RE: Impressive Consensus

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

In the last Congress the Ways and Means Committee held 11 hearings under the
title "The Future of Social Security for this Generation and the Next" in
which they heard from hundreds of witnesses.  Since January the new Congress
has held a number of additional hearings, featuring Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan, partisans like Jesse Jackson and Jack Kemp and policy
experts from the Administration as well as Social Security Administration
officials.

The plan I offered this week in conjuction with the Chairman of the Social
Security Subcommittee represents our best effort to synthesize the many
different perspectives and views from across the political spectrum and both
parties.  Just yesterday, the Social Security Administration itself, after
reviewing my proposal to reform Social Security agreed it would keep the
program solvent for more than 75 years and may also allow payroll reductions
after the baby boomer generation has retired.  On top of that, the Joint
Taxation Committee this week reviewed the plan and said that 63% of it's
benefit would go to workers making less than $50,000.  The Archer/Shaw plan
represents years of hearings and bipartisan analysis concludes that it will
save Social Security for at least 75 years without raising taxes or cutting
benefits.

Congress has done its job--the ball is now in the President's court.  The
President must step forward and signal his willingness to meet with me and
begin the process of finally arriving at a bipartisan agreement which we can
then bring to the country, assuming he doesn't sign onto the Archer/Shaw
proposal immediately.  

I honestly believe that in holding more than two years worth of hearings,
listening to the President's guidelines and consulting virtually every
expert in the nation and around the world, we have talked this issue out.
The President has a plan and I have a plan--it's his move as to whether we
move forward.

For a look at the entire Social Security Actuaries report and many other
documents that pertain to the Archer/Shaw Guarantee Plan see:  

www.house.gov/archer/social_security/index.html

Bill Archer