[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 5 (Monday, February 7, 2005)]
[Pages 134-143]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on Strengthening Social Security in Fargo, North 
Dakota

February 3, 2005

    The President. Thanks for coming out. Please be seated. Thanks for 
coming. The Governor told me--he said, ``You come over

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here to North Dakota, we might be able to get a few people around to 
discuss Social Security.'' I said, ``Okay, I'll come.'' Governor, looks 
like you got more than a few.
    I'm honored so many came out to hear what I think you're going to 
find to be an interesting discussion about a very important issue. It's 
an issue that relates to our children's future. It's an issue that will 
determine whether or not those of us in elective office have got the 
courage and the wisdom to solve problems now, and that's Social 
Security.
    But before I talk about that, I do want to thank our host, Joe 
Chapman, and North Dakota State University for welcoming us here. I'm 
glad a lot of the college kids are here because we're talking about 
something that's going to affect your life. That's what we're here to 
talk about, and I want you to pay attention. [Laughter] Something I 
didn't necessarily do when I was in college. [Laughter] I know the Bison 
women's basketball team is playing pretty well--after all, undefeated. 
Congratulations.
    I want to thank the first lady of North Dakota for being here. 
Mikey, welcome. Thanks for coming. I'm proud of your--proud of the job 
you're doing. Governor Hoeven is doing a fine job as well, and like me, 
he married well.
    I'm sorry Laura is not here.
    Audience members. Aw-w-w!
    The President. Yes, that's generally the reaction, which is like--
[laughter]--why didn't you send her and you stay at home? I get it. 
[Laughter] But she is a unbelievably beautiful woman, great wife, 
terrific First Lady.
    I was proud that the Governor was at the State of the Union Address 
last night, and I was proud that he flew back from Washington with me, 
and I really enjoyed flying back as well with Senator Kent Conrad. I'm 
proud you're here, Senator. Thank you for coming. I enjoyed our visit. 
And Senator Conrad asked permission if he could bring a Senator with him 
from another State. I said, ``Fine, who is it?'' And he said, ``Well, 
that would be Senator Conrad Burns from Montana.'' I said, ``Bring him 
on.'' Welcome, Senator. I'm glad you're here.
    After here, we're going to Montana. Then I'm going to Nebraska. Then 
I'm going to Arkansas, and then I'm going to Florida. See, I think it's 
important to get out amongst the people and talk about important issues. 
And that's what I'm doing. And Congressman Denny Rehberg is with us from 
Montana as well. Denny, thank you for joining us, proud that you're 
here.
    Guess what we spent a lot of time talking about with the Senator--
both Senators and the Congressman and the Governor. We spent time 
talking about beef. We spent time talking about the cattle men and women 
of North Dakota and Montana to make sure people can make--we spent time 
talking about rural health care, to make sure that people can find 
health care in America.
    Let me tell you one thing we need to do to make sure people in rural 
America can find health care, and that's to do something about these 
junk lawsuits that are running good doctors out of practice. Lawsuit 
after lawsuit after lawsuit is running up the cost of your health care, 
and it's making it hard for people to find a good doctor. I met too many 
women who are worried about their pregnancy because the ob-gyn they had 
been using is no longer in practice.
    We have a problem. I used to think these problems could be solved at 
the State level, but I recognized that these frivolous lawsuits are 
running up the cost of medicine, and therefore, they're affecting 
Federal budgets. I believe the medical liability crisis is a national 
problem that requires a national solution, and Congress needs to get a 
good bill to my desk this year.
    We also spent some time talking about energy. We've been debating 
energy for 4 years in the United States Congress. Now is the time to 
quit debating and get something done. And that means good conservation. 
It means renewable sources of energy like biodiesel and ethanol. It 
means clean, safe nuclear power. It means an energy plan that will make 
us less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    I'll tell you what's going to be a great day for a President--when 
somebody comes in with the crop report and says that the amount of corn 
is up and therefore, we're less dependent on foreign sources of energy. 
I believe it's possible. And I believe it's a wise use of taxpayers' 
money to explore ways to

