[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 14 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[Pages 761-764]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 2000

April 7, 2000

    Thank you. Let me say, first of all, to Flo Mallonee, I thought she 
did a great job. Her family must be very proud of her. And if you get 
tired of the job you're in, you might consider elected office. 
[Laughter]
    I'd like to welcome all the former Social Security Commissioners 
here and say a special word of appreciation to our current Commissioner, 
Ken Apfel, and Deputy Commissioner Bill Halter. I'd also like to 
acknowledge the contributions of Jim Roosevelt, until recently, the 
Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy at the Social Security 
Administration, something that would have made his grandfather very 
proud of him; and former Representative Barbara Kennelly of Connecticut, 
who is the current Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy.
    There are many leaders of the aging community here today; I welcome 
them. But most of all, I want to welcome this very large delegation from 
the United States Congress, and at risk of--if I forget anybody, do not 
be shy. But my notes say that present here today are: Chairman Bill 
Archer; our minority whip, David Bonior; Representative Ben Cardin from 
Maryland; Representative Mac Collins from Georgia, who is here with his 
granddaughter who is happy that her grandfather can continue to work 
into his 
later years--[laughter]--Representative Joe 
Crowley from New York; Representative Sam Johnson from Texas; 
Representative Sandy Levin from Michigan; Representative John Lewis from 
Georgia; Representative Ron Lewis from Kentucky; Representative Bob 
Matsui from California; Representative Jim Ramstad from Minnesota; our 
subcommittee chair, Representative Clay Shaw from Florida; 
Representative John Spratt from South Carolina; Representative Jerry 
Weller from Illinois. I don't think I've missed anybody. And you should 
give them all a big hand; they did a fabulous job. [Applause]
    Over 7 years ago now, when I took office, the Vice President and I 
made a commitment to a 21st century vision of America, with opportunity 
and responsibility for all American citizens and a community of all 
American citizens. To do it we thought we would have to reward both work 
and family and create a Government that would borrow less and invest 
more. For 7 years, we've worked hard on that.
    Today, the size of the Government is about what it was in 1960, 40 
years ago, thanks, in large measure, to higher productivity from the 
Federal work force and the advent of new technologies. Thanks to strong 
cooperative efforts in the Congress, we have turned record deficits into 
surpluses, and we've enjoyed the longest economic expansion in history.
    We've tried to find ways to reward work and family, doubling the 
earned-income tax credit for working families with modest means, passing 
the Family and Medical Leave Act, improving the college loan program, 
and providing tax credits for college

