An Opportunity to Discuss Social Security

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

To the panel:

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the future
of Social Security reform.  As many of you may know, I have been
involved with many bipartisan efforts to enact responsible legislation
to strengthen the Social Security system for the 21st century.
With Senator John Breaux, Congressman Jim Kolbe, and Congressman
Charles Stenholm, I co-chaired the National Commission on Retirement
Policy, where we developed the groundbreaking 21st Century Retirement
Plan.  I have also chaired a number of task forces on the subject,
including the Senate Budget Committee Task Force on Social Security,
as well as the Senate Republican Task Force on Social Security.
Most recently, I have been involved with several weeks of negotiations
with other Senate reformers, in an effort to create a bipartisan
platform upon which legislative action can be built.  Last Thursday
a negotiated agreement was announced by myself, Senator John Breaux
(D-LA), Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA),
Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), Senator Chuck Robb (D-VA), and Senator
Craig Thomas (R-WY.) Listing the 7 Senators signing last Thursday's
agreement does not begin to measure the breadth and scope of these
negotiations.  We also consulted carefully with other offices,
ranging from Senators such as Pat Moynihan (D-NY) and Rick Santorum
(R-PA), to Congressmen Jim Kolbe and Charles Stenholm.  Although
we are still a long way from a responsible legislative solution to
Social Security's financing challenges, I believe that these
activities show that many legislators have the will to get the job
done, and are eager to work with the President to make this happen.

During these introductions, available space for substantive discussion
is limited.  However, I do wish to take this opportunity to state
that this is a precious opportunity for a full discussion, because
the subtleties of the Social Security issue often do not come
through in brief press reports.  Actuarial solvency is an important
question, but it is only one of many important questions.  We must
also concern ourselves with fairness for every income group and
birth cohort, as well as the size of the general budget revenues
that will be needed beginning in the year 2014 to finance the
program, and the size of the tax levels that we will bequeath to
future generations, both under current law and other a number of
possible alternatives.  These important considerations must not be
lost amid the admittedly important attention to questions of the
program's solvency.  The program must not only be able to meet its
intended objectives, but must also be handed down to future
generations in a form that can sustain political support.

Senator Judd Gregg