John B. Breaux: “Today Senator Roth and I are introducing the Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1997. We have introduced this bill…”

“Today Senator Roth and I are introducing the Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1997. We have introduced this bill in past Congresses but it is even more timely now as the pressure builds to secure the retirement of the baby boomers. The facts are staring us in the face. Within 30 years one out of every five Americans will be over 65. The baby boomers are 76 million strong, doubling the number of Social Security beneficiaries by the year 2040. At the same time, Social Security outlays will begin out pacing Social Security receipts in 2013 and the Social Security trust fund will be bankrupt in 2029 if we don't take the necessary steps to preserve it. And our national savings rate is only 1 percent of GDP. This is one-half of what it was in 1970. By comparison, we save half as much as the Germans and one-third as much as the Japanese. This is a serious problem. We need to address it by reducing the budget deficit and eliminating the drain it places on our national savings but we need to address it in other ways, as well. The Super IRA bill makes changes in the rules governing IRA's that will expand the availability of the IRA as a savings vehicle. The income caps will be eliminated over a 5-year period. Our bill creates a new kind of IRA that allows taxpayers to earn tax-free income.”