Paul Coverdell: “I rise today, joined by my good friends Senator Torricelli and Senator Abraham, to introduce legislation whose time I…”

“I rise today, joined by my good friends Senator Torricelli and Senator Abraham, to introduce legislation whose time I believe has clearly come. We are faced with a real crisis. That crisis is the state of personal savings, savings by families that let them prepare for the bumps in the road. Families are not saving, and I believe it is not happening because our government takes too much from them. A recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed that taxes on the American public are at their highest level since World War II. Too many middle-class families have been squeezed to the point where they live paycheck to paycheck without the option of saving for the future. Today, the Nation's economy remains the envy of the world. The United States has the first federal budget surplus in thirty years, unemployment is down and the stock market is up, but there are troubling signs on the horizon. Manufacturing activity slowed in December for the seventh straight month, dropping to its lowest level in almost eight years as global economic problems continued to hinder exports. At the same time, personal savings are at Depression-era lows. In 1982, families saved nine percent of their personal income. In 1992, it was between five and six percent. Last year, it was one-half of one percent and headed into the red. Personal savings is so important because it helps prepare families for any crisis that could occur, such as a health emergency or job loss.”