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develop energy here at home that's renewable, clean, and safe.
    I want to thank your Lieutenant Governor Jack Dalrymple and Betsy 
for being with us. Governor, thanks for coming. Betsy, I appreciate you 
being out at the airport. I want to thank the attorney general for being 
here today. Mr. Attorney General, thanks for coming. I want to thank the 
leaders of the house and the senate who have joined us.
    I appreciate my friend Ed Schafer and Nancy--the former Governor of 
North Dakota and former first lady. We're both members of the ex-
Governors club. [Laughter] Tired old guys who can't run anymore. 
[Laughter] But I fondly remember the Schafers during our tenures as 
Governors of our respective States. It's great to see you all.
    I met Fran Rickers today at the airport. She was out there, standing 
right there when I came off the airplane, on Air Force One. Fran is a 
volunteer at the Veterans Center. And the reason I bring that up is, as 
I mentioned last night in the speech, one of the great values of America 
is compassion. And one of the great strengths of America is the fact 
that thousands of our citizens volunteer on a daily basis. It doesn't 
even require a Federal law, by the way. [Laughter] They do it out of the 
goodness of their heart. They do it because they're answering a call to 
love a neighbor just like they would like to be loved themselves.
    If any of the youngsters who are here are interested in how you can 
serve our country, find somebody whose heart needs healing, find 
somebody who's hungry, find somebody who is looking for shelter and make 
that person's life better. You see, you can serve America and change our 
country one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time.
    Fran, I want to thank you for setting such a good example by 
volunteering your time at the Veterans Center.
    Before I get to Social Security, I do want to talk about how amazing 
these past couple of months have been in the history of our world. I 
want the youngsters here to think about what has happened in such a 
brief period of time. First, there were elections in Afghanistan. Now, 
that's--[applause]--are you from Afghanistan? From? You're from Iraq?
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Yes--thank you. Thank you. Okay, wait a minute, you 
got ahead of the story. [Laughter] You got me to Iraq before we even got 
out of Afghanistan. [Laughter] You see, Afghanistan used to be a 
training center, a safe haven for Al Qaida. That's where they plotted 
the attacks on America.
    So I set out a doctrine that said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, 
you're equally as guilty as the terrorist.'' We enforced the doctrine to 
protect ourselves. And by doing so, we removed the Taliban from power. 
And when that happened, it gave the chance for the Afghan citizens to 
rise up and vote and to develop a democracy. And it happened. Millions 
of people voted.
    There was a vote in the Ukraine that elected a new President. There 
was a vote in the Palestinian Territories that elected Abu Abbas [Abu 
Mazen] * as the leader. And then, as you know, last Sunday--I'm getting 
to you--[laughter]--the people of Iraq, when given a chance, went to the 
polls and said, ``We reject terrorism, and we love freedom.'' That's 
what they said.
    * White House correction.
    And that matters. Let me tell you why it matters. It matters because 
free societies are peaceful societies. It matters because in the long 
run, as freedom spreads, our children and grandchildren will more likely 
grow up in a peaceful world.
    This good-hearted country of ours longs for peace. We will do 
everything to defend ourselves against the threats of this era, and as 
we do so, we will spread freedom, because we know that freedom leads to 
peace, and that's what we want.
    The interesting--the lessons we should take away from what happened 
in the last 4 months is that deep within everybody's soul is the desire 
to be free. It doesn't matter where you're from or the nature of your 
religion, freedom is universal. Freedom is God's gift to every single 
person in this world. And if given the chance, people will express their 
desire to be free and take great risks to do so, like you saw in Iraq.

