WALLY HERGER: “Mr. Speaker, for over 30 years, surplus dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund were raided and spent on unrelated…”

“Mr. Speaker, for over 30 years, surplus dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund were raided and spent on unrelated programs. Last year, this Congress took the first step towards stopping the raid on Social Security bypassing legislation I introduced, the Social Security lock box, by an overwhelming 416 to 12 vote. Our efforts paid off, and last year, not one penny of the $124 billion Social Security surplus was spent. But Social Security is not the only trust fund to be raided over the years. Over the next 5 years, taxpayers will pay an estimated $126 billion more into the Medicare trust fund part A which pays for in-patient hospital care than will be taken out for Medicare expenses. Without a Medicare lock box, those surpluses will be spent. Mr. Speaker, it is time to raise the bar and protect Medicare. The 40 million seniors and disabled in this Nation that depend on Medicare deserve to know that their Medicare money is not being spent on anything else. In March, I introduced the Medicare lock Box we are debating today.”