The Time to Act is Now

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

	Welcome to the National Dialogue on Social Security.  I am pleased
to participate in this important online forum for the American people to
explore Social Security reform.

	Social Security is one of the best things about America.  It is a
simple contract -- you work hard all your life, you pay into the Social
Security Trust Fund, and your benefits are there for you or your family when
retirement comes. But as almost everyone recognizes, Social Security is
headed for crisis.  When the Social Security Act was first enacted in 1935,
42 workers supported each retiree.  Today, there are only 3.3 worker per
retiree, and by 2040, there will be fewer than two workers to pay the
benefits of each retiree. By the time today's fifty-year-olds retire, Social
Security benefits will cost more than the Social Security taxes taken in
during that year.  And then as the Trust Funds shrink, other critical needs
like medical care and national defense will suffer.  Worst of all, if we do
nothing, within about thirty years, today's workers and retirees who are
expecting their hard-earned Social Security benefits may be empty-handed,
and the tax burden on our grandchildren will be insurmountable.  

	There IS a way to save Social Security, without raising taxes and
without cutting benefits.  But time is running out.  The longer we wait, the
taller the obstacles and the greater the costs.   Clearly, the time to
reform is now.  As I said before, Social Security is one of the greatest
things about America, and I want to keep it that way.   


E. Clay Shaw, Jr.
Member of Congress