[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

[[Page 643]]

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

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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.