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costs that were never there before, and many other initiatives. But we 
know, increasingly, how we deal with Social Security will be a test of 
our commitment to family and, increasingly, to work.
    In the 65 years since President Roosevelt signed it into law, Social 
Security has dramatically transformed the lives of older and disabled 
Americans. Seniors were once the poorest people in America. Today, 
thanks to Social Security, they are the least likely to live in poverty. 
In spite of the fact that many seniors enjoy other sources of income, if 
there were no Social Security in America, almost half the seniors in the 
country would be below the poverty line.
    Thanks to Social Security, many of our seniors have a level of 
independence that few older Americans could even have dreamed of 65 
years ago. And thanks to Social Security, we Americans continue to 
uphold the sacred compact between the generations.
    But FDR himself said, and I quote, that ``Social Security represents 
a cornerstone in a structure which is by no means complete,'' and that 
``new conditions impose new requirements upon Government and those who 
conduct Government.'' He would have been the first to agree, I believe, 
that Social Security must change to keep pace with changing times in 
America.
    The system originally was designed to encourage older Americans to 
retire by withholding benefits from those 65 and older who worked. Keep 
in mind, 65 years ago, when Social Security was initiated, the life 
expectancy in this country was not 65. The so-called retirement earnings 
test made some sense in the Great Depression, when the Nation was 
desperate to find jobs for young workers with families and the 
unemployment rate in our Nation was 25 percent.
    Conditions today could hardly be more different. The economy is 
booming, the unemployment rate at its lowest point in 30 years. 
Companies desperately need more workers. Older Americans have the skills 
and the experience that businesses need. Indeed, one of the most 
interesting things that was said to me today before we started is--Flo 
said it's a good thing we did this, because she'd be hard to replace at 
her present position. [Laughter]
    That's true. Increasingly, older Americans want to work. Many of 
them for various reasons need to work. And we know, as a practical 
matter, that unless they're in terrifically physically draining jobs, 
that continuing to work may well add not only to the length but to the 
quality of their lives.
    Today, one in four Americans between 65 and 69 has at least a part-
time job. Eighty percent of the baby boomers say they intend to keep 
working past age 65. And I'm the oldest of the baby boomers, so I can 
speak for our generation. One of the reasons I went to law school is so 
nobody could ever force me to retire. [Laughter] Although, I spent the 
better part of my life trying to escape law practice--[laughter]--I 
still remember vividly how I felt about it, even as a young man, and I 
still have some solace in that.
    Yet, because of the Social Security retirement earnings test, the 
system withholds benefits from over 800,000 older working Americans and 
discourages countless more--no one knows how many--from actually seeking 
work. It has long seemed senseless to me.
    In the 1992 campaign, Vice President Gore and I campaigned on 
scrapping the retirement earnings test. When it became obvious that the 
work that we had all done together to balance the budget and run a 
surplus and to stabilize the fund would make it possible to do so with 
no adverse impact, in my 1999 State of the Union Address, I proposed it.
    But what has happened here is truly astonishing. I hope this will go 
out all across America today. All you ever hear is how much we fight up 
here. This bill passed unanimously. Nobody was against this. And it is a 
tribute to the people who work on these issues in the Congress and those 
who have listened to them, but also it shows that there is a keen 
awareness here of how the aging of America and the improved financial 
condition of our country and our Government has totally changed the 
landscape.
    But I think it also reflects the understanding that this is a 
genuine human rights issue. We want people to have this right to choose 
the life they want or they need. The Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work 
Act means that hundreds of thousands of older working

