A little agricultural humor
    there. [Laughter] But you're managing your 401(k). Think about what has
    changed in society. You've got younger folks saying, ``We're managing
    our own money. We're looking after our own money. We're watching the
    401(k) grow. We're making decisions.'' And so the idea of extending what
    is happening in society to Social Security seems like to make a lot of
    sense, doesn't it?
        This is a society where younger folks are saying, ``Just give me a
    chance to watch my own money grow and, at the same time, go milk those
    cows.'' [Laughter] Are you still milking them by hand here in New
    Hampshire?
        Mr. Yeaton. Oh, no. We've got a state-of-
    an-art process.
        The President. You're mechanized? That's good. [Laughter]
        Mr. Yeaton. We had to change our 70-year-
    old plan too.
        The President. There you go. [Laughter] Very good.
        And finally, Marlo Downer is with us. Thank
    you for coming, Marlo.
        By the way, good job, Bill. For a farmer,
    you're pretty darn articulate. [Laughter]
        Marlo, tell us about yourself. Where do you
    work?
        Marlo Downer. I work at Wentworth-Douglass
    Hospital in Dover.
        The President. Dover? Hospital? Very good. Mom?

    [[Page 240]]

        Ms. Downer. I'm a single mom of a 13-year-
    old son.
        The President. Where is he?
        Ms. Downer. Douglas.
        The President. Hey, Douglas. Like teenage
    years?
        Ms. Downer. Yes.
        The President. Interesting experience.
        Ms. Downer. Oh, yes. [Laughter]
        The President. I've been through them. [Laughter] I like to tell
    people, Marlo has got the hardest job in
    America, being a single mom. And she's worried about retirement.

    [Ms. Downer, intensive care unit nurse, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital,
    Dover, NH, made further remarks.]

        The President. And so, let me ask you, in your plan, how often do
    you get a statement, just out of curiosity? Quarterly?
        Ms. Downer. I believe it's quarterly.
        The President. Yes. That makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, I think
    it's kind of a reminder about the need for people to pay attention to
    policy or know what the Government is doing with your money as you
    watch--on a quarterly basis, watch your asset base begin to grow. And
    that's important.
        And so, tell us about Social Security. Here's your chance, with
    everybody watching.

    [Ms. Downer made further remarks.]

        The President. Are you aware of the problem? Obviously, otherwise
    you wouldn't be sitting here. But I mean, I just wonder how often
    people--how aware people are that we have a serious problem. That
    chart--and this chart, by the way, which is reality, just shows how big
    the deficits are, starting in 2018. I mean, it's like you wait, and
    then, all of a sudden, you've got to come up with 200 billion in 2027,
    and like in 2032, you've got to come up with 300 billion, just to stay
    even for the year.
        I mean, are people beginning, around the old nursing station, to
    start kind of talking about it yet?
        Ms. Downer. I really haven't heard it
    around the nurses station yet.
        The President. They're going to, after you get back--[laughter]--
    aren't they?
        Ms. Downer. Oh, yes.
        The President. By the way, on the Medicare drugs, we're fixing it.
    We got a new system that we put in place to make sure that the seniors
    who have trouble affording prescription drugs get help through Medicare.
    So they don't have to worry about that anymore, starting next year, by
    the way--next year. And it's going to be a great change.
        But back to Social Security. So what Marlo
    wants to know is whether or not we've got the courage, the political
    courage, to take this issue on and solve it. That's what she wants to
    know. And what I want to assure you all is that I like calling Congress
    to do big things, because that's what we got elected to do. And I'm
    going to continue pressing this issue and pressing this issue and
    pressing this issue and--until we get something done.
        I want to thank you all for your interest. I want to thank you for
    your interest. I would tell you, you don't have to worry about
    your Senators. They're
    forward-thinking people who understand we've got to address this problem
    today. They understand that, and I'm looking forward to working with
    them on it. I'm looking forward to giving them a ride back to
    Washington. [Laughter] I'm looking forward to talking about what they've
    heard here. I want to thank you for your time. I want to thank our
    panelists for doing such a fabulous job. I appreciate it.
        And in the meantime, may God bless you all. Thanks for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:50 a.m. in the Pan Am Hangar at Pease
    International Tradeport Airport. In his remarks, he referred to W.
    Douglas Scamman, speaker,

    [[Page 241]]

    New Hampshire House of Representatives; Thomas R. Eaton, president, New
    Hampshire Senate; Richard M. Flynn, commissioner, New Hampshire
    Department of Safety; President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; and Janet
    Norwood, mother of Sgt. Byron Norwood, USMC, who was killed in Iraq on
    November 13, 2004, and Iraqi citizen and political activist Safia Taleb
    al-Suhail, both of whom were guests of the First Lady at the President's
    State of the Union Address on February 2. Participant former
    Representative Timothy J. Penny referred to professional golfer Tiger
    Woods; and entertainer Jessica Simpson. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.