A Door to Strengthening Social Security

Because of our current strong economy, we in Congress have a historic opportunity to strengthen Social Security while also giving money back to taxpayers.

For the first time in decades, we’re looking at several years of almost certain federal budget surpluses. We have a door open to us that, if we’re willing to walk through it, can lead to retirement security while lightening our daily load today.

I am heartened that the congressional leadership has embraced a concept I have proposed for years: truth in budgeting, which would remove Social Security and other trust funds from the general budget. Once separated, we must make sure trust funds are never again raided to pay for unrelated federal programs.

There is also a growing bipartisan consensus to use 62% of the true budget surplus to pay back the approximately $700 billion that has been raided from the fund.

But these steps alone will not “save” Social Security. They will only prolong the inevitable. Social Security will still be bankrupt in 2032. What we need is real reform. With that in mind, Congress has asked the White House for a comprehensive plan for consideration and has reserved the first bill number of the year to signify its importance.

A congressional resolution passed last week calls for equal treatment for minorities, low-income workers and across generations; recognizes the unique obstacles women face in retirement; protects guaranteed lifetime benefits for those in the system or near retirement; and does not raise taxes. With a plan in place to buy us time to fix the fund, the question becomes: What do we do with the rest of the surplus?

Some of it, I believe, must be used to rebuild our military. President Clinton has deployed our troops into action more often than any other commander in chief in history. These deployments have seriously affected readiness, supplies and morale. Couple that with real defense budget cuts and we have a real problem. The trend must be reversed if we are to continue to meet the world’s dangers.

There is also near universal agreement to help the states and local school districts shore up their educational systems. These critical areas concern most Americans.

But we shouldn’t spend all the surplus just because we have it. Our government has collected more money than it needs to function. It is duty-bound to return it. The Census Bureau reports that the average household pays $9,445 in federal income taxes today--twice what it paid in 1985. The government didn’t work for that money; you and your neighbors did.

The congressional majority hasn’t settled on a specific plan to reimburse hard-working Americans, but it has committed to cutting tax rates by 10% or more for middle-class Americans. That means an average savings of $455 for four out of five middle-income families, or enough to pay about six months of an average family’s utility bills or buy a year’s worth of clothes for a school-age child.

I have already sponsored and co-sponsored some bills this session to provide tax relief to middle-class Americans. Among them: The Teacher Investment and Enhancement Act, which would provide tax credits for teachers receiving education in the fields they teach; the Death Tax Elimination Act, which would phase out estate and gift taxes and allow family businesses to be handed down; and the Marriage Tax Elimination Act, which would give a two-wage-earner family as large a tax credit as two single taxpayers.

Social Security can be strengthened while giving taxpayers back some of their wealth. I believe our country will be stronger if we do.