Max Baucus: “the ancient text teaches: ``Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long and that it may go well with you…”

“the ancient text teaches: ``Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.'' And Paul noted that `` `Honor your father and mother' is the first commandment with a promise--`that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.' '' That's what Social Security is about. It is about honoring our fathers and our mothers. And like the commandment, Social Security also carries with it a promise. Social Security benefits not just our elders. It also benefits their children, and us all. Families throughout history have faced uncertainties, old age, disability, and death of the breadwinner. Before Social Security, the extended family provided what economic security they had. President Franklin Roosevelt described those times: In the early days of colonization and through the long years following the worker, the farmer, the merchant, the man of property, the preacher, and the idealist came here to build, each for himself, a stronghold for the things he loved.”