Date: 2002-05-23
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: S
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise today to decry Republican efforts to use pariiamentary gimmickry to sneak through a way to raise our Nations debt ceiling. We all know that the only reason that we are even discussing this increase to the Nations debt is that the Republican economic. plan has failed us. So now. the Republicans are refusing to face the music about the consequences of their trilliondollar tax cut for the wealthy. The Majority doesnt seem to want to be held accountableso they are trying to bury this debt increase in our Nations military supplemental spending bill. In other words. the Majority wants to run up this Nations debt to even greater heights without an open debate. and without an upanddown vote on this issue. Mr. Chairman. this is an outrage! Now I cant say that I blame my Republican colleagues for wanting to avoid this issue. In January 2001. the Congressional Budget Office was projecting that our Nations debt ceiling of $5.95 trillion would last for the next six years or more. Unfortunately. the Republicans economic planand its tax cut for the wealthyput us right back in an era of deficits. So here we are. forced to borrow money to make our Nations ends meet. and forced to raise the Nations debt limit again. However. since my colleagues in the Republican party are trying to avoid discussing what increasing the debt limit will actually mean for America. Im here th point out the consequences that this vote will have on our Nations Social Security program. We have already squandered all of our surpluses. which means that all of the funds from this debt limit increase will come directly from the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. The future of our Nations most successful social program is in the balance. and we must let the American people know that the Republican leadership has put forth plans that could jeopardize the very system that so many Americans rely on: We all know that Social Security is a critical safety net for our Nations seniors. In my home state of Texas. one out of every ten residents depends on Social Security to provide vital income for themselves and their families. Nationwide. twothirds of our seniorswomen and men--count Social Security benefits as the majority of their income. We all know that it is women who have the greatest benefit from Social Security. We generally live longer. make less. and have smaller pensions than men do. These benefits are particularly important to women in Texas. Without these vital retirement benefits. SE H3029 564.000 women in the Lone Star State would fall below the poverty line. For African American and Hispanic women especially. this program is more than just retirement insurance. Women of color disproportionately rely on this system for its disability and widow benefits. Social Security is also a critical safety net that protects African American children. For all these reasons. I want to make sure that everyone knows just how much is at stake for our community when we talk about keeping Social Security strong. Right now. there are proposals before the Congress to alter the structure of Social Security. Yet. no one in the Republican leadership seems to be willing to talk about these plans. Sound familiar? No one on the other side of the aisle wants to talk about raising our Nations debt. either. Well. we Democrats are not going to let Republicans keep our Nation in the dark about this. We know that we must protect and strengthen Social Security. We know that America can be strong militarily without becoming weak economically. And we know that the American public deserves open debate on the financial future of our Nation.