    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [April 21, 2005]
    [Pages 641-650]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America
    Legislative Conference
    April 21, 2005

        Good morning. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's a little early for
    the Texas delegation. [Laughter] I hope you're behaving yourselves. I
    know you are, since Billy Gammon isn't
    here. [Laughter] I am

    [[Page 642]]

    pleased to be with the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of
    America. Thanks.
        Laura told me on the way over to give you all
    her best. Generally what happens when I mention her name, most people
    say, ``Well, I wish you'd have sent her.'' [Laughter] She's doing great.
    She is a--really a fine person, a great mother, great wife, and a great
    First Lady for America. I'm a really lucky guy when she said yes when I
    asked her to marry me.
        I really appreciate your inviting me, and I appreciate your work. I
    appreciate the way more than 300,000 of you around America help our
    fellow citizens--help our fellow citizens protect their property, help
    our fellow citizens provide for their families in case of calamity.
    Thanks for what you do. Thanks for being good stewards within the
    communities in which you live.
        I oftentimes tell people that the great strength of America is not
    our military, although we'll keep it strong. The great strength of
    America is not the size of our wallets. The great strength of America is
    the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens who work in the communities
    in which they live to feed the hungry, provide hope for the hopeless,
    provide shelter for the homeless, who love a neighbor just like they'd
    like to be loved themselves. I know that's what you all do on a daily
    basis in the community in which you live, and thank you for making
    America a better place.
        I welcome you to the Nation's Capital, where sometimes politics gets
    in the way of doing the people's business. Take John Bolton--he's a good man I nominated to represent our
    country at the United Nations. John's distinguished career and service
    to our Nation demonstrates that he is the right man at the right time
    for this important assignment. I urge the Senate to put aside politics
    and confirm John Bolton to the United Nations.
        Politics in Washington has also made it hard for some to put aside
    their differences to come to the table to strengthen Social Security.
    And that's what I'm here to talk about today. I want to spend some time
    with you talking about the fact that Social Security is headed for deep
    trouble and that those of us who have been entrusted by the people to
    serve our country need to act now to make sure the Social Security
    system is there for our children and our grandchildren.
        I want to thank Bob Rusbuldt for
    giving me a chance to come. I appreciate the invitation. I want to thank
    Tom Grau for his leadership role as well. But
    most of all, thank you all for your interest.
        The men and women of the Big ``I''--I think that's what you call
    yourselves--[laughter]--appreciate the principles that are important for
    a healthy and strong America. And I appreciate the principles that you
    stand for, planning for the future and providing Americans with more
    choices and working to get your friends and clients a better deal. I
    appreciate your commitment to standing with your clients until their
    claims are settled, to help people through the rough spots. You're
    ensuring the American Dream, and I appreciate that as well.
        By protecting homes and the savings of millions of families, you're
    helping this Nation be more secure for a lot of folks. And that's what
    I'm interested in. I'm interested in a secure nation. I'm working to
    make sure this Nation is a prosperous nation. And we're working hard to
    spread freedom and the peace we all want.
        We have an ambitious agenda here in Washington. There is a lot to
    do. The war on terror goes on. We're still at war. There is still a
    ruthless enemy that would like to harm our country. They want to do us
    harm because of what we believe. We stand for freedom and liberty and
    human dignity and the rights of minorities, the right for people to
    worship freely. And we're not going to change. And they don't like it.
    But we're going to keep pressure on them. We'll work with friends and
    allies. We will be unrelenting in our efforts to bring the

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    terrorists to justice, and we will not rest until America is safe.
        In the long run, the best way to protect America is to change the
    conditions that give rise to hopelessness and extremism. That's the best
    way to protect generations of Americans to come. And the best way to
    change the conditions that give rise to hopelessness and extremism is to
    spread freedom.
        I oftentimes tell audiences this--and it's important for our fellow
    citizens and people around the world to hear this--that freedom is not
    America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each
    man and woman in this world. I believe all people desire to be free. I
    believe moms in the Middle East want their children to grow up in a
    peaceful world so their children can have--can realize their God-given
    potential. That's what I believe. And if you believe that, then you have
    an obligation to help spread that freedom. And freedom is on the march.
