Chuck Hagel: “when I began my first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1995, I published a booklet entitled ``Where I Stand.'' I wrote it…”

“when I began my first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1995, I published a booklet entitled ``Where I Stand.'' I wrote it because the first obligation of a candidate is to tell voters what you believe. In that booklet, I wrote: The Social Security system must be preserved, protected, and improved. We have made this covenant with our senior citizens. However, the long-term future of the Social Security system is in peril. If we do not get this issue resolved soon, this Nation faces an entitlement disaster, eroding the trust between grandchildren and grandparents. We must explore every option in order to fix and strengthen our Social Security system. This will require bold leadership. A decade later, those words still define my position on Social Security. Social Security has been one of the most important and successful Government programs in the history of America. Almost every American family over the last 70 years has been touched by Social Security. In signing the Social Security Act of 1935, Franklin Roosevelt said: None of the sums of money paid out to individuals in assistance or insurance will spell anything approaching abundance. But they will furnish that minimum necessity to keep a foothold, and that is the kind of protection Americans want. A fundamental point that President Roosevelt made was that Social Security was not intended to replace the personal responsibility of individuals saving for and preparing for their own retirements.”