When I came to Congress in 1983, the Social Security system was
literally about to run out of money. Today, due to legislation
enacted by Congress, the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to
remain solvent for 33 years. This successful record shows that we can
extend the solvency of the program without imposing undue burdens on
seniors who can least afford it.
Social Security has been targeted in recent years by those who would
prefer to shift trillions of dollars worth of retirement accounts to
Wall Street. Some of these proposals focus on privatizing the program without owning up to the enormous cost of the transition to private
accounts. In particular, every privatization proposal assumes large
benefit cuts in the guaranteed portion of Social Security. Any reform
proposal must ensure that Social Security is preserved and
strengthened so that an adequate minimum benefit will be available to
future retirees. We also must keep our commitment to workers who
become severely disabled and for the families of workers who die
young. Reform should not be borne on the backs of lower-income
workers and should ensure that women, who move in and out of the
workforce more frequently than men, are not disproportionately hurt by
changes in Social Security.
Social Security will be financially solvent until 2041. To ensure that Social Security will be able to provide needed retirement
security for future generations, I would consider increasing the
amount of revenue going into the trust fund. Currently, Social
Security taxes are applied only to the first $102,000 in income.
Requiring higher-income individuals to contribute more to Social
Security should be considered as an option in the debate over how to
strengthen this vital program's financial standing.