        Incredibly exciting times to live in, when you think about what has
    taken place in a relatively quick period of time. The other day at the
    Lincoln Library opening in Springfield--and if you're here from
    Springfield or Illinois, you've got yourself a heck of a library.
    [Applause] You know what I'm talking about. Well, you don't know yet. Go
    see it, and then you'll know what I'm talking about. [Laughter] I said,
    sometimes freedom moves slowly, like water cutting through a rock. I
    said, but sometimes, when people see the example of courage, freedom
    moves like a wildfire.
        Think about what's happened in a quick period of time. Afghanistan
    is free. Millions of people voted for a President, in spite of the fact
    that only a short time before that, they were under the brutal control
    of the Taliban. Or in Ukraine, when people went to the streets to demand
    free and fair elections--or Kyrgyzstan or in Lebanon. By the way, our
    message is very clear to Syria: Take out all your troops; take out all
    your intelligence services; and give the good people of Lebanon a chance
    to have free and fair elections.
        The world saw the courage of those who have freedom etched in their
    soul in Iraq, courage of over 8 million citizens who are willing to defy
    terrorists and killers and car bombers, to say with a message that
    resonated around the world, ``We want to be free. We're willing to take
    risks to vote.'' A free Iraq is important to America's security, is
    important for generations of Americans to come to have an ally in the
    war on terror, like Iraq. Today, the people of Iraq decide the fate of
    their Government and not the other way around.
        I look forward to working with the new Government of Iraq. I look
    forward to working with those who have been chosen by the people to meet
    the challenges that this country faces. As Iraqis stand up for their
    freedom, this country will stand with the people of a free Iraq. As a
    new Government assumes increasing responsibility for their country,
    security operations are entering into a new phase. Iraqi security forces
    are becoming more self-reliant; they're becoming better at what they do.
    They're taking on greater responsibilities, and that means America and
    its coalition partners are increasingly playing a more supportive role.
        Today--I don't know if you realize this or not--over 150,000 Iraqi
    security forces have been trained or equipped. For the first time, the
    Iraqi army, police, and security forces now outnumber U.S. forces in
    Iraq. We're working on establishing chains of command. We're working to
    make sure civilian government understands that there needs to be
    stability in the security forces. Like free people everywhere, Iraqis
    want to be defended and led by their own countrymen. That's easy to
    understand that thought and desire. And that's what we want. That's the
    strategy of the United States. And so we'll help them achieve this
    objective so they can secure their own nation. And when they're ready
    and

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    equipped, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned.
        We've got a lot of work to do to spread freedom abroad, and we've
    got work to do to pursue progrowth economic policies here at home. And
    our goal is pretty clear: We want America to be the best place in the
    world to do business. That's what we want. We want it to be the best
    place to risk capital. We've overcome a lot. We've overcome a recession
    and a terrorist attack and corporate scandals and war. But our economy
    is growing.
        Let me tell you what I think we need to do to continue to grow our
    economy so people can realize their dreams. First, one of the heaviest
    burdens on business is the litigations costs in America. Recently I was
    proud to sign the Class Action Fairness Act, a good piece of
    legislation. It was a critical first step toward ending the lawsuit
    culture in our country. Class-action reform succeeded because members of
    both parties saw a serious problem and joined together. That's a hopeful
    accomplishment in a town too often bitterly divided because of politics.
    And so my message to the Congress is: Stay focused on what you can do.
    Now we can do more work on--when it comes to legal reform.
        We need to take action on asbestos legal reform. We need to make
    sure health care is available and affordable, and one of the ways to
    make sure health care is available and affordable is to do something
    about the junk lawsuits that are running good doctors out of practice.
        You know, when I first came to Washington, I thought medical
    liability reform would--could best be handled at the State level, until
    I realized what the cost of the defensive practice of medicine, the cost
    of settling lawsuits, the rising costs of premiums do to the Federal
    budget. I mean, if you think about the cost in the Federal budget and
    the cost of frivolous lawsuits in the Federal budget, you begin to
    recognize why I think it's now a national problem.
