[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 11 (Monday, March 21, 2005)]
[Pages 469-478]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Strengthening Social Security in Orlando, Florida

March 18, 2005

    The President. Thank you all for coming. Thanks for coming. Please 
be seated. Thanks for being here. Go ahead and be seated. Now. 
[Laughter] Thanks for the warm welcome. It's great to be back in central 
Florida. Thank you all for taking time out of your day to come by and 
let me discuss with you some important topics.
    But before I do, I'm proud to be introduced by one of my favorite 
seniors--[laughter]--okay, my favorite mother. [Laughter] She is--I told 
them earlier in Pensacola, if you're trying to figure me out, like the

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woman who walked up to me when I was campaigning for Governor of Texas, 
you should say, ``You got your daddy's eyes but your mother's mouth.'' 
[Laughter] Which is a compliment. [Laughter]
    Earlier today we were with the great Governor of the State of 
Florida. We're both proud of him. More importantly, we both love him 
dearly. He is a great man, and I'm proud of the job he's doing for 
Florida. I know you are as well.
    I said, ``Mother, we're going to be talking about Social Security.'' 
She said, ``Fine. Don't tell anybody my age.'' [Laughter] I said, ``I 
won't, but can I tell them you were at least born before 1950, so you 
don't have anything to worry about when it comes to getting your 
check?'' She said, ``Fine.''
    Mother and I just came from the Life Project Senior Development 
Center in Orlando, Florida. I went there to look at some--tell some 
seniors that I wanted them to know with certainty that nothing will 
change when it comes to their Social Security check, that they will get 
the check that the Government has promised. And that's important for 
them to hear, because I understand a lot of people rely on a Social 
Security check. Right there is one. [Laughter] I don't know if ``Amen'' 
was the proper response, but nevertheless. [Laughter] ``Yo'' is better, 
yes. [Laughter]
    A fellow walked up to me--I'm finding this to be the case in a lot 
of my travels--he said, ``I'm glad I'm going to get my check. What about 
my grandchildren?'' And that's what I want to talk to the people--to you 
today about, making sure the seniors' grandchildren and their great-
grandchildren have the same safety net that today's seniors receive from 
the Social Security system.
    Before I do, first I--Laura sends her best. Up until this very day, 
I have always said that Laura Bush was the Nation's greatest First Lady. 
And then I had to modify my position. [Laughter] Would you go for a tie? 
[Laughter]
    I'm traveling from Washington to Florida with some fine Members of 
the United States Congress from the great State of Florida. Florida 
Senator Mel Martinez is with us today. The Congressman from this 
district, Congressman Tom Feeney, is with us today. Congressman Ric 
Keller is with us today. Can I tell them? Yes, I'll tell them. Keller 
has got an interesting way about him in this way: He's getting married 
tomorrow. Isn't that great? Yet he's spending the day with me. 
[Laughter] So he's marrying a patient person. [Laughter] But I wish Ric 
all the best.
    Congressman Adam Putnam is with us today. And finally, Congressman 
Dave Weldon is with us today. I appreciate you coming, Dave.
    Mayor Rich Crotty is with us. You might remember the mayor--
[applause]--wait a minute, you might remember the mayor, Tyler's father. 
[Laughter] I said to Crotty, ``Where's Tyler?'' You're not going to 
believe this: He's in Washington, DC, today. [Laughter] One way to avoid 
a speech is to get out of town. [Laughter]
    I appreciate the Y for letting us come by. Jim Ferber, I'm honored 
that you let us come by and use your facility. I'll tell you something 
interesting that takes place here, which I didn't realize until I got 
here, was that this is more than just a Y--than the Y that I used to 
think about. This is an education center. How about this idea for 
people: The YMCA partners with and houses Northlake Park Elementary 
School. Pretty interesting concept, isn't it? It seems like to me it 
would be a wise use of assets--make sure taxpayers' money goes well and 
also provide a great place for kids to not only learn, but to learn how 
to take care of their bodies.
    I don't know if you know this, but Congressman Weldon is a doctor, 
and he and I were discussing on Air Force One, what can we do as 
Government officials to encourage people to make right choices with 
their body, eat good food, and exercise? I mean, we've got to make sure 
that children understand that it is important to be wise about the food 
you eat and, at the same time, understand the importance of exercise in 
order to make sure that they're healthy when they come up, that 
they're--that when they get older--kind of like me--they're healthy. Now 
is the time to encourage people to have preventative--choices in life to 
prevent illness. It seems pretty cool to have the elementary school and 
the Y educating the mind as well as training the body in the same 
building. So I congratulate you for your wisdom

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and your foresight and wish you all the very best.
