Sununu, Gregg Rally Support for Social Security Reform
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg joined other members of Congress at a press conference Wednesday to rally support for a bicameral, bipartisan effort to reform Social Security, and Gregg announced plans to introduce such a bill.
Born in 1947, Gregg said he and other “baby boomers”—who will begin retiring as early as 2008—will force Social Security to run a cash flow deficit by the year 2017 because of the generation’s size.
“The practical effect of this is that my children are going to have to use up their disposable income in order to support my generation, and that’s wrong,” Gregg said. “Both in the health care area and in the Social Security area our generation is going to take such a large chunk of money out of our children’s pockets that they’re going to have trouble living a decent lifestyle . . . , and that’s unfair to that generation.”
Instead of raising taxes or cutting benefits, Gregg said House and Senate leaders must start now “to give young people the opportunity to save and own the assets which they save” – a provision that does not exist under the current Social Security system.
While Gregg did not disclose specific provisions of the bill, he said he was looking for Senate Democrats to join him in introducing it. Gregg also said the bill “will play off” the work he has done with Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas). The four were co-chairmen of the National Commission on Retirement Policy.
“We need responsible voices on both sides now on this issue if we’re going to move forward, because we can only move forward in a bipartisan way,” Gregg said. “I think it’s one of the great success stories of our society that we have a way for people to retire with dignity and respect.”
Sununu said congressional supporters of the reform effort recognize the difficulty of the issue, but added, “We cannot take that approach.”
“As the president said last night, we can’t leave this challenge or any other challenge that’s so important to a future generation or a future Congress, or future presidents,” Sununu said. “We have to throw ourselves into it and do our best to begin the debate, to begin working on legislation to make a difference to future generations and strengthen and modernize social security.”
Along with Kolbe and Stenholm, the New Hampshire senators also were joined by Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Allan Boyd (D-Fla.) and Sam Johnson (R-Texas).
“It’s exciting to be able to stand up here with a pretty goodsized group,” Sununu said. “We’re gathering and we’re gaining momentum, and it’s great to see that this is still a priority for the president of the United States,” he said, referring to Bush’s comments on Social Security in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The president devoted two sentences of his 5,413-word speech to the issue of Social Security—a 100 percent increase from last year’s address, Stenholm joked—saying the government must keep Social Security “sound and reliable,” as well as “offer younger workers the chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.”
Sununu and Gregg agreed that Social Security reform would have a positive effect on all Americans, including New Hampshire citizens, and added that any new legislation would not adversely affect current retirees.
“I think the people in New Hampshire understand the importance of Social Security modernization and health care modernization,” Sununu said. “I also think most voters understand we’re not talking about changing the program for retirees.”
Evelyn Morton, a senior legislative representative for AARP, said she agreed with the congressmen’s goal of achieving Social Security reform through bipartisan leadership.
“The American people recognize that it’s so important, it’s the only lifetime, annually-adjusted-for-inflation program that they have,” Morton said in a telephone interview.
“AARP believes that we’ve got to have investment as an important component in retirement security, but we’ve got to have a package that also has the approval of the American people.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