        Listen, we pay for Medicare; we pay for Medicaid; we pay for
    veterans' health benefits. All those costs are affected by junk
    lawsuits. Medical liability reform is a national problem that requires a
    national solution. And now is the time for the United States Senate to
    listen to doctors and patients and concerned citizens, not to the
    powerful trial lawyer lobby, and get me a medical liability bill.
        I also understand the importance of small business in creating jobs
    in our country. That's why I worked with Congress to help reinvigorate
    our economy, to help strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit by enacting
    the largest tax relief in a generation. It's important to have certainty
    in the Tax Code. Congress must understand that. And that's why I've been
    urging to make sure that Congress makes the tax relief we passed
    permanent.
        Today, in large part to small businesses such as--like yours, more
    than 3 million new jobs have been added to our economy since May of
    2003. Today, more workers--more Americans are working than ever before
    in our Nation's history. I applaud the House of Representatives for
    taking the side of small businesses last week for voting to repeal the
    death tax. The death tax results in unfair double taxation. They tax
    your assets while you're alive; then they tax your assets when you're
    dead. [Laughter] I believe we ought to bury the death tax forever. By
    doing so, it will inject vital life into the small-business community;
    it will increase fairness in the Tax Code; it will help promote economic
    security. The Senate--the Senate needs to join the House in repealing
    the death tax forever.
        I want to spend a little time with you on Social Security. You know,
    I know this is one of these issues that some wish I hadn't have brought
    up in Washington. It's one of these issues that I suspect some of them
    are really saying, ``Gosh, I wish the President hadn't decided to take
    this issue on.'' I campaigned on the issue. I said to the American
    people, ``If you give

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    me a chance to serve, I will bring this issue to focus.'' That's what I
    said in campaign stop after campaign stop, ``Just give me a chance, and
    I'm going to talk about reforming the Social Security system.'' I'm
    confident Members of Congress, when they really think about that, will
    say, ``Gosh, it's good to have a President who does in office what he
    said he would do on the campaign trail.''
        I also believe it is my duty and my obligation as your President to
    confront problems now and not pass them on to future Presidents and
    future generations. That's why I've traveled the last few weeks to over
    22--to 22 States, talking about Social Security. I mean, I have a
    strategy. First, I want to lay out to the American people we have a
    problem, because I believe once the American people hear the problem,
    they're going to then say to those of us who have been elected, ``What
    you going to do about it?'' So I'm going to spend a lot of time talking
    about this issue.
        You see, I think it's--and the reason why is because I know how
    important Social Security is to the country. Franklin Roosevelt did a
    good thing when he created the Social Security system in 1935. I'm sure
    you've got relatives who depend upon the Social Security check. I meet
    people all the time in our country who say, ``You've got to understand,
    Mr. President, how important that check is to me.'' There's a lot of
    folks in this country who count upon that check when it arrives. In
    other words, the system has provided an important safety net for a lot
    of our fellow citizens.
        And so the seniors who receive their checks must hear this loud and
    clear: Don't fall prey to the propaganda, those who are trying to scare
    you when there's talk about making sure the Social Security system is
    modern. If you're receiving a check from Social Security today, you'll
    receive a check next month and the next month after that and for every
    month you're alive. The Federal Government will keep its commitments to
    the seniors who are relying upon Social Security. If you were born
    before 1950, you're in good shape with the system as it exists today.
    You're going to get your check.
        The problem is, our Government has made promises to younger
    Americans that it cannot keep, and that's important for our fellow
    citizens to know. It's important for them to know that there is a hole
    in the safety net. The safety net for citizens who retire is in good
    shape if you've been born before 1950. If you were born after 1950, you
    better pay attention to the issue.
