[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 12 (Monday, March 28, 2005)]
[Pages 500-509]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on Strengthening Social Security in Albuquerque

March 22, 2005

    The President. Thank you, Pete. Thanks for allowing me back in the 
State. It is very gracious of the people of New Mexico to not only let 
in a Texan--[laughter]--but to let in somebody from Arizona as well--
[laughter]--and from California, I might add.
    Listen, thanks, Pete. I appreciate your leadership. Pete, as you 
know, is a class act. He is a--he loves New Mexico, and he loves our 
country. We spent a lot of time talking about energy this morning. He 
and I are deeply concerned about the price of gasoline. We are worried 
about the trends taking place. We understand that we need to work with 
Congress to get a bill out that will encourage conservation, encourage 
alternative sources of energy, encourage research and development to 
help us use energy in wiser ways; a bill to modernize the electricity 
grid; a bill to encourage environmentally friendly exploration; all 
aimed at making America more economically secure and less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy. And I want to thank you for your leadership, 
Pete. Thanks for your leadership on the issue.
    I'm proud to be here with John--John McCain. We traveled yesterday 
in Arizona and then Colorado and here in New Mexico. He's fixing to go 
back home, as am I to Texas. But the reason why I'm so pleased that John 
came--and you'll--we'll talk to him in a minute--is because he, like 
Pete, understands now is the time to get something done on the big issue 
of Social Security.
    I'm also pleased he's here because John has been one of the true 
stalwarts in understanding what I call the freedom agenda. For

[[Page 501]]

the youngsters here, I want you to understand that you're now living in 
an historic time. Freedom is changing the world. We acted to secure our 
country, upheld doctrine--by upholding doctrine, and we said to the 
Taliban, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the 
terrorist.'' We moved to uphold the doctrine and protect America, but in 
so doing, we liberated millions of people from the clutches of a 
barbaric regime. And millions of people in Afghanistan went to the polls 
to vote for their leadership for the first time in 5,000 years.
    I believe there will be a democracy in the Palestinian Territories, 
and that's essential to achieve the peace with our friend and ally 
Israel. I was inspired by the elections in the Ukraine. I've been very 
inspired by the courage of the Iraqi citizens, who in the face of 
terrorist threats said, ``We're going to be free,'' and they went to the 
polls. These are important events because free societies will be 
peaceful societies. As freedom spreads, the world becomes more peaceful. 
And I believe we're now laying the foundations for peace to come for a 
generation of Americans that are growing up now, and that's an important 
legacy.
    I want to thank those who have worn our uniform. I want to thank 
those who are wearing the uniform. I want to thank the family members 
who support those who wear the uniform. I want to thank the Members of 
the Congress who clearly see the vision of a peaceful world.
    I appreciate the Young at Heart Choir for joining us. We should have 
gotten here earlier, but Pete and I went over to a retirement center, 
and we wanted to say hello to the folks there. My message to them was, 
just like my message is going to be several times today, if you're 
getting a Social Security check, you're going to keep getting your 
check. I don't care what they're telling you; I don't care what the fine 
print in the political ads say, you will get your check. The Government 
is going to keep its promise. So you may hear me say that a couple of 
times today because I know how important that is for the people who are 
getting a Social Security check to hear that message.
    I also want to tell you that Laura sends her best. I spoke to her 
this morning. She is--I said, ``How's everything at the ranch?'' She 
said, ``Barney is doing fine.'' [Laughter] I'm looking forward to 
spending Easter in Texas. It's a joy to get out of the Nation's Capital. 
I love my job, but I also like to get out amongst the people. I like to 
get home. I like to remember--to go back to my roots, where I was from. 
But I also like to come to places that--like Albuquerque because I 
believe that it's important for those of us in elected office to tell 
the people what's on our mind, to explain issues.
    Now, let me start off on Social Security by telling you I believe 
the President's job and I believe Senators' jobs are to confront 
problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents and future 
Congresses. I believe that is why we get elected in the first place.
    We have a problem in Social Security. Franklin Roosevelt did a good 
thing when he created the Social Security system, and it has worked for 
a lot of folks. Social Security has provided an important safety net for 
many, many senior citizens. But what I want to explain to you--and I 
think others will here as well--is that times have changed. The math has 
changed on Social Security. In other words--let me put it to you this 
way: There's a lot of people getting ready to retire called baby 
boomers. I'm one. I was born in 1946. My retirement age--I reach 
retirement age in 2008. It turns out to be a convenient moment. 
[Laughter] There's a lot of people like me that are starting to retire 
in 2008. There is a bulge, baby boomer bulge, a lot of us.
    Interestingly enough, we are now living longer than previous 
generations. When Social Security was first started, life expectancy was 
a heck of a lot lower than it is today. Plus, many politicians in 
previous years ran for office saying, ``Vote for me. I will increase 
your Social Security benefits. In other words, I'll increase the 
promises.'' So my generation has been promised more benefits than the 
previous generation. A lot of us, living longer, getting paid more 
money, with fewer people paying into the system--that's the other side 
of the equation.
    This chart, for example, shows in the 1950s there were 16 workers 
for every beneficiary. In other words, the load was pretty light. Today, 
it's 3.3 to 1 workers--in other words,

