Kent Conrad: “we have votes scheduled to start at 1 o'clock. Is that correct? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.”

We all know that Social Security is going to have to be dealt with, or we are going to face by 2034 at the latest--many of us believe it will be earlier than that---an across-the-board 23-percent cut.

What is realistic is to deal with these changes in a way that does expand access, that does expand the opportunity for people to participate in a retirement plan at work.

We owe it to these men and women to strengthen our retirement system.

I think there is just a tremendous opportunity here, and I really applaud the two of you for doing this in a bipartisan way.