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    Last night there was a touching moment when the mom and the voter 
hugged each other. It was a sincere expression of compassion and 
appreciation by a woman whose dad had been--whose assassination had been 
ordered by Saddam Hussein, who now had finally been given a chance to 
vote. It was an indication to me--and I think our country--that the 
Iraqi people so appreciate the sacrifices, especially those by our 
military and the military families, in order to free them.
    These are historic times. We're living in historic times. Freedom--
--
    Audience member. Mr. President, thank you for liberating Iraq!
    The President. You're welcome.
    Audience member. You are right! They are wrong! We are--all the way 
with you!
    The President. Thank you, sir. Nothing better than a little free 
speech to liven up the crowd, you know. Very well-spoken. Got it. Got 
the message. [Laughter]
    These are historic times, and the United States of America will 
continue to lead with friends and allies by our side. I set a goal in my 
Inaugural speech that said, over the generations, over time, the free 
world must work to end tyranny. If you believe that freedom is the 
Almighty's gift to every soul, it makes sense to assume the duty to work 
with others to spread freedom so everybody, every soul can be free. 
That's what I believe the role of America must be. That's the call of 
our generation. And in so doing, we'll leave a peaceful world behind for 
our children and grandchildren.
    Thank you for letting me share that with you. I'm--as you can tell, 
I'm upbeat about where we're headed.
    And so the subject at hand is Social Security. Now, Social Security 
worked. We're going to talk to a soul who will tell you how important 
Social Security is to her and her family. Not yet. [Laughter] Pretty 
soon. [Laughter] And it's been important, and it's worked. But the 
problem is, Social Security has changed dramatically since it was 
created. You see, when it was created, most people's life expectancy 
was, what, around 60 years old, I guess, and today, people are living 
longer.
    There was--in 1950, there was 16 workers, as this chart will show 
you, paying for every beneficiary. In other words, there's a lot of 
workers putting taxes in to pay for the benefits promised. That made it 
easy to fund the system. Today, there are about 3.3 workers. When the 
college kids here get older, there's going to be two workers.
    The benefit structure has gone up over time. And so you've got fewer 
workers paying for more retirees who are living longer--greater 
benefits. And if you start kind of thinking about the math there, you 
begin to realize we've got a problem. In other words, there's not enough 
money coming into the system to pay for the promises for all those who 
are retiring, like baby boomers like me. There's a bunch of us getting 
ready to retire. We're living longer. We've been promised greater 
benefits, and there's few people--fewer people writing the check. In 
other words, the system has changed.
    Now, if you're retired or near retirement, you don't have a thing to 
worry about. The Social Security trust is solvent. As I said last night 
and I will continue to say, for those of you who have received your 
check or about to receive a check, not one thing will change. That's a 
fact. I fully understand that oftentimes when they stress the Social 
Security issue, people try to scare you about it, saying, ``If old 
George W. has his way, you're not going to get a dime.'' Well, that's 
not the way it's going to work. The truth of the matter is, you're going 
to get your checks if you're--if you're retired or near retirement. It's 
just a fact.
    The problem comes from younger folks. That's the problem. The math 
doesn't work. As a matter of fact, as you can see from this chart, 
starting in the year 2018, more money goes out of Social Security than 
comes in. Right now, it's the other way around. More money is coming in 
than is going out. But a bunch of baby boomers who are going to live 
longer and have been promised greater benefits are fixing to retire. And 
so the system goes into the red. And it goes into the red--that means 
negative, that means losing money--quite dramatically. In the year 2027, 
it will be $200 billion in the red--$200 billion for 1 year alone. And 
in 3032, it's like $300 billion. And in 20--I mean 2032. And in 2042, 
it's bust.