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3.3 workers to every beneficiary. You got a lot of us living longer, 
getting greater benefits, with fewer people paying the load, see. And 
pretty soon it's going to be 2 to 1. And so you can imagine, longer life 
with greater beneficiaries--in other words, the obligations are 
increasing quite dramatically with fewer people carrying the load. And 
guess who gets to carry the load? The young workers.
    And the fundamental question--this isn't an issue, frankly, about 
the older generation. You're going to get your check. You're in good 
shape. It's really an issue of whether or not this Government and this 
country understands the burden we're going to place on young Americans 
coming up. That's what the issue is all about.
    And here is the burden. This is a pay-as-you-go system: Money goes 
in, and it goes out. Somebody probably thinks, ``Well, there's a 
trust''--in other words, we're taking your money and we'll hold it for 
you, and then when you retire we give it back to you. That's not how it 
works. It's pay-as-you-go: The money comes in, and we go ahead and pay. 
We pay for a lot of things other than Social Security. The retirement 
checks are sent out, and if there's money left over, it goes to fund all 
aspects of Government. And what is left behind is a piece of paper, an 
IOU.
    In 2018, because the math has changed, more money will be going out 
than coming in for Social Security. People will be paying payroll taxes, 
but because baby boomers like me are retired and we're living longer and 
we're getting bigger benefits than the previous generation, the system 
turns into the red. And every year thereafter, if we don't do anything, 
it gets worse and worse and worse.
    To give you a sense of how big the problem will be for a younger 
generation and younger workers, in 2027 we'll be $200 billion in the 
hole. That's 200 billion more than coming in for payroll taxes. It will 
be bigger in 2028, 2029, and in the 2030s it gets up to 300 billion. So 
you're getting a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Unlike the old 
days, when 16 workers would pay into the system for every beneficiary, 
it was a manageable issue; the math worked. The math doesn't work now.
    And that's why I went in front of the Congress and said, ``Folks, we 
got to do something now before it's too late.'' The experts will tell 
you the longer we wait, the harder it is to get the problem solved. And 
so that's why I'm traveling the country. I'm saying two things right off 
the bat: One, we have got a serious problem for younger generations; and 
two, if you're getting your check, if you're born prior to 1950, the 
Government is going to keep its promise to you, nothing changes.
    Now, at my State of the Union, I said to the Congress, ``I'm willing 
to listen to any good idea.'' I said, ``Bring your ideas forward, 
please.'' In order to solve this problem, it's not going to be a 
Republican idea or a Democrat idea, it's going to be an American idea 
brought forth by both--either Republicans or Democrats or both. That's 
what needs to be done on this issue. That's what we got to do to fix it 
permanently.
    I'm confident John will talk about the spirit of the 1983 agreement, 
but let me just say right quick, in 1983, President Reagan, Tip O'Neill, 
and others came together and said, ``Hey, we got a problem. Let's fix 
it.'' It was a 75-year fix, but nevertheless it was a very positive 
spirit that got people to the table. The problem with the 75-year fix is 
here we are in 2005--it's 22 years after 1983; it's not exactly 75 
years. The reason I bring that point up is when you hear them talking 
about a 75-year fix in Washington, the math doesn't work. If we're going 
to fix it, let's fix it forever, is what I'm saying to Members of 
Congress. Let's come to the table--all ideas are on the table--and let's 
get this problem solved once and for all.
    Now, I've got an idea that I think the American people ought to 
seriously consider, and that is younger workers ought to be allowed to 
set aside some of their own money in a personal savings account as a 
part of the Social Security system--not the way to fix the system; it's 
going to require other matters to fix the system--but as a way to make 
the system better for the individual worker.
    Let me tell you why I like the idea, and then we're going to get to 
our panelists. First, I like voluntary ideas. In other words, if you