    I want to thank the teachers who are here. [Applause] Yes. I know I 
speak for Mother when I say this, and certainly Laura: We appreciate you 
teaching. It is a noble profession. Sam Houston was my predecessor as 
the Governor of Texas, by the way, and they asked him--he was a United 
States Senator from Texas; he was a Congressman from Tennessee; he was 
the Governor of Texas; he was the President of the Republic of Texas--
that was before we became a State. And they said, ``Of all those jobs, 
which one did you like the best?'' Without hesitating, he said, 
``Teacher.'' It's a noble profession. So thanks for teaching. I also 
want to remind the moms and dads who are here that a child's first 
teacher is a mom and a dad, that you have the responsibility to be the 
first teacher, to make their job easier.
    Sam Beard is here--where's Sam? Oh, Sam, thanks for coming. Sam is 
a, I think it's safe to say, a Democrat, which is fine. [Laughter] He is 
a--but what I think you'll find interesting is, in 2001, I created a 
Commission to look at the Social Security issue. And there were eight 
Democrats and eight Republicans on the Commission. The Commission was 
headed by former Democrat, United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan 
from New York, one of the really fine, distinguished public servants. We 
attracted some really bright people like Sam to serve on the Commission. 
They came together to talk about the Social Security issue, which I'm 
about to talk about as well. They did so in the spirit of what is--
trying to figure out how to solve a problem, not how to promote a 
political party.
    And I want to thank you for serving, Sam. You came up with some 
great ideas. And I urge the Congress to take the same spirit that the--
adopt the same spirit that the Moynihan Commission did, to serve this 
country without trying to foster a party, but serve the country to come 
up with problems so that a younger generation of Americans will be able 
to say, when it's all said and done, we did our duty to make sure the 
safety net for Social Security exists for them like it does for today's 
seniors. So thank you for being here, Sam. I appreciate you coming.
    A couple of other things I want to talk about before we get to 
Social Security. Today I met Betty Haggard. She is a volunteer. She 
works for Citizens on Patrol for the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. I 
want to thank Betty for the example she sets. The reason I like to bring 
up people who volunteer is because I want to remind you that a great way 
to serve our country is to feed the hungry, find shelter for the 
homeless, mentor a child, teach somebody to read, put your arm around 
somebody who hurts, help heal a broken heart, and you do that by 
volunteering. You do that by taking time out of your life, and when you 
do, you make America a better place.
    We're living in exciting times. I'm--I fully understand that the 
actions we take abroad and the actions we take at home will set the 
course of events for a half-century, at least. That's how I think about 
public policy. We're laying the foundation for freedom. That will mean 
that your children and grandchildren can grow up in a peaceful world. 
The object of this administration--the objectives of this 
administration--is to, first and foremost, defend our country. But I 
understand, in the defense of America--the long-term defense of America 
will be suited by the spread of freedom.
    Free societies are peaceful societies. I believe that deep in 
everybody's soul is the desire to live in a free society. It doesn't 
matter your religion or where you're from. And I believe that because 
the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world is freedom. 
This isn't bestowed by America; this is bestowed by something greater 
than America. And if you believe that and if you understand that freedom 
leads to peace, then it's got to be the central policy of the United 
States to work with friends and allies to spread freedom. And it's 
happening.
    I mean, if you think about Afghanistan, for example, particularly 
for the young here, it wasn't all that long ago that people in 
Afghanistan lived under the brutal reign of the Taliban. Now, these 
people were--had a dark, dim vision of the world, like, if you didn't 
agree with them 100 percent when it came to their religion, you'd find 
yourself being flogged in the public square or executed.

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    We acted in our self-interest. We upheld a doctrine that said, ``If 
you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the terrorist.'' But 
in so doing, we freed millions of people from the clutches of the 
Taliban. It didn't happen long after the Taliban was gone that the 
people of Afghanistan voted for the first time for President in the 
country's history. Millions showed up at the polls. The first voter, by 
the way, was a young woman. She wasn't even allowed to express her 
opinion under the Taliban. She's voting. And as a result of Afghanistan 
becoming a liberated, free society, the world is more peaceful.