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    Now, for people who have been elected, I guess that seems like a 
long time down the road. If you've got a 2-year horizon, you're only 
thinking about 2 years--or 4 years, in my case. But I believe the role 
of a President and I believe the role of a Congress is to confront 
problems and not pass them on to future generations. I believe that it's 
a problem when you're $200 billion a year short. Now, what does that 
mean? It means you either have to run up taxes, cut benefits, cut 
programs, or borrow money. That's what it means--in big ways.
    And so I went to Congress last night and said, ``I see a problem.'' 
Some of them doesn't see--didn't see the problem, evidently. A lot of 
them do. A lot of really good people on both sides of the aisle 
recognize we have a problem. I'm going to spend the next couple of days 
going around the country explaining to people, as clearly as I can, the 
problem, because I expect people in Congress, when they see a problem, 
to then come up with solutions.
    And so last night I said, ``All options are on the table expect for 
running up payroll taxes.'' I said, ``Everybody--all different--all 
different ideas as to how to solve the problem are on the table.'' And 
that's important for Members of Congress to hear. In other words, we're 
not going to play politics with the issue. We're going to say, ``If 
you've got a good idea, come forth with your idea, because now is the 
time to put partisanship aside and focus on saving Social Security for 
young workers.''
    I put out an idea last night that I think is important. It's a novel 
way of saying to young workers, ``We understand whose money we're 
spending,'' and two, ``We want you to be able to have more security in 
your retirement.'' And that is to allow younger workers to take some of 
their own payroll taxes and set aside--set it aside in what's called a 
personal retirement account, a personal retirement account that will 
earn a better rate of return than the current Social Security trust 
earns, a personal retirement account which you will call your own, a 
personal retirement account that can be only invested in conservative 
stocks and bonds, a conservative account that you can't withdraw all 
your money upon retirement. But it's your own account, and it grows. And 
it supplements Social Security. In other words, you'll get a Social 
Security check, but you'll also be able to withdraw money from your own 
personal retirement account to supplement that money.
    And why it's a good deal for younger workers is, is because it 
compounds at a rate of interest faster than the money inside the Social 
Security trust. You start setting aside money at a young age; it grows 
over time. It's your money. It's money that you can decide to leave to 
whomever you want. It's money that the Government can never take away. 
It's an interesting idea to make sure the Social Security beneficiaries 
of the future get as close to that which the Government has possible--
has guaranteed is possible--has promised as possible, but it's a new 
idea to encourage ownership in our society.
    You know, Federal employees have this under the Thrift Savings Plan, 
this kind of idea. If it's good enough for Federal employees, it ought 
to be good enough for workers out there working every single day, it 
seems like to me.
    Now, I've heard all of the complaints, and you'll hear a lot more--
how this is going to ruin Social Security. Forget it. It's going to make 
it stronger. We're going to phase it in so that we can be more fiscally 
responsible with the budget. And I want to work with Congress on the 
idea. I mean, I think it makes sense to put out new ideas for an old and 
important system to make sure it works. And that's exactly what we are 
doing, and I did last night. I want the people, as I travel around this 
country, to know, one, there's a problem; two, I'm willing to work with 
members of both parties to come up with a solution; and three, I've got 
an innovative idea as to how to benefit the younger workers in America.
    And I've got some people up here on the stage that we're going to 
discuss this issue with right now. Some of them know a lot more about it 
than I do. It's kind of a hard thing for me to admit. [Laughter] One of 
them, Jeffrey Brown--why would I say that you know more about it than I 
do? It's probably true, but beside the fact that it's true, like, what 
do you do?

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    Dr. Jeffrey R. Brown. Well, you've just convinced me that you do 
know as much as I do.
    The President. I don't know.
    Dr. Brown. I'm a professor of economics and finance at the 
University of Illinois.
    The President. Good, yes. We won't hold that against you. Now, get 
started. [Laughter]

[At this point, Dr. Brown, assistant professor, Department of Finance, 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, made brief 
remarks.]

    The President. Well, it doesn't sound like a long-term problem to 
me. Thirteen years seems like a pretty short time to me. It's like right 
around the corner.
    Dr. Brown. That's right. And the key here is that we have to act 
soon, because if we act soon, then we can phase in any changes 
gradually. We can give people the opportunity to build up these 
accounts. If we wait until the trust fund runs out of money, there are 
no good choices left except to cut benefits or raise taxes at that 
point.
    The President. See, I think it's pretty--I hope you're beginning to 
get a sense for the immediacy of the problem. Sometimes--again, I'm 
going to say this a lot over the next month: If you're receiving a 
Social Security check, you have no problem. That's important for people 
to hear loud and clear. I know there's some folks that are probably 
nervous when they hear the President talking about changing Social 
Security. I know that's the case. I've run for office twice to be the 
President, and people got nervous when I said we needed to do something 
about Social Security. You have nothing to worry about. We're talking 
about younger workers who are coming up have got a lot to worry about 
because of baby boomers like me--not those who have already retired. 
It's the bulge of us who are fixing to retire. That's Texas for going to 
retire. [Laughter]
    What else do you know? [Laughter]

[Dr. Brown made further remarks.]