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so choose, you should have the option. The Government is not going to 
say, ``You must do this,'' but if this is an appealing idea for you, 
then you ought to be allowed to take some of your own money and set it 
aside in a personal savings account that you own yourself.
    Secondly, the rate of return in a conservative mix--and notice I say 
``conservative mix''--of bonds and stocks is greater than that which the 
Government earns with your money. And that rate of return, the bigger 
rate of return, is important, because over time, if you hold it, your 
money grows, see. And it's that growth, that compounding rate of 
interest, that will make the system better for the individual worker.
    Let me just give you an idea. If you're earning $35,000 over your 
lifetime, and, say, the system says you can take a third of your payroll 
taxes and put it in a personal account and in a conservative mix of 
bonds and stocks, that will yield you, over your lifetime, when you get 
ready to retire, $250,000, see. And the way the system would work is 
that 250,000 is yours; you live off the interest off the 250 plus that 
which the Government can afford to pay you.
    Now, another benefit of having your own personal account is that 
it's yours. It's real. It's not an IOU from one form--part of Government 
to the other, like the current system does. It's your asset. It's 
something you own. And I like the idea of encouraging ownership 
throughout all walks of life. You can leave it to whomever you want. You 
see, it will help you in your retirement. You can't liquidate the plan 
upon retirement because it's a part of the retirement system. But your 
estate, you can leave it to whomever you want. You want to leave it to 
your daughter, fine. Leave it to--you want to leave it to Colin, your 
son, leave it to your son. And then that person can use it for whatever 
he or she chooses.
    Secondly, it's--or thirdly, this is fair for families. The way the 
current system works today, if you got two folks working in the family, 
they're both contributing to Social Security, the husband or wife dies 
young, the spouse either gets either the survivor benefits or his or her 
own Social Security check, which is ever higher, but not both. You see 
what I'm saying? I'm saying both contribute to the system, but if only 
one is living--in other words, a lot of folks die young, unfortunately, 
in America--it means that the spouse is only going to get the benefits 
of one person's contribution, not both. That doesn't seem fair to me. If 
somebody has worked all their life, or 30 years of their life, and dies 
early, it seems like that contribution ought to be worth something to 
the family.
    And that's what a personal account will do. It will allow you to 
earn some money; it grows over time; and if you pass away early, it's an 
asset you can pass on to help your widow or your children get an 
education.
    A couple other points--and Laura always tells me to make sure I 
don't talk too much. Sometimes I listen; sometimes I don't--anyway--
[laughter]. You're happy to hear I listened today. A couple other points 
I want to make to you. First of all, you noticed I've been saying a 
``conservative mix'' of bonds and stocks. In other words, you can't take 
your money and put it in a lottery. You can't take it to the track. 
There is a--there's a way that you invest in a--that will get you a good 
rate of return without, obviously, risking your retirement.
    And you know why I feel--I speak confidently about this subject on 
being able to have a rational plan for people to be able to get a better 
rate of return, because this isn't a new idea. It's a new idea to apply 
it to Social Security, but it's an old idea. The Federal employee Thrift 
Savings Plan allows for Federal employees to do just what I'm describing 
to you, take some of their own money, set it aside so their money grows 
faster.
    My attitude is pretty clear on this one. I said if Congress thinks 
it's good enough for the Federal employees, including themselves, sure 
seems good enough for the average worker in America. And so I'm talking 
about these ideas as a way to make the system work better for an 
individual worker as a mix, as a part of an overall solution, permanent 
solution, because I believe all ideas ought to be on the table. And I 
think the American people want all ideas on the table. I think the 
American people expect members of both political parties to come and 
negotiate in good faith with all ideas on the table, in order to solve 
this issue permanently.