    There was a vote in the Palestinian Territories. President Abbas is 
showing strength and courage by saying to the terrorists, ``We'll never 
achieve peace so long as you kill.'' I believe there will be a 
Palestinian state which is a democracy living side by side in peace with 
Israel, which is a democracy. And we're beginning to see the signs of 
hopeful progress. Two free societies living side by side in peace will 
make it easier for our grandchildren to grow up in a peaceful world. I 
don't have any grandchildren yet--your grandchildren. [Laughter]
    Lebanon--think about Lebanon. It's a country occupied by Syria. 
However, as the world began to speak with one voice to Syria, saying, 
``Get out. Take your troops out; take your intelligence services out,'' 
people poured out in the public square to say, ``We want to be free.'' 
There will be a free Lebanon and Syria must listen to the demands of the 
world and completely withdraw.
    And finally, in Iraq--I'm sure some of you have had relatives in 
Iraq--been a huge sacrifice by our military families and people of 
America, as a matter of fact, when it came to war. War is always the 
last resort for a President. Diplomacy must always be tried. We 
responded to the challenges of the time. But it should have heartened 
people to see the 8 million plus Iraqis who once lived under the brutal 
reign of a tyrant go to the polls in defiance of terrorists and cold-
blooded killers. That statement was a powerful statement, particularly 
for young to understand, that when you believe freedom lurks in 
everybody's soul, that people love to be free, to realize the bravery 
and courage of those good folks in the face of terrorists has set an 
example for a lot of countries. A free Iraq is in our interests. A free 
Iraq will make America more secure, the world more free, which will help 
us achieve the peace we all want. Freedom is on the march, and over the 
next 4 years, I'll do all I can to work with friends and allies to keep 
it on the march.
    Just one quick word on what we can do in Congress to make sure that 
we continue the economic prosperity that's taking place in a place like 
Florida--it's got one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Nation, by 
the way. I tried to attribute that to Jeb, but then I realized it 
completely overlooks the entrepreneurial spirit of the Floridian people. 
The truth of the matter is, this economy is growing because there's 
risktakers, dreamers, doers, and hard workers in the State of Florida.
    So I'm looking forward to working with Congress to make sure that we 
continue to create an environment in which we can have economic growth 
and vitality. There's a lot of things we can do--pass a reasonable 
budget, for starters; make sure we're wise about how we spend your 
money. Another thing we can do is keep your taxes low. Third thing we 
need to do is to make sure that Congress gets an energy bill to my desk.
    In 2001, I was concerned about dwindling supply in the United States 
and more dependence upon supply from overseas. And so I put together a 
group of smart people, and we came together with an energy strategy. And 
it's a multifaceted strategy. It says, we've got to conserve more; we 
need to work on ways to encourage conservation; we've got to develop 
alternative sources of energy like ethanol and biodiesel. We need more 
LNG facilities so we can bring liquified natural gas to our power plants 
around the United States.
    We'll spend taxpayers' money on research projects so that we could, 
for example, be able to burn coal in a zero-emissions plant. We've got a 
plant--such a strategy and such an experimentation going on right now. I 
think we ought to explore--and we are--ways to see if we can't use 
hydrogen to power our automobiles, so that we become not only less 
dependent on foreign sources of energy but that we're wiser about 
environmental air

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standards, about protecting environmental air standards.
    In other words, there's a lot of things I put in that report. I'm 
concerned about the price of your gasoline. I'm concerned about rising 
prices. And Congress needs to stop debating this bill. Congress needs to 
get it to my desk, so we can start the progress of becoming less 
dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    You don't have to worry about these ones. [Laughter] We're on 
board--on the same--we're working on--we're working toward the same 
goal, and that's energy independence.
    I want to talk about Social Security. First, Social Security is one 
of our great institutions. I think Franklin Roosevelt did a good thing 
when he created Social Security--matter of fact, I know he did--because 
it's provided a retirement safety net for a lot of folks. And that's 
important.
    The problem is we've got a problem with Social Security. And that's 
what I want to discuss with you. As a matter of fact, I think this is 
maybe the 16th State I've been to since I gave my State of the Union, 
talking about Social Security, the fact that it's one of the great moral 
successes, the fact that the system has helped seniors enjoy the dignity 
of a secure retirement.
