On the recordFebruary 28, 1994
I agree with Mr. Thompson. There is no issue, Mr. President, which raises the issue of intergenerational conflict more sharply than the question of Social Security. Social Security was enacted in the depths of the Depression with an important but simple goal, and that was to lift that group of Americans, older Americans, who had, to the largest extent of any group in our Nation, fallen into abject poverty, out of that poverty by providing them with an economic foundation for their retirement years. In my own State of Florida, Mr. President, during the 1930's, prior to Social Security, the State of Florida provided the great sum of $8 per month as the economic support for its indigent elderly. It was to give that group of Americans some security and respect that Social Security was adopted.
Source
govinfo.gov
