[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 18 (Monday, May 7, 2001)]
[Page 694]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the President's Commission To 
Strengthen Social Security

May 2, 2001

Dear Senator Daschle and Congressman Gephardt:

    Thank you for your letter of April 12, providing your 
recommendations concerning the creation of a Social Security commission.
    I have pledged that I will work to develop a bipartisan consensus to 
strengthen Social Security, preserving the program for senior Americans 
and building wealth for younger Americans. I believe that a bipartisan 
commission will provide the renewed energy and focus that can help us 
transform our common commitment to strengthening Social Security into 
legislative action on behalf of Americans of all ages.
    In your letter, you expressed support for some of the principles 
that I have outlined as cornerstones for any reform of Social Security. 
Like you, I believe that we must honor our commitment to pay full 
promised benefits to those who have made a lifetime of contributions to 
the Social Security program. I also believe that Social Security 
surpluses must be dedicated to Social Security only.
    I was pleased to see that you do not oppose personal accounts, even 
while acknowledging legitimate differences regarding their appropriate 
structure and financing. Please be assured that the commission will 
consider a full and fair analysis of all methods of designing and 
financing such accounts.
    I share your desire that the commission be truly bipartisan. It is 
my intention that the commission be composed of an equal number of 
Republicans and Democrats, and that the commission make use of the 
nonpartisan and independent projections embodied in the Social Security 
Trustees' reports.
    As you note, it has been nearly two decades since the last 
significant legislation to shore up Social Security's finances. Too 
frequently in recent years, commissions and advisory councils have been 
constructed in a way that reproduced legislative gridlock. Such 
structures frustrated needed action to strengthen the programs on which 
Americans depend. It is not a coincidence that the last commission to 
have contributed significant legislation, the Greenspan Commission of 
1981-83, was not handicapped by restrictive voting and approval 
procedures.
    The best way to ensure that the commission receives the necessary 
internal and external approval is for both the President and the 
Congressional leadership to provide our support for the development of 
its recommendations. Those Americans who depend on Social Security 
today, as well as those who will depend on it in the future, deserve no 
less from us.
    Thank you for your views. I look forward to working with you in the 
months to come.
     Sincerely,
                                                George W. Bush

Note: Identical letters were sent to Richard A. Gephardt, House minority 
leader, and Thomas A. Daschle, Senate minority leader.