    I'm assuring people I fully understand a lot of seniors rely upon 
their Social Security check. Don't you? It matters a lot. It matters to 
seniors all around our country. And that's why I'm spending a lot of 
time not only addressing the problem--which I'm going to define for you 
in a minute--but, most importantly, saying to seniors, you have nothing 
to fear when it comes to this talk about making sure the system works 
for the next generation. It's really important for people to hear that. 
It's taken 16 States so far to get the message out. I got three more 
next week. No matter how many States it takes or how many speeches I 
give, I want seniors to understand all across America, no matter what 
the rhetoric is, no matter what the pamphlets say, no matter what the 
pundits tell you, this Government will make and keep its promise to our 
seniors who have retired.
    If you're approaching retirement and born before 1950, you're going 
to get your check too. Nothing will change. You've been working hard, 
you've been putting money in the system, and you're going to get your 
Social Security check too. In other words, for those of us born prior to 
1950, nothing changes. I'm a fellow who was born prior to 1950; I guess 
that makes me feel okay.
    What really makes me worried about is I understand that we have made 
promises for younger Americans that we can't keep. And that's what I 
want to explain to you, that this Government of yours has said to 
Americans, ``That safety net that we've created is fine if you retire, 
but for a younger generation of Americans, it has a hole in it.'' And 
let me tell you why: Because Social Security has changed; the dynamics 
of our society has changed in ways that the creators of Social Security 
could never have envisioned.
    First of all, the Social Security system is a pay-as-you-go system. 
That means, you pay; the Government goes ahead and spends. [Laughter] 
You pay in the system at your payroll tax, and the Government pays out 
the promised benefits, and if there's any money left over, it goes to 
pay for other programs. See, some people, I suspect, think that there is 
a trust, and we take your money, and we hold it for you. And then when 
it comes time to retire, we pull it out for you. That's not the way it 
works. It is a pay-as-you-go system. The money comes in the door and 
immediately goes out the door.
    In 1950, there were 16 workers for every beneficiary--16 workers 
paying into the system for every beneficiary. You can imagine it works. 
In a pay-as-you-go system, when you've got a lot of workers per 
beneficiary, it means you're collecting enough money to be able to take 
care of the people who've retired. Today, because we're having fewer 
babies, because there's an increasing number of beneficiaries, there's 
only 3.3 workers per beneficiary. In other words, fewer workers are 
carrying a greater load.
    In a relatively short period of time, there's going to be two 
workers per beneficiary. Like, if you're young, you're going to be one 
of two who are going to have to pay for guys like me. And so you begin 
to get a sense for the math that has changed: 16 workers in the 1950s; 
in the 21st century, there's going to be 2 workers per beneficiary. And

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the other thing--the other problem to complete the math is that a group 
of us are getting ready to retire. We're called baby boomers. I think 
I'm on the leading edge. I was born in 1946; I turn 62 in 2008, which is 
a convenient year, in my case, for getting to retirement age. [Laughter] 
And you know what else has changed? Guys like me and Sam and others, 
we're living longer, much longer than previous generations. And you know 
what else has changed? Because a lot of people ran for office saying, 
``Vote for me; I'm going to increase your Social Security benefits,'' my 
generation has been promised greater benefits than the previous 
generation.
    So if you take the issue of baby boomers living longer, getting paid 
more, coupled with fewer people paying into the system, it says we've 
got a serious problem, and it begins to manifest itself in 2018. That's 
when more money starts going out of the system than coming in. Now, that 
may seem like a long time if you've got a 2-year perspective on life, 
but it's not that long; 2018 is 13 years from now. If you're 5 years 
old, you'll be voting in 13 quick years. For those of you who have 
raised children, you understand how fast 13 years goes by.
    In 2027, the system will be 200 billion in the red. In other words, 
in 2018, it starts to go in the red, and it gets worse every year; 2027, 
it's 200 billion, and it gets worse after that. It keeps getting worse 
until it gets up to--2033, the annual shortfall is about 300 billion. 
Finally, 2042, it's bust; it's bankrupt. So in other words, there's a 
huge hole. Because there's more of me--people like me living longer, 
getting paid more benefits, fewer workers in the system, the system 
starts go into the red, and it just accelerates.
    And you can understand the problem. If you're a grandparent thinking 
about your grandchild, you ought to be asking the question of people 
like me, ``How are you going to--how's this younger worker going to pay 
for it if you don't do anything?'' You can imagine what it means.