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    Joining us today is a really interesting soul named Fidel Vargas. 
Fidel is from the great State of California. Fidel is a person I got to 
know because, interestingly enough, in 2001, I anticipated that--I 
actually campaigned on the issues. It wasn't much of an anticipation on 
my part; I was following through on what I said I would do and take a 
serious look at solving the Social Security solvency issue. And I put 
together a bipartisan Commission, of which Fidel was one.
    Fidel, you are a Republican or Democrat on that Commission?
    Fidel Vargas. I'm a Democrat.
    The President. Welcome, welcome. Tell you something interesting 
about Fidel, he was alcalde--he was the mayor of a city in California--
at what age?
    Mr. Vargas. Twenty-three.
    The President. Yes, the guy peaked a little early, didn't he, you 
know. Anyway, Fidel, welcome. Thanks. Tell us about your experiences on 
the board, if you don't mind.

[At this point, Mr. Vargas, former member, President's Commission to 
Strengthen Social Security, made further remarks.]

    The President. Thank you. Thanks very much.
    Mr. Vargas. And just to give a background, again, I said I was a 
Democrat. I know, I thought being from California was going to be bad, 
but--[laughter].
    The President. A lot of Democrats out here. There's people 
interested in this issue, Fidel.
    Mr. Vargas. Yes, that's good. That's good, because I am a Democrat, 
and I was telling the President I'm a progressive Democrat and a big fan 
of FDR and a big fan of people like Senator Moynihan, who I served with 
on the Commission. And yet, I realize that this is an issue that has to 
be addressed by all.

[Mr. Vargas continued his remarks.]

    The President. Think about that, a payroll tax at 20 percent. If 
you're a young worker, a young American, you better be listening to the 
problem. The problem is, you'll be saddled with a 20-percent payroll 
tax. That's not going to work. That would be terrible for the economy. 
It would be terrible for your pocketbooks. Sorry. You got my attention.
    Mr. Vargas. And my--no, absolutely. It got my attention, too, when I 
heard that. Or cut benefits for future generations.

[Mr. Vargas continued his remarks.]

    The President. Let me say one thing on that, sorry. There was a guy 
named Pozen on the Commission who has come up with some interesting 
ideas to make the system progressive for future retirees. And we accept 
that concept. It makes a lot of sense. In other words, there's ways to 
design the system to be fair to people who are particularly at the low-
income scale. And I appreciate your work on that. I know you had a lot 
to do with that, and it's an idea that a lot of people in Congress are 
taking a serious look at, and we welcome that idea.

[Mr. Vargas made further remarks.]

    The President. Yes, Fidel, thanks. What a wonderful contribution 
that you made individually, that the Commission made to this debate. 
There's some ideas that they put on the table that will help permanently 
solve the issue. But more--as importantly, they set a clear example of 
how people should work together. Again, I repeat to you, this is going 
to require a focused effort by people--leaders on both sides of the 
aisle to come together with good ideas to do what the people expect us 
to do.
    Somebody who understands that clearly, besides Pete Domenici, is 
John McCain. I appreciate you coming, Senator.
    Senator John McCain. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    The President. Glad to have--glad you came back.
    Senator McCain. Thank you, and thank you for this time I've been 
able to spend with you on this very important issue. And by the way, I 
like his tie today, don't you? [Laughter]
    The President. Part of the Social Security uniform, yes. [Laughter]

[Senator McCain made further remarks.]

    The President. John, thanks very much. I appreciate you coming. The 
spirit of the Commission, the spirit of the Senator is the

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spirit that's needed to fix this, and that is people of good will need 
to sit down. Here's what I believe. I remember this issue, people 
saying, ``Well, you better not talk about the issue; there will be a bad 
political consequence.'' I believe there will be a bad political 
consequence for people who are unwilling to sit down and talk about the 
issue. I think the American people expect people from both parties to 
stand up and take the lead and solve this issue for generations to come; 
that's what I believe.
    Speaking about generations and generations to come, we've got 
Margaret Valdez with us. Margaret, thanks. First, I want to thank you 
for being a schoolteacher.
    Margaret Valdez. I'm Margaret Valdez, as he said. I'm a retired 
schoolteacher. I get a retirement pension. I also get Social Security. I 
am 78 years of age, and therefore I get Social Security.
    The President. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Where did you 
teach school?
    Mrs. Valdez. I was a teacher in the Espanola school system. I was a 
science teacher and retired after 28 years of teaching.
    The President. Well, thanks for teaching. By the way, anybody out 
there want to serve the country, go ahead and be a teacher. It's a great 
way to serve the country.
    Anyway, you're getting a Social Security check.
    Mrs. Valdez. I sure do.
    The President. And you need it.
    Mrs. Valdez. And I need it.
    The President. You've got to--the reason why Margaret's point is an 
important point, we understand--I understand; John understands; Pete 
understands--a lot of people rely upon the check. It's an important part 
of their life. That's why none of us want to put a system in place that 
touches that check. It's essential that you hear that.
    Are you worried about getting your check, Margaret?
    Mrs. Valdez. I am not worried at all.
    The President. Good.
    Mrs. Valdez. I have assured my friends and people--in fact, Senator 
Domenici and I, at one time, were on the same stage, assuring the people 
that nothing was going to happen to your Social Security.
    The President. You can rest assured your assurance is good. 
[Laughter]

