Doris Matsui: “I am frankly kind of perplexed today. We came into session on Friday, now, and we are taking up one bill, and that bill…”

“I am frankly kind of perplexed today. We came into session on Friday, now, and we are taking up one bill, and that bill is to extend the Portman-Cardin pension legislation. Here we had Secretary Paul O'Neill, just 2 days ago, say that on June 28 of this year, next week, the Federal Government will reach a debt crisis. Because what is going to happen is we are going to meet the debt ceiling, and we are not going to be able to pay Social Security checks or veterans checks or meet our obligations. At a time when most Americans are saying, what is the status of our Social Security benefit, because the President went out and scared everybody by wanting to privatize Social Security, we should be bringing up the Republican proposals to privatize Social Security so we can at least find out before November where Members stand and what their values are when it comes to income security for senior citizens. We should bring a prescription drug bill that really does benefit senior citizens instead of the bill that passed at 2 a.m. in the Committee on Ways and Means Tuesday night and is still being worked upon in the Committee on Energy and Commerce. But, instead, we are taking up a pension bill. A pension bill. What is ironic about this pension bill is that whatever we do today will not take effect until the year 2011, 9 years from now.”