    We had an expert today, one of your panelists, Sam, was there. She 
said that if nothing happens, in order to make the system somewhat 
whole, the payroll tax is going to have to go up to 18 percent, I think 
she told me. Think about that. Doing nothing has got serious 
consequences for a younger generation coming up. This is why I like to 
say this is a generational issue. This is an issue where, once we can 
assure grandparents that you're fine, you'll be taken care of, the 
promise will be kept, a lot of grandparents are starting to say, ``Whew, 
I'm feeling good about it. How about my grandchildren? What are we going 
to do for them?''
    I met Don and--Dan and Lois Canterbury. Dan is a retired dentist 
from Auburndale. He and his wife have got eight grandchildren. Their--
the oldest grandchild is Evan. He's not here. He's 17--I hope he's 
studying--[laughter]--but he's 17. On its current path, Social Security 
would take part of Evan's check, of course, for his entire working 
career, but it goes broke 10 years before he retires. I hope that helps 
put it in perspective of what I'm talking about. It's one thing to put 
out dates; it's another thing to put this in personal terms.
    And Evan is out there working hard; the system is bankrupt; he's put 
all this money in; and so what are the choices that future public policy 
people will have? And they're not very good: major benefit cuts, major 
increases in taxes, cutting out all other kind of programs in order to 
make sure that the promises are kept. And those options don't sound very 
good to me, and I know they don't sound very good to you when you start 
thinking about it.
    And so what we need to do is come up with a permanent solution. And 
that's what I'm going to travel the country talking about. I think most 
people have begun to understand that we got a problem, which is an 
important dynamic. See, if Congress didn't think you thought there was a 
problem, nothing would happen. This is one of these issues where people 
in Washington truly respond to what people think. If they think nobody 
really thinks there's a problem, I can assure you, nothing will take 
place. But I think things are changing in Washington. Matter of fact, I 
know they are, in terms of whether or not people think there's a 
problem. Matter of fact, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution the other 
day, 100 to nothing, saying that we have a problem with Social Security, 
and we need to come up with a permanent solution.

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That is progress. It's a strong commitment from the Senate.
    And I want to assure you all that my administration will work with 
the United States Senate and the House of Representatives to come up 
with a permanent solution, and we're willing to listen to anybody with a 
good idea. As a matter of fact, in my State of the Union Address--I 
haven't looked at all previous State of the Union Addresses, but I 
suspect you'll find, when it came to Social Security, mine was unique 
because I said, let's put good ideas on the table. And I mentioned some 
of them. Former Congressman Tim Penny had a good idea about the 
possibility of indexing Social Security benefits to prices rather than 
wages, for younger workers. President Clinton spoke about raising the 
retirement age for younger workers. Patrick Moynihan, through the 
committee, talked about ways to change the benefits. There was a Social 
Security expert named Robert Pozen, who happens to be a Democrat, 
proposed a progressive mix of wage and price indexing.
    These are all important, very interesting ideas that I just strongly 
urge Members of Congress to bring to the table and consider. It's one 
thing to be thinking about solutions; it's another to say, ``I just--
going to dismiss anything out of hand.'' That's not the way I think, and 
that's not the way this problem's going to get solved. We ought to 
welcome ideas. It doesn't matter if it's a Republican idea or a Democrat 
idea, the idea is to come together and fix this for a generation of 
Americans to come.
    I have said this and I believe--I know we can do this without 
raising the payroll tax rate. The reason why I believe that it's 
necessary is because one way to make sure this economy is slow today and 
slow in the out-years is run up the payroll tax on people. It's a tough 
tax on a lot of people.
    I also know that this can't be a temporary fix. I don't know if you 
remember 1983. Some of you weren't even born then. Kind of envious. 
[Laughter] They said they fixed--they put the 75-year Social Security 
fix together. It's called a 75-year fix. First, I want to applaud 
President Reagan, Speaker O'Neill. I think Leader Dole was involved with 
that. It was--a lot of people from both parties came together, said, 
``We've got a real problem; let's come together to do something about 
Social Security.'' And they put together the 75-year fix. But here we 
are in 2005. Doesn't seem like a 75-year fix when you're here talking 
about it 22 years later.
    And so I urge Congress not to think about 75-year fixes. The math is 
just not going to allow for a 75-year fix. It may sound like a 75-year 
fix at first. We need a permanent fix. We need to do it right now and 
make sure that nobody has to address the issue again.