[Mrs. Valdez made further remarks.]

    The President. No, I agree. In other words, what--Margaret's concern 
is, will the safety net that exists today for the seniors be around for 
a younger generation? It's really an issue--this is a generational 
issue, folks. It really is. The generation now receiving the checks can 
rest assured you're going to get your check. And what's going to end up 
happening is, once that assurance sinks in, your generation is going to 
start saying, ``What are you going to do about my grandkids?'' That's 
why it's a generational issue.
    Speaking about grandkids, you've invited one to join us, haven't 
you?
    Mrs. Valdez. Yes, I sure did. I have to introduce to you my oldest 
granddaughter, Jessica Valdez.
    The President. Thank you for coming, Jessica.
    Jessica Valdez. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Great grandmother you got here, right?
    Ms. Valdez. Yes, yes, she's great.
    The President. That's good.
    Ms. Valdez. She's concerned about my future. I'm only 24 years old 
and a recent graduate from the University of New Mexico.
    The President. Congratulations. Very good. Proud of you.
    Ms. Valdez. I'm sorry?
    The President. I'm proud of you. That's great.
    Ms. Valdez. Thank you. Thank you. I'm currently in the process of 
applying to medical school, so because I have not yet started my 
professional career, I have not yet started thinking about retirement. 
But I have been working since I was 16 and therefore paying into the 
system every two weeks, seeing it taken out of my check since I was 16.
    The President. So you're aware of the fact that you're contributing 
to take care of the grandmom, and pretty soon starting taking care of 
me--[laughter]--and the baby boomers.
    Ms. Valdez. I am aware of that. I'm also aware that if the current 
system does not change, when I do become of age to retire,

[[Page 506]]

more than likely I will not have any money that I have paid into the 
system.
    The President. You know what's really interesting--this is an 
appropriate State to say this, Pete--that an interesting survey one 
person Jessica's age told me about said young Americans believe it's 
more likely they will see a UFO than get a Social Security check. 
[Laughter] Kind of makes for an interesting dynamic, doesn't it, in the 
process.
    Ms. Valdez. Yes, it does.
    The President. See, if a lot of young Americans believe that, once 
they get assured that their grandparents are going to get their checks, 
the second question they'll ask--the first question is, ``Will my 
grandmother get the check?'' The second question is, ``What are you 
going to do for me, Congress? What are you going to do to make sure that 
I don't have a huge burden when I'm coming up--20 percent payroll tax, 
perhaps? No benefits? UFO flying before checks fly?'' [Laughter]
    A lot of people your age starting to talk about this, Jessica, do 
you know?
    Ms. Valdez. Yes, yes, they are.
    The President. Good, I hope so.

[Ms. Valdez made further remarks.]