    The President. They told me--and tell me if I'm right on this, 
Jeff--that every year we wait, the problem costs $600 billion more.
    Dr. Brown. That's right.
    The President. Is that an accurate statement?
    Dr. Brown. This is a number that the Social Security actuaries have 
put out. And basically what's happening is, every year we wait, another 
year of those surpluses is gone and more years of deficits lie ahead of 
us.
    The President. Do you have any--if you don't like them, go ahead and 
say it, but do you have any problems with the personal retirement 
accounts?
    Dr. Brown. Absolutely not. They offer----
    The President. I was hoping that would be the answer. [Laughter] See 
if you can explain them better than I can explain them. I mean, 
compounding rate of interest is an important concept when it comes to 
the growth of money.

[Dr. Brown made further remarks.]

    The President. I know some of you are saying, ``Well, gosh, if I put 
my money into the stock market, what happens if the market goes down the 
year before I retire?'' There are instruments that are devised or 
available--will be available for younger workers when they get ready to 
retire--to invest to ensure against a downturn of the market. In other 
words, it's a different kind of instrument. You still get a better rate 
than you would in the current trust, but it's a way to make sure that 
the money isn't lost all at once. But on the other hand, history shows 
that over any 17-year period of time, you don't lose money in the market 
on safe, conservative stocks and bonds. It is a fact of life. It is a 
way that our markets have worked in the past.
    And it's also important to know that when you have your own personal 
account, you can't withdraw all your money. In other words, there will 
be a withdrawal plan that will complement your Social Security check.
    These are all questions I know people are going to have, and I have 
the obligation to travel the country, like I'm doing, answering as many 
of the questions that I possibly can answer.
    You did a fine job, Jeff.
    Dr. Brown. Thank you, sir.
    The President. Are you ready, Mary?
    Mary Bond. I'm ready.

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    The President. Thanks for coming. Where do you live?
    Mrs. Bond. I live in Walcott, North Dakota. [Applause]
    The President. Walcott, yes. A lot of your fellow townsmen are here 
today, it sounds like. [Laughter] Perhaps the whole town. [Laughter]
    Mrs. Bond. There are about 200 people.
    The President. Two hundred people in Walcott? That's 3 times bigger 
than Crawford. [Laughter] I think. Anyway----
    Mrs. Bond. Can I please say something?
    The President. Yes--you've got the mike. [Laughter] Yes, ma'am.
    Mrs. Bond. I just want you to know what an honor it is to have you 
here today.
    The President. Thank you. [Applause] I'm thrilled to be here. Thank 
you. Okay, wait, wait, we've got work to do. Thank you all. Thank you 
all very much. I'm thrilled to be here too.
    Mrs. Bond. And one more thing. You and Laura--or Mrs. Bush----
    The President. Laura is fine.
    Mrs. Bond. Okay. [Laughter] You have brought dignity and honor back 
to the White House. Thank you.
    The President. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you all. Okay, okay, 
Mary. You've done a fine job of firing up the crowd. [Laughter]
    Mrs. Bond. We're running out of time.
    The President. No, we're not running out of time. [Laughter] I 
appreciate those kind words. You're here to discuss Social Security.

[Mrs. Bond made further remarks.]