        First, as I travel the country, I find out some people think there's
    such a thing as a Social Security trust. By that I mean we collect your
    money through the payroll tax, and we hold your money for you, and then
    when you retire, we give you your money back. No--[laughter]--that's not
    the way it works. That's what you call a--it was set up as a pay-as-you-
    go system. In other words, you pay, and we go ahead and spend.
    [Laughter] You pay through payroll taxes, and we spend your payroll
    taxes on making sure we cover the benefits of the retirees. And with the
    money leftover, like there's money leftover now, we spend it on other
    Government programs. So instead of having a trust, we have a pay-as-you-
    go system, and that which exists in the system is a filing cabinet, or a
    series of filing cabinets, full of IOUs. In other words, we've got
    paper.
        And the reason I bring this up to you is that it's really important
    for our citizens to understand how the system works, first and foremost.
    In other words, when you're talking about strengthening and modernizing,
    you've got to understand that all that is left over in the system today
    is paper.
        This pay-as-you-go system worked just fine for a while. In 1950,
    there were 16 workers paying taxes for each beneficiary. That's not a
    very heavy load for a worker to pay one-sixteenth of the promise to the
    beneficiary. Today, there's 3.3 workers per beneficiary. By the time our
    children and

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    grandchildren retire, there will be 2 workers for every beneficiary. So
    you're beginning to see, the math is changing for Social Security--fewer
    people paying in the pay-as-you-go system per beneficiary, but that is
    only part of the problem.
        To compound the problem, baby boomers like me and a lot of you will
    be eligible to retire in 4 years. See, I'm turning 62 in 4 years. It's a
    convenient time, 4 years for me to retire. [Laughter] The retirement of
    baby boomers will have a huge impact on the pay-as-you-go Social
    Security system. And here's why: My generation is about 50 percent
    larger than my parents' generation. Today, there are about 40 million
    retirees receiving benefits. By the time all the baby boomers have
    retired, there will be more than 72 million retirees receiving benefits.
        We're going to be living longer too. Medicine has changed to help us
    live longer. A lot of us are exercising a lot. I would strongly urge
    exercise if you want to live longer and make right choices for what you
    put in your body. But we're living longer than the previous generation.
        And the problem even gets further magnified because Congress has
    made sure benefits to my generation grow faster than the rate of
    inflation or even the economy. In other words, people who ran for office
    said, ``Vote for me; I'm going to make sure your benefits go up.''
        So think about what has taken place and what will take place
    relative to the pay-as-you-go Social Security system. You've got a lot
    of people retiring who are living longer, who have been promised greater
    benefits, with fewer people paying into the system. Those are the
    dynamics that have made this issue a critical issue, particularly for
    younger generations of Americans coming up.
        Social Security system 3 years from now will start heading into the
    red. In 2017, Social Security will start paying out more in benefits
    than it collects in payroll taxes--the pay-as-you-go system, money
    coming in, money going out. More money will be going out than coming in
    in 2017, and every year thereafter, the situation gets worse. In other
    words, the cash deficit for that year accelerates. In 2034, the annual
    shortfall will be more than $300 billion. In 2041, the system will be
    broke--bankrupt. So we've got a problem coming down the road.
        Now, I recognize here in Washington, 2017 may seem like a long way
    away. It's not all that far away. That's 12 years from now. If you've
    got a 6-year-old kid, your kid is going to be voting. If you think
    that's long, you haven't raised a kid yet. [Laughter] It happens just
    like that. If you're a grandparent, you're going to get your check. But
    you've got to be wondering about whether or not the burden is going to
    be so heavy on your grandchildren that the America they grow up in is
    going to be a country burdened by obligations that a Congress in 2005
    was unwilling to confront.
        You see, the longer we wait to fix this problem, the more drastic
    the solutions become. As a matter of fact, the Social Security trustees
    say every year we wait to fix the system will add an additional $600
    billion to the cost of reform. In other words, if this city gets locked
    down because of politics, that lock-down costs a future generation $600
    billion every year. In other words, we've got a serious problem. And the
    point the trustees make is, ``Why don't you fix it now? Why don't you
    come together to get something done?''
