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At Work in Congress |
Keeping Social Security Strong: |
Our nation's elderly have devoted their working lives to
build our country into the world leader it is today. They have fought wars
to preserve our freedom. They have tilled the land, built our roads, and
constructed our schools. Ensuring a secure and comfortable retirement for
older Americans is one of our fundamental national responsibilities.
Social Security is the cornerstone of our national commitment to older Americans.
Created in 1935, the Social Security program has lifted millions of Americans
from poverty and allowed millions more to maintain independent and financially
secure lives during their retirement years. Despite its successes, Social Security
faces serious challenges in the years ahead. Demographic changes are undermining
the financial underpinnings of the Social Security system. Today, older Americans
are living longer than ever. At the same time, growth in the labor force is declining.
The demographic changes that are occurring in the United States mean that in
future years there will be more retirees but relatively fewer workers to pay
for their benefits. With a concerted effort, we can surmount these challenges.
In addressing the future solvency of Social Security, Congress will have many
different proposals to consider. Some of those proposals would dismantle the
basic foundation of the program.
While changes are necessary to guarantee Social Security's long-term solvency,
reform should not be used as an excuse to decimate the structure of a program
that has ensured a secure and independent retirement for millions of Americans.
I will continue to work with my colleagues to protect the interests of working
Americans preparing for retirement as well as the principles of fairness and
security for our older loved ones.
As a United States Senator, John Kerry has consistently fought for measures
to protect the retirement security of America's senior citizens and keep
Social Security strong. In recent years, those efforts have focused on
reserving Social Security's surplus revenue exclusively for the use of
the Social Security program.
Senator Kerry has fought against efforts to raid the Social Security
trust funds for unrelated purposes, including tax cuts and spending
increases.
In the late 1990s, it became clear that efforts taken in 1993 to reduce the
federal deficit were having a substantial impact on the budget outlook. Perhaps
the most important Social Security vote in the last 10 years was the vote to
pass the historic 1993 deficit reduction plan. In 1993, without a single Republican
vote, Senator Kerry and a Democratic Congress passed a monumental budget plan
to reverse the course of deficit spending. From 1992 through 1998, the federal
unified budget went from a $290 billion deficit to a $69 billion surplus. Much
of those gains were related to surpluses in the Social Security program. In
1999, the federal government ran its first surplus, excluding Social Security,
since the 1950s. With the federal budget outlook reversed substantially from
the early 1990s, Senator Kerry recognized an opportunity to strengthen Social
Security for the long-term.
Throughout the late 1990s, Senator Kerry was a strong supporter of Senate Democratic
budget resolutions designed to "Save Social Security First." Under
the Democratic plan, only after they had put Social Security on a sound financial
footing for the new century would Congress and the President consider using any
remaining surpluses for tax relief or other initiatives. Democrats recognized
that projected budget surpluses were far from certain. On the other hand, Congressional
Republicans immediately proposed using projected surpluses to pay for new tax
breaks, directly contradicting Senate Democrats' call to protect and strengthen
our nation's retirement security program.
As a fiscal conservative, Senator Kerry also recognized that any surpluses should
be used to reduce the national debt. That, in itself, would contribute to protecting
Social Security by reducing the size of the national debt that would exist at
the time the baby boom generation retires and the Social Security trust fund
begins to pay out more than it receives.
In addition, Senator Kerry has consistently supported attempts to remove Social
Security from general budget calculations so that the trust fund surpluses would
not mask the size of budget deficits or artificially inflate the size of budget
surpluses.
For several years, before new wartime demands altered the budget picture, Senator
Kerry supported a real Social Security lockbox to protect the Social Security
program from raids on its resources. Senator Kerry opposed Republican efforts
to pass a phony Social Security lockbox that did nothing for Medicare, did not
adequately protect Social Security, and established annual public debt limits
that risked default. He opposed Republican efforts to include a trap door in
lockbox legislation-any legislation that Republicans label "Social Security
reform" could use Social Security surpluses for any number of purposes unrelated
to paying Social Security benefits, including privatizing Social Security or
paying for tax cuts.
In December of 2001, the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security
unveiled its recommendations for Social Security reform. All of the recommendations
endorsed a partial privatization of the program. While Senator Kerry is open
to considering various avenues of reform, provided they preserve and maintain
benefits for recipients, he believes it is fundamental that the reform effort
starts under a sound financial footing. For that to occur, Congress must resist
the temptation to spend Social Security surpluses on unrelated causes.
Social Security has made tremendous strides in combating poverty among America's
elderly. Forty-four million Americans receive Social Security benefits. Without
Social Security, 52 percent of America's elderly would be below the poverty level.
As a safety net for the nation's aged, widowed, orphaned, and disabled, Social
Security is a success story. Nevertheless, the retirement and disabled benefits
program faces serious tests in the years ahead. Demographic changes as our labor
force ages will continue to place new pressures on the Social Security program.
Senator John Kerry is wholeheartedly committed to protecting and strengthening
the cornerstone of our retirement security system and looks forward to meeting
Social Security's challenges in the 21st century.
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