Political Quotes

“I wonder if I could detain the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire for just a moment to say how very much I agree, and I am sure this side agrees, with the points he has made, as the chairman has indicated. In August of 1994, legislation reestablished the Social Security Administration as an independent agency. It had all but got lost in the Department of Health and Human Services. In the Congressional Directory there were more than 200 names between the name of the Secretary and the name of the Social Security Commissioner. It was very much an agency far down and with no real independence. It is now an independent agency. It has a trustees' report that comes out every year--the trustees being the Secretaries of the Treasury, of Labor, of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Social Security and two public trustees. It has the Social Security Advisory Board. Now, after many years, we are sending out each year to every citizen over 25 a statement of how much they have paid into the system and what they could expect to receive as a benefit at the age of retirement and such like--information nobody ever had before. You could get it, but you had to know where to look for it. The kind of openness Senator Gregg speaks of continues this disposition. I hope we will reinforce it. I certainly think we could have language in our report commenting in this regard. I congratulate the Senator for what he has said.”