Doris Matsui: “Mr. Speaker, I might just point out that when Ronald Reagan was President from 1981 to 1988, and George Bush, the first…”

“Mr. Speaker, I might just point out that when Ronald Reagan was President from 1981 to 1988, and George Bush, the first George Bush, was President from 1988 to 1992, they dipped into the Social Security trust fund; but it was not anywhere near what we are talking about now. What we are really talking about now is, on the 10-year projections under current spending and tax policy, we are going to dip into Social Security by the sum of $1.7 trillion. If we do the estate tax, which the Republicans want to extend, defense authorization, the farm bill, which has been completed, it will add $3.2 trillion in terms of dipping into the Social Security trust fund. We are going to break the bank for our senior citizens when it comes to the retirement benefits that they expect to get. The police officers, the firefighters that are paying payroll taxes right into that trust fund right now, they do not realize that it is going out in the form of estate tax payments, in the form of farm support payments, in the form of so-called marriage penalty. I have to say that I find it inexplicable today that we are spending 3 hours today on this issue.”