    The President. Yes, 401(k), it's an interesting thought. I don't 
remember talking about them when I was 24. Do you? No, which goes to 
show there's an investor culture beginning to grow in America. It's 
changing.
    Ms. Valdez. Yes, well, we need to save for ourselves in case it's 
not there for someone to save for us.
    The President. Yes. See, Fidel said something really interesting 
that caught my attention: There is what's known as kind of the investor 
class, like only certain people are investors in America. To me, that's 
a notion that's just not American, nor is it something I agree with. I 
think all people should be encouraged to be investors. I think the more 
people that own something, as Fidel said, the better off our society 
will be.
    And that hasn't been the case in our society. The truth of the 
matter is, some segments of our society have not had asset bases to pass 
on from one generation to the next. And it has been a limiting part of 
the U.S. experience. So here we have a young lady talking about 401(k)s 
and willingness to invest, and, ``I want to manage my own money.'' 
Things are changing here, folks. And all we're saying, in terms of 
considering an interesting idea, is take what's happening in the society 
and applying it to the Federal retirement system called Social Security. 
That's what we're talking about.
    Ray Zamora--thank you very much for coming.
    Ms. Valdez. Thank you. Thank you very much.
    The President. I think--I hope that people get the picture: grandmom 
worried about granddaughter; granddaughter happy that grandmom is going 
to get the check, worried that she's going to see the check or whether 
she can afford paying into the system. And that's the dynamic, and 
that's the issue that this country must confront head on.
    This isn't a political issue. This isn't Democrats trying to get 
ahead of Republicans or Republicans trying to get ahead of Democrats. If 
that's the spirit in Washington, nothing is going to get done. But I can 
assure you, people on this stage are trying to get that spirit out of 
the system. We're trying to elevate this debate and focus on what's 
right for the American people.
    Ray Zamora is here, small-business owner.
    Raymond Zamora. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Is that an accurate statement?
    Mr. Zamora. Small-business owner.
    The President. Good, yes. What's the name of it?
    Mr. Zamora. My name is Ray Zamora. I'm married, have three children. 
I own a local construction company, Anchorbuilt. We currently employ 10 
employees.
    The President. Good. What do you do?
    Mr. Zamora. We do----
    The President. Build anchors? [Laughter]
    Mr. Zamora. It's really where--the basis started with my wife. It's 
a long story.
    The President. Okay.
    Mr. Zamora. As far as the name goes, play on words. And we do mainly 
institutional construction and commercial.
    The President. Good, good. Business all right?

[[Page 507]]

    Mr. Zamora. Business is very good in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's 
booming.
    The President. Yes, good. Do you realize--I hope you realize, folks, 
that most new jobs are created by small-business owners like Ray. Don't 
you like the idea of somebody sitting up here with the President and two 
Senators saying, ``I own my own business''?
    Go ahead.
    Mr. Zamora. My biggest concern with Social Security right now is, as 
an employer we see both sides, paying out as an employer to the Social 
Security tax and also see the employee payout. And our biggest concern 
would be that taxes would increase, and that would have a negative 
impact on us as a small business.
    The President. Yes, so he's hearing what Fidel just said. He's been 
studying the issue. He sees there's a cash deficiency, and he figures 
rightly that in order to make up for the cash deficiency, if we wait 
long, one of the options is going to be to run up his payroll tax, which 
not only affects the worker but it affects the employer, particularly 
the small-business owner. Isn't that right?
    Mr. Zamora. Yes, sir. It affects us. And I believe that with the 
Social Security growth potential that an employee would have, it would 
complement any 401(k) or any other investment opportunities that they 
would have. It would have a positive impact on them.
    The President. Yes, we hear from small-business owners on this 
issue. You know, it's a pretty healthy chunk to put their part of the 
payroll tax--to pay the payroll tax for a small business. Ten employees, 
guy is making a good living, but taxes coming out, and it's a big, 
significant part of their contribution into the tax--to the kitty.
    And so I hear from small-business owners saying, ``Don't you think 
you better fix this thing now, before it's too late, just to make sure 
the contributions I made, the hard work that we've all done together and 
we've put it in the plan doesn't just go out the window?'' Isn't that 
right?
    Mr. Zamora. Yes, it is.
    The President. I'm leading the witness here. [Laughter]
    Mr. Zamora. Yes, it is.
    The President. Not even a lawyer. [Laughter] Well, I appreciate you 
coming.
    Mr. Zamora. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Honored you're here. Good luck in your business. 
Thanks for being a risktaker and an entrepreneur.
    By the way, let me say something about entrepreneurs. I'm violating 
the Laura rule; I'm talking too much. [Laughter] But I think the salient 
points are--and I know they keep popping in my head; we'll find out how 
salient they are--in order for the entrepreneurial spirit to remain 
strong in America, public policy must encourage more savings. The more 
people save, the more capital is available; the more capital available, 
the more investment is available; and the more investment available, the 
more growth there will be; the more growth there will be, the more jobs 
there will be. The idea of encouraging personal savings accounts will 
make more capital available to a system, and the entrepreneurial spirit 
will be stronger, not weaker. And that's another benefit of encouraging 
personal accounts.
    Our final participant, Terri Walter.
    Terri Walter. Yes.
    The President. That's you. [Laughter]
    Ms. Walter. That's my name.
    The President. Thanks for coming.
    Ms. Walter. You're welcome. Thank you for having me.
    The President. She has the hardest job in America, being a single 
mom.
    Ms. Walter. Single mother.
    The President. Thanks for coming. Single mother to whom?
    Ms. Walter. His name is Colin. He's 3. He'll be 4 next month.
    The President. Great. Better than being 2, I guess, isn't it? 
[Laughter]
    Ms. Walter. Maybe not.
    The President. Maybe not--well, just wait for teenager. [Laughter] 
You are concerned about Social Security.
    Ms. Walter. I am. I am--I will graduate next month with my master's 
degree as a physician assistant.
    The President. Awesome, thank you. Congratulations.