        If we wait--in other words, if you say, ``Oh, gosh, well, it's too
    difficult to do,'' or, ``We don't want to make so-and-so look good
    relative to such-and-such,'' if we wait, it's conceivable younger
    workers will have to have a payroll tax of about 18 percent in order to
    make good on the promises. That's not going to work, folks. If we wait,
    the benefits promised to a lot of folks are going to have to be slashed
    dramatically, or other Government programs affected.

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        So recognizing this problem, I stood up in front of the Congress at
    the State of the Union and said, ``Here's the problem.'' I also said,
    ``Bring forth your ideas.'' See, I don't view this as a Republican
    problem. I don't view it as a Democrat problem. I view it as a national
    problem that requires people to come forward, say, ``Here's my idea,''
    or ``Here's another idea.'' We've had a lot of people starting to come
    forward.
        People have come forward in the past. I was telling President
    Clinton when I traveled with him to the
    Pope's funeral--which, by the way, was a magnificent event. It was just
    unbelievably spiritual and--it was great, in recognition of a great man.
    But I said, ``I remember your--I think it was 1996 townhall meeting in
    Albuquerque.'' He probably said, ``What are you watching C-SPAN at such
    a late hour for?'' But, anyway--[laughter]--and people were encouraged
    to bring forth ideas on how to permanently solve the Social Security
    problem. That was in '96.
        Former Democrat Congressman Tim Penny
    has come forth with good ideas. I asked the late Senator Daniel Patrick
    Moynihan of New York to put together a bipartisan Commission to look at
    Social Security--this was in 2001. They came forward with a lot of good
    ideas. There's a Democrat Social Security expert named Robert
    Pozen who believes we ought to restructure
    benefits and be more generous to low-income workers. That's a good idea.
    All ideas are on the table. That's how you get the job done.
        And when somebody puts an idea on the table, you can rest assured
    the White House will not attack them. And that's important for people to
    hear as well. Now is the time for a civil debate on how to solve this
    national problem. Now, I do believe the reforms ought to be guided by
    certain principles: We ought not to raise the payroll tax rate. Social
    Security must continue to provide dignity and peace of mind for those
    with lower incomes. That's an important principle for a good retirement
    system. We've got to make sure that the solution is a permanent
    solution, by the way, and not a temporary fix.
        I really appreciated the spirit in 1983 of President Reagan and
    Speaker O'Neill and others who said, ``We got a problem with Social
    Security. Let's come together and fix it.'' That's the kind of spirit
    that I'm confident will prevail eventually here in Washington. By the
    way, this is the 22d anniversary of the 75-year fix on Social Security.
    [Laughter] In other words, at the time they said, ``We got us a 75-year
    fix.'' The problem is, 22 years later we're now talking about, let's
    make it permanent this time. And so, when Congress debates these issues,
    it's really important to make sure that we have a permanent fix, that we
    get it done once and for all.
        I'm looking forward to hearing more good ideas as people discuss the
    issue. By the way, I'm encouraged; I believe we're going to get
    something done. After all, the United States Senate looked at the issue
    and passed a resolution that said we ought to fix Social Security
    permanently. That's an interesting vote. You had the two
    Senators from Texas voting yes and the two
    Senators from Massachusetts voting yes.
    That's called bipartisanship. [Laughter] See, they made it clear;
    they're on record. Every single United States Senator is on record
    supporting a permanent fix for Social Security. And now those Senators
    need to keep their word and make Social Security solvent once and for
    all.
        Bringing permanent solvency to Social Security is an important
    start, but it's only part of our duty. Preserving Social Security should
    not mean preserving its problems. Today, we have an opportunity--as we
    permanently solve Social Security, we have an opportunity to make--to
    give younger Americans a better deal when it comes to the Social
    Security system. And I want to spend a little time talking to you about
    what I mean by that.
        See, I think we ought to give every American the opportunity to own
    assets.

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    I love the concept of spreading ownership throughout America. And I know
    we've got to give younger Americans the opportunity to tap into the
    power of compound interest so they have a chance to get a higher rate of
    return on their own money, on their own assets than the current system
    allows. Sometimes in Washington, we seem to forget whose money we spend.