    I think we have an additional responsibility, besides making sure 
that it's solvent, the system is solvent. We've got to make it better 
for our children and grandchildren. And so I've laid out a proposal to 
give our youngsters an opportunity that the current system doesn't 
provide, and that is a chance to own a piece of their own retirement, 
own it themselves, and to tap into the power of compounding interest. 
It's called--I call it a personal savings account. It's a chance to give 
workers a voluntary option. In other words, you get to choose if you 
want to. The Government says, you don't have to do this; you can do this 
if you think it's an interesting idea that you want to look at, to set 
aside some of your own money in a savings account that you will invest 
in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks.
    This isn't the solution to Social Security; it is a part of the 
solution to Social Security. It will mean that younger workers, when 
they retire, get a better deal than under the current system, is what 
I'm trying to tell you. It's a--if you think about this--let me explain 
compounding rate of interest to you, that if you let a younger worker 
invest a third of their payroll taxes, let's say 4 percent, in a 
conservative mix of bonds and stocks, and that younger worker started 
saving at about 21 years old and made $35,000 a year over his or her 
lifetime, by the time he or she retired, there would be a nest egg of 
$250,000. In other words, 4 percent of that person's payroll tax, or a 
third of the payroll tax, invested and held, and it just grows, 
compounds.
    And what's important is, is that the rate of return in the voluntary 
account would be greater than that in which the Government--you can get 
through the Government. In

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other words, by putting in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks, 
you're going to make a better rate of return than your money today. And 
the difference between what you will earn in a conservative mix and what 
the Government gets is substantial, particularly when you start saving 
at 21 years old. And that matters.
    And so they've got an opportunity under this system to have an asset 
that you call your own. The system today, you have no assets. The money 
goes in, and it goes out. There's IOUs; they're paper. But there's no 
asset base.
    Now, look, we're going to make sure there's careful guidelines about 
what you can invest in. You can't put it in the lottery. You can't take 
it to the track. [Laughter] You've got to invest it in a conservative 
mix of bonds and stocks. But we're used to those kinds of things, aren't 
we, in our society? We got the Thrift Savings Plans that people--
Congress are able to use or Federal employees are able to use.
    Today I was with a Navy pilot in Pensacola, 21-year-old kid getting 
his wings, talked about his Thrift Savings Plan. He said, ``I like my 
Thrift Savings Plan.'' He says, ``I watch my money grow.'' I said, ``Oh, 
yes--you get a quarterly statement?'' He said, ``No, I get it online all 
the time.''
    You see what's interesting about this notion about saving and 
investing is, the world has changed when it comes to investing. At least 
it's changed since I was being raised. I was telling Mother in the 
limousine, I don't remember talking to her about 401(k)s when I was a 
little guy. I don't remember IRAs, defined contribution plans. This 
world has changed since I was raised.
    And there are a lot of young kids who now understand what it means 
to invest. They're comfortable with the concept of watching their money 
grow. They understand that it's possible for Government to allow a 
younger worker to invest, that--in a conservative mix of instruments. I 
mean, this is not a foreign concept. People are getting used to that. It 
seems like to me that if a Thrift Savings Plan is good enough for a 
Federal worker, it's good enough for a private sector worker. It's good 
enough for you.
    I met Anna Brooks from Sanford, Florida. Her husband was a Methodist 
minister. He died. Let me talk about one of the benefits of personal 
accounts when it comes to somebody who has been widowed. If your spouse 
dies before 62 and you're not working, you get nothing from the system 
until you turn 62 years old. Think about that. Your husband has been 
working, putting money in the system; he passes away--or it could be the 
opposite, wife is working, husband is the beneficiary, and the person 
passes away, and there's nothing left until that person turns 62 years 
old. Or how about the case of the--both couples--both folks working, and 
one predeceases the other, and the spousal benefits are less than the 
person's retirement benefits when the person living retires. You only 
get one or the other. You get the higher of the two, not both. Think 
about that system for a minute. Somebody works all their life; the 
spouse works all their life; the spouse is only going to get what she 
has or he has contributed into the system. But the other--the other 
member of their family's money, it just goes away.
    If you have a personal account that grows over time, it's your asset 
you call your own. You can leave it to whom you want. If you get--if 
you--the wife or husband whose spouse predeceases them will be able to 
have that asset. It's yours. You get to decide, not the Government. And 
the money you've earned over the course of your lifetime becomes real. 