[Ms. Walter made further remarks.]

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    The President. That's the spirit of personal accounts. That's the 
spirit of a single mom saying, ``Can Government make it easier for me to 
do my duty, not only make sure that I can survive in the older years 
but, also, will I have an asset to pass on to Colin?'' It's really what 
it's all about, isn't it, encouraging ownership and assets to pass on 
from one generation to the next.
    Let me ask you something--401(k)--people know, of course, what that 
is, right--401(k), it's a common term now. Everybody understands what a 
401(k) is. That wasn't always the case. It wasn't all that long ago that 
you said ``401(k)'' and people thought you were talking numbers and one 
letter out of the alphabet and that's all it meant. Let me ask you 
something. When you first got your 401(k), was it hard to invest?

    Ms. Walter. No, not a lot. There's a lot of guidance in it. You're 
given options between stocks and bonds and it's made very clear at the 
setup, at the beginning, and very little to do after that.

    The President. You see, that's really important for people to 
understand. You hear this, you know, ``Oh, maybe it's too hard for some 
in our society to invest.'' That's kind of the old attitude that only a 
certain kind of person can invest. ``Maybe it's too difficult.'' It's 
not too difficult. Matter of fact, it's quite--it's made quite easy.

    Ms. Walter. Yes, it is.

    The President. And you get quarterly statements?

    Ms. Walter. Absolutely. You can follow--that's the empowering part. 
You can see what you're doing with your money.

    The President. Yes, how about that. Don't we want that throughout 
all society, the idea of people opening a quarterly statement? I can 
think of a couple of positive things when somebody opens up their own 
savings and says, ``I want to see how my assets are doing.'' One is, it 
will cause you to pay attention to what Government is doing. All of a 
sudden, tax policy, spending policy, debt policy--all of a sudden it 
makes a lot more sense to you if the effects of Government affect your 
asset base. Secondly, I think it makes a lot of sense for people just to 
watch things grow. And we want that extended throughout our society.
    I love the idea of Terri Walter saying to the President, ``I'm 
comfortable about making investments.'' And that's what planners and 
policymakers in Washington must understand. This is an empowering idea. 
This enriches a person's life. This is a way to make the system work 
better for Terri Walter, who's got the hardest job in America, raising 
her son, Colin. And she just said in camera, ``I'm not worried about 
making the investments; they make it quite simple.'' But what she 
doesn't want, I presume, is her money not earning a rate of return that 
she can get like she's getting in her 401(k).

    Ms. Walter. Exactly.

    The President. Yes, see, there we go. I hope people are listening 
carefully to this discussion and the dialog that's taking place. We've 
got people from all aspects of our society sitting here on stage saying 
to those of us who have been charged with the responsibility of taking 
on tough problems, ``Get after it now, before it's too late.'' And 
people are saying, ``Trust us with our own money. Give us a chance to 
build up our own assets, earn a better rate of return,'' so that when it 
comes time for younger Americans to retire, the retirement system works 
better for them.
    The safety net works for our seniors. The safety net is in place for 
those who are receiving a check today; you have nothing to worry about. 
There's a hole in the safety net for a generation to come. And our 
charge and our duty is to mend that hole in the safety net so that the 
American people will say, ``Job well done. You did what we expected you 
to do and reformed Social Security for generations to come.''
    Thanks for coming. God bless. God bless our country.

Note: The President spoke at 9:05 a.m. in the Kiva Auditorium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Robert C. Pozen, former member, President's 
Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

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