Elijah Lewis: “Mr. Speaker, this debate reminds me of an old gospel song, ``Ninety- nine and a Half Won't Do.'' The song tells us that…”

“Mr. Speaker, this debate reminds me of an old gospel song, ``Ninety- nine and a Half Won't Do.'' The song tells us that when you believe in a cause, when you truly believe, you have to give 100 percent; ninety- nine and a half won't do. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to Social Security, when it comes to our workers and the elderly, ninety-nine and a half won't do. And if ninety-nine and a half won't do, then 90 percent just won't do. My Republican colleagues want a tax cut, but they do not want to pay for it. So what do they do? They raid the Social Security trust fund; they steal from our workers and our seniors. They take 10 percent, and then they brag that they let the elderly keep 90 percent of their own money. They brag that they left 90 percent of the money in the Social Security trust fund. Mr. Speaker, 90 percent just won't do. How can you do this to the old? How can you do this to our workers, hard working American families that have paid into the Social Security trust fund for 30 and 40 years? Now Republicans want to give them 90 cents on the dollar. Mr. Speaker, 90 percent just won't do. Democrats, my side of the aisle, will accept no compromise when it comes to the savings and the retirement of American working families. Every penny paid in the Social Security trust fund must be used to save Social Security first.”