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WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SECURITY
STATEMENT

More than three years ago at the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, the resolution receiving the most votes from the delegates was entitled "Keeping Social Security sound, now and for the future." This resolution, one of 50 adopted by the 2,259 bipartisan delegates previewed many of the issues that are now front and center in the debate on Social Security and its future. It called for the reaffirmation of Social Security as a social insurance program, it called for an ongoing national education program to provide the public especially the younger generations with accurate information on Social Security and its future. Above all, the resolution called for exactly what the President has embarked on, a campaign to put all options for Social Security's future on the table for a thorough discussion and not in a panic environment.

President Clinton, in calling the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, stressed that aging needed to be viewed in the context of a process that affects all generations and that aging policy decisions must be intergenerational. Decisions made about the future of Social Security have to take into account their impact on future generations. Now, three years later, a White House Conference on Social Security is convened to do just that.

Within the past year, a new organization was established called the Boomer Agenda. It is the first bi-partisan political action and issue advocacy group created by boomers for boomers and their families. The Boomer Agenda is currently conducting a national survey of boomers to determine what their top concerns are. The future of Social Security has consistently ranked as the top concern from the preliminary results received to date. It is important that this White House conference and all subsequent activities undertaken by the Administration and the Congress take into account the concerns and views of boomers. The reality is that all boomers will reach age 65 by the time that Social Security faces the most severe crisis - its inability to pay full benefits. As various approaches are presented, their impact on boomers must be evaluated or we will not achieve the critical generational equity so important for real Social Security reform.

In addition to the need for generational fairness, Social Security reform must also be far more gender sensitive. Women, especially older women, have encountered years of discrimination at the hands of Social Security. That must end. Further, any Social Security reform for today or tomorrow must have a strong safety net of guaranteed benefits for the very poor, for a foundation before anything else. The reality of today and tomorrow is for millions of Americans, Social Security is their only source of income. They will not be indulging in the speculative world of privatization but they must be protected from its risks.

As the President has stated, each year real Social Security reform is delayed, the more expensive it gets for the individual and the nation. We need to approach this challenge neither from a state of panic nor a state of complacency. The final Congress of the 20th Century working with the last President of the 20th Century should commit to the preservation and strengthening of Social Security, the greatest social program of the 20th century so it can continue.

Submitted by:
Robert B. Blancato
Executive Director, 1995 White House Conference on Aging
Founder, Boomer Agenda

December 3, 1998

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