It's a part of an asset. And that's an important part of why people 
should take a serious look at personal accounts. There's something 
beneficial in a society where more and more people have a real asset 
they call their own, where they get to decide to whom to leave it to.
    And so I was talking to Anna. She's got a lot of grandkids. She's 
interested in making sure that the system for the grandkids--she's got 
two great-grandkids; she's fixing to have another great-grandchild--so 
she's interested in the subject, because she understands that if we 
don't do anything, those kids are going to be saddled with a serious 
problem. And the idea of her kids or grandkids and great-grandkids being 
able to have an asset appeals to her, something she wasn't afforded when 
she was coming up and working.

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    And so what I'm telling you is personal accounts would replace empty 
Government promise with real assets. I really like the idea of the fact 
that in our society today, more people own a home than ever before. More 
minority families own a home than ever before. That's positive, isn't 
it? Isn't that great? I like the idea that more and more people own 
their own small business. People from all walks of life have their own 
business and they're struggling and working hard, employing people, but 
it's theirs. Personal accounts in a Social Security system would give 
millions of Americas their first chance to own something, the chance to 
pass something on to a son or a daughter, if that's what they choose to 
do.
    Now, ownership is powerful. Ownership was--you know, it means you 
can--somebody can inherit something from a mom or dad. And that 
shouldn't be the privilege of just the wealthy. That should be the 
opportunity of everybody who lives in America.
    And so one of the reasons why I think Congress ought to consider 
personal accounts is because it empowers the individual. It is--conforms 
with the way people are getting used to investing now, particularly 
younger Americans, through 401(k)s or defined contribution plans. It 
will allow people to earn a better rate of return than they will under 
the current system. It will help complement whatever is left over in the 
Social Security system. The Government will have promised benefits, but 
I've told you, we can't pay what we've promised. But the personal 
account, because of the compounding rate of interest, will help you get 
closer to that which Government has promised. It will make it a part of 
a good retirement system for people.
    And this idea is a idea that's not a Republican idea or a Democrat 
idea. There are a lot of people from both political parties who 
understand the power of this. I happen to think it's a really good 
people idea. I think it's an idea because it empowers people. I think 
it's an idea because it says that the United States Government really 
does trust the people with their own money.
    And so I urge Congress, as we take on this issue, to listen 
carefully to the American people. And I urge you to make sure that 
Congress hears your voices.
    Over the next weeks, I'll continue to talk about how the--to the 
people about the fact that we have got a serious problem. Oh, it's fine 
for people like me and people born after--before 1950. People born after 
1950, you better be asking your elected representatives, ``If we've got 
a problem, what do you intend to do about it?'' I find people are really 
tired of partisan bickering: ``We can't accept this idea because it's a 
Republican idea.'' ``We can't accept this idea because it's a Democrat 
idea.'' People just don't want that when it comes to the Social Security 
debate. People want there to be good will and a good-faith effort by 
people of both political parties to sit down at the table, and say, 
``The people are worried about it. There's a lot of grandparents in 
America worried about their grandchildren. We have run for office for a 
reason.''
    One of the reasons I have put this idea or this issue on the table, 
because I understand the job of the President is to confront problems, 
and not just pass them on to another President or another Congress. Now 
is the time.
    And I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by. Sam, 
thank you for your good work on this issue. Thank you for your interest 
on this issue. I want to thank the younger folks who are here for paying 
attention to an issue which I promise you is going to affect your life. 
It's either going to affect it in an incredibly positive way, or about 
20 years from now, you're going to be saying to yourself, ``I wonder how 
come the Congress didn't listen to old George W. Bush. [Laughter] How 
come they didn't get together and fix this for generations to come?''
    God bless. Thank you for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1:58 p.m. at the Lake Nona YMCA Family 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; Mayor 
Richard T. Crotty of Orange County, FL; James W. Ferber, president and 
chief executive officer, Central Florida YMCA; Sam Beard, founder and 
president, Economic Security 2000; President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) 
of the Palestinian Authority; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; 
former Representative Timothy J. Penny, senior fellow and co-director, 
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute Policy Forum; Robert C. Pozen, chairman, 
MFS Investment Management; and former Senator Bob Dole. The transcript 
released

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by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of former 
First Lady Barbara Bush.