Angie Craig: “no program of the Federal Government is being exempted. These are not Federal programs. These are independent entities…”

“no program of the Federal Government is being exempted. These are not Federal programs. These are independent entities that are known as quasigovernmental because it took a Federal act to create them. They are not on budget. They have never been on budget. This is the same report language that was filed a year ago and 3 years ago as we worked this very issue. So I appreciate your concern because I, too, strongly believe exactly the way the Senator from California believes--that the trust fund of the Social Security system should never be used to balance the budget. I have one of these entities in my area known as the Bonneville Power Administration. We do not establish their budget here. You have never voted on it. Neither have I. They are a Federal power-marketing agency. They establish their budget just exactly the way the Senator from Illinois said--by rates, and by rate increases if they need to increase their budgets. They have but one obligation to the Senate and to the Government of our country, and that is to return a revenue, based on their debt obligation. That becomes part of this revenue flow that becomes part of the budget. That is not even like Social Security. Social Security does not return a revenue to the Government following an expenditure. It is a tax flowing in to service the obligations of Social Security and Social Security recipients.”