    You see, those payroll taxes, that's not the Government's money. The
    payroll taxes are the hard-working people's money. And it seems like it
    makes sense to me to give the hard-working people a chance to earn a
    better rate of return on their money than the Government does.
        And so I think we ought to give younger workers the opportunity to
    save, in the Social Security system, through what's called a personal
    retirement account. Essentially, that would be a conservative mix of
    bonds and stocks that grows over time. Today, the real rate of return in
    the Social Security for your money is about 1.8 percent. At that rate,
    it will take you nearly 40 years to double your money. If you put the
    money in the market and get a 4-percent return, your money will double
    in about 18 years. If you get the historical market average of 7
    percent, your money will double in just over 10 years. That's what's
    called the miracle of compound interest at work.
        We have a fellow with us today named Wright Noll. He's 67 years old. He's married with five children. He
    spent about 30 years as a schoolteacher and an assistant principal and
    most of that time in Bend, Oregon. By the way, it's a nice place to
    live, right? He took what you might call a sabbatical and spent 6 years
    as a dairy farmer. This guy is a hard-working guy. At one point he held
    three jobs.
        Wright says he paid roughly the same amount
    of money into both Social Security and the Oregon State pension plan for
    government employees. Unlike the money Wright put into Social Security,
    the money he paid into Oregon's plan was saved and invested. As a
    result, the money in the Oregon plan benefited from the power of
    compound interest, and he got a better--bigger retirement check. Today,
    Wright's monthly Social Security check is about $1,152 a month; his
    monthly check from the Oregon retirement system is nearly $5,400. That's
    the power of compound interest.
        When, he said, he started getting his
    retirement checks, he went out and bought himself five brand new shirts.
    [Laughter] He said, ``I never did that before because, being a
    schoolteacher with five kids, you have to shop at the used clothing
    store.''
        I appreciate you coming, Wright. I
    appreciate you letting me use you as an example of missed opportunity
    for a lot of people because of the way the current system is structured.
    You see, I think we need to give everybody a chance, if they so choose,
    to put some of their money in a personal savings account, a conservative
    mix of bonds and stocks, so they can get a better rate of return on
    their money. It's a voluntary idea. I mean, Government ought to not
    mandate this idea. But Government ought to say, ``We ought to give you
    the opportunity, give you a chance, if you so desire.''
        In my proposal to Congress, I said, ``Well, why don't you let a
    person set aside a third of their payroll tax into a personal savings
    account?'' Let me give you what that would mean for a younger worker who
    earned $35,000 over his or her lifetime. If you allow that person to set
    aside a third of their payroll taxes with a reasonable rate of growth on
    their money, that person earning that amount of money over their
    lifetime would have a nest egg of about $250,000 upon retirement. That
    would be a nice addition to other Social Security benefits. It's a part
    of the retirement plan. That would mean that person would have their own
    assets. Their asset wouldn't be tied up in a file cabinet in West
    Virginia. Their asset would be theirs to call their

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    own, an asset they can pass on to a--to whomever they choose, a son or a
    daughter.
        These voluntary accounts would--obviously, you'd have strict
    guidelines. You couldn't take your money and put it in the lottery. In
    other words, there's go-bys. There's a--the investment vehicles are
    conservative in nature. You've got to make sure your--we'll make sure
    the earnings aren't eaten up by hidden Wall Street fees, make sure
    there's good options to protect investments from sudden market swings on
    the eve of retirement. That happens all the time in the financial
    community, where if a person is getting ready to retire and wants to
    convert from stocks and bonds to annuities--it happens all the time. You
    know what I'm talking about; you do it all the time in advising people.
        These accounts will offer straightforward investment choices that
    are easy to understand. And I'm not talking about something new here.
    This isn't a new invention. In Ohio--if you're from Ohio, you know what
    I'm talking about--thousands of government employees at the State,
    county, and local level have personal retirement accounts as part of
    their retirement system. I just went to South Carolina; all new State
    employees can choose between their traditional retirement plan and a
    personal retirement account with a conservative mix of bonds and stocks
    to deliver a better rate of return for them.