    The President. Let me stop there.
    Mrs. Bond. Okay. [Laughter]
    The President. See, it's very important that when Mary Bond hears us 
discussing the system is going bust in 2042 that she recognizes the 
system isn't going broke for her. She's fine. It's these guys right here 
in the front--yes, you guys--not fine. [Laughter] You got a problem. 
Thanks for coming to listen, by the way. Now, get back to the library. 
[Laughter]
    What else did you want to say? The reason Mary is here is, again, to 
make the point--and I don't believe we can make it enough as we discuss 
this issue--that somebody who says, ``Gosh, the Social Security system 
is very important for me,'' recognizes that if you've retired or near 
retirement--you fall in the near retirement category----
    Mrs. Bond. Pretty close.
    The President. Have you retired yet?
    Mrs. Bond. No.
    The President. Then you're near retirement. [Laughter]
    Mrs. Bond. Sixty.
    The President. No, I'm not asking your age. [Laughter] I'm smarter 
than that, to ask the age. [Laughter] How old are you? No--[laughter].
    Mrs. Bond. Sixty. [Laughter]
    The President. So you were going to say something else.
    Mrs. Bond. Well, I do have a concern, because a few years ago, my 
sister-in-law passed away--we're the same age--and she was about 57. And 
she had worked all of her life. She had a gift shop. She was a realtor 
and several other jobs. She paid into Social Security all of her life. 
And then when she passed away, the Social Security was gone. It would be 
wonderful if she could will that to her husband or her kids. Her husband 
now is retired and has some health concerns, and he could use that 
money.
    The President. Well, it doesn't work that way. Now, what the 
personal retirement account would do was allow it to work that way. See, 
we're beginning to change a portion of Social Security to not only that 
which was in the current system but as well--a part of the system, but 
it's now a new owner. Right now your money goes in and it flows directly 
out to somebody who is receiving benefits. The new way of looking at it 
is, some of your money would go in and go out to paying benefits; some 
of your money would stay in your own account. And that is that portion 
that you can pass on to whomever you want. If it's not spent in your 
retirement, you get to decide. After all, it's your money.
    It's a concept that many are becoming accustomed to in our country 
through private pension plans, or Federal employees are used to what's 
called the Thrift Savings Plan--same concept, conservative mix of 
investment vehicles, and to get a better rate of return than that which 
is being earned, in this case, inside the Social Security trust.

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Certain rules that will prevent gouging by Wall Street so that the fee 
structure is reasonable and fair and--withdrawal rules. Obviously, you 
don't want somebody to either, one, invest their money in the race track 
or the lottery and, two, upon retirement, take it all out and take it to 
Vegas. As much as I--nothing against Vegas, except we don't want the 
retirement things all gambled away. We want retirement funds to be 
around for retirement purposes.
    And so the system that we're talking about would enable your sister-
in-law to do that. Thanks for coming. You did a heck of a job.
    Mrs. Bond. Thank you.
    The President. You bet.
    All right, Tricia Traynor, welcome.
    Maj. Tricia Traynor, USAFR. Welcome.
    The President. Thank you. You are married? For how long?
    Major Traynor. Three months--almost 3 months. My husband, Dan----
    The President. Where is he?
    Major Traynor. He is over to the right, waving his hand.
    The President. There he is. Fine-looking man. That a boy, Dan. 
Interesting about Tricia is she is a----
    Major Traynor. Major in the Air Force Reserve.
    The President. There you go. Have you been overseas yet?
    Major Traynor. Yes. I was in the Middle East for 6 months in 2003, 
for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    The President. Good. Thanks for serving. Your Nation is grateful, 
but I--and equally as grateful are the good folks from Iraq that are 
here today. Thanks for being there.
    So tell me what's on your mind about Social Security. You're young.
    Major Traynor. We're in our thirties.
    The President. Yes, you fall in the category of those who should be 
worried about whether or not Congress and the President has got the will 
to act.
    Major Traynor. We'd like to make sure that the money we are 
investing in Social Security now will be there 30 years from now, 40 
years from now.
    The President. Right. Well, don't look at that chart. [Laughter] 
Whatever you do, don't look over your left shoulder--[laughter]--and see 
how much money--because it's not going to be there. So therefore, you're 
interested--let me ask you something. So you've heard about personal 
retirement accounts. Give me--just tell the folks here what you thought 
when you heard it. I mean, people need to kind of get a sense for how 
souls such as yourself, an educated person, obviously interested in the 
future, worried about your and Dan's life, think about a new concept for 
Social Security.
    Major Traynor. Mr. President, it gives us hope that somebody is 
willing to address the issue. It's too easy to just push it down the 
road, and it's better to prevent the crisis before the crisis takes 
place.
    The President. That's the first threshold issue. Thank you. You know 
what I found--yes, you want to come back in?

