[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 11 (Monday, March 21, 2005)]
[Pages 434-435]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 12, 2005

    Good morning. Over the last few weeks, I have traveled across our 
Nation and met with tens of thousands of you to discuss my plans for 
strengthening Social Security. I share a great responsibility with your 
Representatives in Congress. We must fix the system permanently so it 
will be there for our children and grandchildren.
    I have been to 15 States, and I'm just getting started. On every 
visit, I am assuring those of you born before 1950 that Social Security 
will remain the same for you: No changes. No matter what the scare ads 
or politicians might tell you, you will get your checks. You 
grandparents also understand we have got to fix the holes in this vital 
safety net for future generations. I appreciate the wisdom of our 
seniors, and I welcome your input on how to strengthen the system.
    You younger workers know what is happening to Social Security. The 
present pay-as-you-go system is going broke. Huge numbers of baby 
boomers, like me, will be retiring soon, and we are living longer, and 
our benefits are rising. At the same time, fewer workers will be paying 
into the system to support a growing number of retirees. Therefore, the 
Government is making promises it cannot keep.
    Still, some folks are playing down the problem and say we can fix it 
later. The fact is, we have got a serious problem, and we

[[Page 435]]

need to fix it now. If you are in your twenties or if you have children 
or grandchildren in their twenties, the idea of Social Security 
collapsing is no small matter, and it should not be a small matter to 
the Congress.
    In 1983, Congress enacted what they thought was a 75-year fix to 
save Social Security from bankruptcy. This bipartisan solution turned 
out to be temporary because it did not address the system's fundamental 
flaws. Two years later, Social Security was headed out of balance again. 
Now some in Washington are talking about another 75-year fix, which 
means we will be back to the starting line a few years from now. We do 
not need a bandaid solution for Social Security. We want to solve this 
issue now and forever.
    Putting off real reform makes fixing the system harder and more 
expensive. As one Democrat leader observed recently, ``Every year we 
delay adds at least $600 billion to the cost of saving the system.'' And 
the Social Security trustees agree. Postponing reform will leave our 
children with drastic and unpleasant choices, huge tax increases that 
will kill jobs, massive new borrowing, or sudden, painful cuts in Social 
Security benefits or other programs. Our children deserve better, and we 
can give them better. I have told Congress all ideas are on the table, 
except raising the payroll tax rate. Some of the options available 
include indexing benefits to prices rather than wages, changing the 
benefit formulas, raising the retirement age--ideas Democrats and 
Republicans have talked about before.
    Whatever changes we make, we must provide a better and stronger 
system for younger workers. And that is why I have proposed allowing 
younger Americans to place some of your payroll taxes in voluntary 
personal retirement accounts. You would have a choice of conservative 
bond and stock funds, with the opportunity to earn a higher rate of 
return than is possible under the current system. If you earn an average 
of $35,000 over your career, you can build up nearly a quarter-million 
dollars in your account on top of your Social Security check. This would 
be real savings you own, a nest egg you could pass on to your children.
    The American people did not place us in office to pass on problems 
to future generations and future Presidents and future Congresses. I 
will work with both parties to fix Social Security permanently. Social 
Security has been there for generations of Americans, and together we 
will strengthen it for generations to come.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9 a.m. on March 11 at the Peabody 
Memphis hotel in Memphis, TN, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 12. 
The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on March 11 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.