        I don't know if you know this or not--Congress knows it--Federal
    employees, including Members of the United States Congress, have the
    option of taking some of their money and putting them into a
    conservative mix of bonds and stocks. They've got the opportunity to do
    that. Do you know why they gave themselves the opportunity? Because they
    want to get a better rate of return on their money. I believe if this
    opportunity to put aside personal savings account--money in a personal
    savings account is good enough for the United States Congress, it's good
    enough for working people all across the United States.
        Do you know what's really interesting about today's society? Some of
    you older fellows out there probably didn't spend much time talking
    about 401(k)s, when we were in our twenties--or IRAs. I mean, the
    investment world has changed, hasn't it? It really has. I mean, there's
    a lot of young people who are comfortable with the idea of taking some
    of their own money and watching it grow. They're used to making
    decisions about their money. I mean, after all, the world really has
    changed when it comes to retirement plans and companies trusting people
    with their own decisionmaking. Offering young workers a 1930's-era
    retirement system is like trying to persuade them that vinyl LPs are
    better than iPods. [Laughter]
        Voluntary personal accounts are a way of bringing Franklin
    Roosevelt's promises of retirement into the 21st century. Creating
    accounts will give children and grandchildren a chance to replace a
    burden of uncertainty with new opportunity. Instead of leaving their
    full retirement, all their retirement in the hands of future
    politicians, younger workers will be able to take part of their
    retirement in their own hands. I like that idea.
        Instead of sending their money to Washington so politicians can
    spend it, younger workers will be able to put part of their money into
    an account they own that nobody can take away from them. Instead of
    forfeiting years of Social Security contributions if they die before
    retirement, which happens in the current system, younger workers would
    have peace of mind that their personal accounts could be passed on to a
    loved one.
        My administration works hard to spread ownership throughout America.
    I want more people owning their own home. I want more people owning
    their own small business. I want more people owning a piece of their
    retirement, because I know that when a person owns something, they have
    a vital stake in the future of this country. And ownership should not be
    confined

    [[Page 650]]

    to just a few people in our society. Owning an asset and being able to
    pass it on to your son or daughter should not be the purview of a few.
    In this great land, ownership ought to be spread to everybody--every
    single person.
        As Wright Noll will tell you, the power of
    compound interest is important as well. He sees it every month in the
    checks he gets. Members of Congress need to listen to the people. A lot
    of people in America now understand we have a problem. A lot of people
    are sorting through the data. They're listening to the debate. They're
    hearing all the noise coming out of Washington. But they're hearing we
    got a problem. I'm going to keep talking about it over and over again
    because I want the people to understand the stakes of doing nothing.
        Older Americans are beginning to hear loud and clear that if you get
    your check, nothing changes. And that's important for our citizens to
    hear. I'm sure some of you all have got a mom or a dad wondering what
    old--``Why is George W. talking about this? I want to make--just tell
    him, make sure I get my check.'' [Laughter] You'll get your check.
    You'll get your check.
        There are some folks around this town trying to scare you because
    they don't want to see anything happen. But our citizens who count on
    Social Security will get their check. Baby boomers like me, we're fixing
    to retire, and there's a lot of us. This is an important issue for us,
    but it's really an important issue for your children and grandchildren.
        We have an obligation to save and strengthen this important program
    for generations of Americans to come. And when Congress acts, there will
    be plenty of credit for everybody involved. And when they do, our
    children and grandchildren will one day look back and be grateful that
    our generation made the difficult choices and the necessary choices to
    renew the great promise of the Social Security system for the 21st
    century.
        Thank you all for giving me a chance to come by.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:24 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In his
    remarks, he referred to William ``Billy'' Gammon III, president, William
    Gammon Insurance Agency, Inc.; and Robert A. Rusbuldt, chief executive
    officer, and Thomas Grau, president, Independent Insurance Agents &
    Brokers of America, Inc.