Rod Grams: “I want to take time today to again talk about what I think is one of the most important issues facing Americans this…”

“I want to take time today to again talk about what I think is one of the most important issues facing Americans this year, and probably in the next few years; that is, what is the future of Social Security? How are we going to make sure we have a safe and sound retirement system not only for those on retirement today and those about to retire, but also for our children and our grandchildren? I have held around the State of Minnesota more than 50 townhall meetings trying to outline the problems facing Social Security today, and a plan I have introduced called the Personal Security and Wealth in Retirement Act, which would move from a pay-as-you-go system to a fully-funded, market-based personal retirement accounts. When you look back at the last 65 years of Social Security, it has basically done the job we have asked it to do; that is, to provide retirement benefits for millions of Americans. But if you look ahead to the next 30 years, the system has problems. It is facing some real problems. It is being strained to the limit. In fact, there will not be enough dollars collected in the system to pay the benefits the Government has promised. If the Congress does nothing, Social Security benefits will have to be reduced as much as one-third or more over the next 25 years. The biggest risk to Social Security is to do nothing.”