Political Quotes

“Tomorrow's vote on the Social Security lock-box legislation will be a defining moment for the Senate. Members will be making an unequivocal statement about how they feel about the Social Security program: Do we truly believe Social Security's monies should be protected and preserved from spending raids? Or are we willing to allow Social Security monies to be treated as a 'piggy bank' that can be tapped and diverted to other federal programs? I think the answer to these questions should be obvious--and I believe the 99 Senators who voted on March 24 for an amendment calling for adoption of the lockbox provision during the consideration of the Senate's FY 2000 budget resolution have an obligation to uphold the commitment they made to protect Social Security's monies and vote for the lock-box proposal. Every Republican and every Democrat present voted for the substance of this proposal just a few short weeks ago and--accordingly--I hope they will vote to conclude debate tomorrow. The Administration's opposition to this legislation should come as no surprise, especially considering that President Clinton's FY 2000 budget proposal relied heavily on Social Security's surpluses to fund numerous other programs.”