[Mrs. Bond made further remarks.]

    The President. You probably think I hired her or something. 
[Laughter] Did you talk to my mother this morning? [Laughter] Thanks.
    Look, here's the thing: The threshold question is whether there's a 
problem that needs to be solved. And if there is, then who can come up 
with solutions that work.
    And so thank you for saying that. I--it's in my nature to confront 
problems. And I really enjoyed giving the speech last night and trying 
to do the very best I could to kind of educate people, is to explain as 
rationally as possible why we have a problem. And the major is typical 
of many 30-year-old citizens around. In the course of two campaigns, I 
campaigned on this issue. Some were saying, ``Oh, don't talk about the 
issue. It's the third rail of American politics. If you touch it, you 
know, you become politically electrocuted.'' [Laughter]
    I don't--I believe that the whole issue has shifted over time. Once 
older citizens are sure they're going to get their check--and I assure 
you you're going to get your check--that younger workers begin to--will 
have a voice in deciding how this issue turns out. Once people say, 
``Well, there is a problem. What are you going to do about it?''--that's 
what the major just said. And so, Major, personal accounts, any feel for 
that at all?

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    Major Traynor. The Thrift Savings Plans were opened up to the 
military just a couple years ago.
    The President. You're in one?
    Major Traynor. I am in one. I participate. What it is, is it's a 
safe investment, and it allows me to take a portion of the income I'm 
earning and put it away to save it for the future. And I'm happy with 
that, and I like the idea of sharing that with the American public and 
not just limiting it to Federal employees.
    The President. Federal employees--see, she's in a Thrift Savings 
Plan very similar--in other words, we're not inventing something new. 
What's new is that it would be associated with a retirement through 
Social Security. It's not new. It's already being used. It's a plan that 
is--that Federal employees are able to take advantage of. The way we 
proposed the plan is that you could put $1,000--up to 4 percent of your 
income, which is ever less--in your account. And over time, the 1,000 
grows. Is that right--up to 1,000, 4 percent, which ever is less? Yes, I 
think that's right. It better be right. [Laughter]
    So in other words, if you're making 90,000, you'll eventually be 
able to put $3,600 a year away in a personal account. But it starts at 
1,000 and phases in over time, in order to make sure that the--is 
fiscally responsible. So I don't want to know your income, but you could 
start with 1,000, and over time it grows. And as interest compounds, 
Tricia and her husband would have a nice nest egg to complement that 
which would be coming out of Social Security.
    Is that the way you see it?
    Major Traynor. Yes.
    The President. That's the way it's going to be, if only we can get 
Congress to vote it in.
    All right, Paul. Paul Thomas.
    Paul Thomas. Yes, Mr. President.
    The President. Where are you from?
    Mr. Thomas. I'm from Velva, North Dakota, which is very close to 
Karlsruhe, North Dakota.
    The President. That's good. I was just thinking the same thing 
myself. [Laughter] What do you do?
    Mr. Thomas. I--just this past March, my wife, Karen, of 5\1/2\ 
years, and my son Jonathan, 4, and Michael, 2, returned to our family 
farm and took over that. We're the fourth generation of Thomases to farm 
that.
    The President. Fabulous. Sounds like a North Dakota tradition to me. 
One thing, before we get in--I've got another issue I want to drop out 
there. In order to make sure that Paul and future Pauls are able to stay 
on the farm, we need to get rid of the death tax once and for all. It's 
being phased out. It's being phased out, but it pops back up in 2011. 
It's going to make for some very interesting estate planning in 2010, if 
you get my drift. [Laughter] Like you think it's gone, and then it comes 
back. Anyway, we'll worry about that at another time.