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Americans will get checks next month reimbursing them for all the Social 
Security benefits withheld this year.
    Yesterday morning, in Chappaqua, New York, I went to get my morning 
cup of coffee in my new little village--[laughter]--and a lady came up 
to me and said, ``You know, I'm a public school teacher, and my district 
needs me. But I'm 65 years old. Are you guys ever going to get around to 
lifting that earnings test?'' And you know--it's terrible--I'm 
embarrassed to tell you this, but I can hardly keep up with my schedule 
from one day to the next, and I didn't remember that I was doing it the 
day after tomorrow. I said, ``In just a few days I think you'll be very 
happy.'' [Laughter] So if you're looking at me today--[laughter]--we did 
it.
    This bill not only means that our seniors will be able to enjoy 
extra income and personal fulfillment that comes with work without being 
penalized. It means companies with labor shortages will have a fresh 
supply of experienced workers, increasing our ability to grow without 
inflation. In the future, it will mean more baby boomers working longer, 
contributing more to the tax base and to the Social Security Trust Fund 
at precisely the time when the percentage of younger workers paying into 
the system will be dropping.
    This is a big deal. If present work rates continue and present birth 
rates and present immigration rates continue, when all the baby boomers 
get in here, there will only be two people working for every one person 
drawing Social Security. This may also change that and help to further 
stabilize the Social Security Trust Fund itself.
    The retirement earnings test means higher benefits for--ending it 
means higher benefits for working seniors with no negative effects--I 
say this again--no negative effects on the long-term fiscal health of 
the Social Security Trust Fund. So it's the right thing to do for 
seniors, but it's also a smart thing for our Nation.
    I'm also pleased today to announce another important innovation to 
upgrade Social Security for the information age. Beginning today, 
Americans of any age can find out in seconds what their Social Security 
benefit levels will be in the future. All they have to do is to log on 
to the Social Security Administration's website, www.ssa.gov, and click 
on the new Social Security retirement planner. It provides estimates of 
future benefits based on your past, present, and estimated future 
income, and a new tool for the growing legion of Americans who are 
learning to use new technologies to make their own investment decisions 
and retirement plans.
    Two days ago, at the White House Conference on the New Economy, I 
discussed with leading experts on technology how Government could use 
the Internet to empower individuals and strengthen civil society. This 
new retirement planner is just a small but powerful example of the kind 
of innovations that I believe have the potential to transform the 
relationship between the United States Government and the American 
people.
    Let me, finally, just add one cautionary and hopeful note. These 
steps today are profoundly important, but I believe we should do more to 
strengthen Social Security. I think we should extend the life of the 
Trust Fund well into the middle of this century, while strengthening 
benefits for older women living alone, who are still much more likely to 
be in poverty than other seniors.
    Last fall, I proposed legislation to pay down our debt for the first 
time since 1835 and use the benefits of debt reduction, which would 
now--if we took the benefits of debt reduction that we're getting 
because of the surplus in Social Security tax collections now, the 
benefits are manifested in lower interest payments for the United States 
on this debt as we pay the debt down. If we took those lower interest 
payments, that benefit, and we put it into the Social Security Trust 
Fund, we could extend the life of the Trust Fund to 2054, which will be 
well beyond the life expectancy of all but the most fortunate baby 
boomers.
    I hope we can work with Congress to pass that plan this year. It is 
a simple measure. Some of us would like to do more. We may not be able 
to do more in an election year, where there are genuine and honest 
differences between the two parties and even within the parties about 
how to proceed on this issue. But at least, if we could simply take the 
interest savings the American people have given us with their Social 
Security taxes,

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which are now in surplus over distribution, and pay the interest savings 
from paying down the debt into the Trust Fund, think of it: We'd have 54 
years on the life of the Social Security Trust Fund. So I hope we can do 
that.
    I also hope we can strengthen incentives for working families to 
save by passing the retirement savings plan that I recommended. And I 
hope we can expand high-quality pension coverage for millions of 
workers. I have proposed tax credits for small businesses to establish 
good pensions for their employees. It's harder for them, and I think we 
ought to give them more help to do it.
    Again I say, conventional wisdom says that nothing important happens 
in Washington in an election year. Today we have proved the conventional 
wisdom wrong. This is an election year. This is important, and it 
happened by unanimous vote of the United States House of Representatives 
and Senate. So, so much for the conventional wisdom, and good for the 
seniors in America and those of us who hope to be part of the doubling 
of the senior population in the next 30 years.
    Let me also say, I think it's important to point out that it's not 
just seniors who should be happy about this, and I'm glad Flo has got 
her whole family here. One of the most profound worries of the baby boom 
generation is that, because we are so large, when we retire, if we 
haven't made adequate provision for it, our retirement will impose a big 
burden on our children and their ability to raise our grandchildren. So 
this should be a happy day for Americans of all ages today, because a 
very good thing has been done for the future.
    So I thank you all for being here. I look forward to working with 
you to further strengthen Social Security, to strengthen Medicare. I 
hope we can agree to add a prescription drug benefit there. I hope we 
can reauthorize the Older Americans Act. I hope we can do a lot of other 
things this year. But the spirit--again, I want to thank the Members of 
Congress, the Republicans and the Democrats, for the spirit behind this 
action. This is how America is supposed to work. You have done a good 
thing today.
    Thank you very much.
    Now I'd like to invite the Members of Congress to come up here for 
the bill signing. And I'd like to invite the seniors to go over this way 
and kind of stand behind me, too.

Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the Presidential Hall in the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he 
referred to Florence Mallonee, Social Security recipient, who introduced 
the President. H.R. 5, approved April 7, was assigned Public Law No. 
106-182.