[Mr. Thomas, owner/manager, Thomas Grain Farms, Velva, ND, made further 
remarks.]

    The President. Yes, well, thank you, Paul. Look, here's an 
interesting--isn't it interesting. I wonder if 30 years ago, we would be 
having the same conversation. I don't think so. A lot has changed. 
There's a lot of more--there's a lot more awareness among younger 
Americans about what it means to manage your own retirement account. 
After all, it's happening more and more in our society; 401(k)s have 
become a part of how people think. You've just heard from two younger 
Americans who are now saying, ``Give me a chance to manage my own money. 
I feel more secure if I can see that money''--in other words, if you own 
it. I strongly believe in an ownership society. I want more people 
owning their home, own their own business, owning and managing their own 
health care account, and owning and managing their retirement account. I 
think it makes America a better place.
    What do you farm?
    Mr. Thomas. We produce a number of crops, principally wheat, 
sunflowers, peas and lentils, granola and barley--quite a few.
    The President. You sure do, yes. You selling any of it overseas?
    Mr. Thomas. Well, they eventually make it over there. We have--in 
our farm, we had also diversified into some specific IP crops

[[Page 143]]

that went to specific customers where we were able to get some better 
prices for them.
    The President. Yes, one of the things I need to do over the next 4 
years is to continue to open up markets. The reason why is North Dakota 
farmers are real good at what they do, and therefore, if you're good at 
what you do, you ought to have as many markets available for your 
product as possible. And so I appreciate you doing that. And same for 
cattlemen too, by the way. We want our beef going all over the world. 
There's great beef here in America, and people ought to be eating it--a 
lot of them.
    Today, I hope you get a sense of, one, there is a problem. If you're 
an older American, you have no problem. You're in good shape. You don't 
even look older to me. [Laughter] Two, if you're a young person, demand 
that Congress at least address the issue head on and not pass it down.
    Secondly, there are some interesting solutions on the table. All of 
them are on the table as far as I'm concerned. People have made 
interesting--put forth interesting ideas, and I just want the good 
people of North Dakota to listen. It doesn't matter to me whether it's a 
Democrat idea, a Republican idea. If it's a good idea to make this 
system work, I'll listen and work with them. I'll work with people who--
and also, I hope you can tell I'm willing to put out some ideas of my 
own. I believe part of the role of a leader is to say, ``Well, there is 
a problem, and by the way, here are some ideas that make it work.'' And 
I also want you to know that I'm going to travel our country speaking as 
plainly as I can about a problem that I see, and expecting--because I 
believe, I truly believe that the American people can help decide an 
issue in the Halls of Congress. It's what a democracy does. When the 
people speak, the elected officials listen.
    That's what you're going to find out in Iraq, by the way. That's 
why, ultimately, democratic societies are peaceful societies--because 
most people want peace. Moms and dads from all cultures want to raise 
their child in a peaceful environment. Moms and dads of all cultures 
believe in a child's education and believe in compassion and don't want 
war for their children.
    And so representative government is one that responds to the people, 
and I believe when the people speak clearly on this issue, when they 
recognize there's a problem, they're going to say to the Congress, we 
expect a solution to make sure that younger Americans have got a 
retirement system that is viable in the years to come.
    And so you're witnessing step one of my--of what's going to be a 
series of trips around our great land. I kind of want to tell you 
something, though. Getting out of Washington is healthy, and getting out 
amongst the people is invigorating, and I want to thank you for coming 
out to say hello.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:33 a.m. in the Bison Sports Arena at 
North Dakota State University. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. John 
Hoeven of North Dakota and his wife, Mical ``Mikey''; Lt. Gov. Jack 
Dalrymple of North Dakota and his wife, Betsy; North Dakota State 
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem; former Gov. Edward T. Schafer of North 
Dakota and his wife, Nancy Jones Schafer; Joseph A. Chapman, president, 
North Dakota State University; President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine; 
President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority; former 
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; 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.