Jim Inhofe: “I will make this very brief, because several questions have come up concerning Social Security. I think it is a very…”

“I will make this very brief, because several questions have come up concerning Social Security. I think it is a very critical thing. I happen to have been privileged to be presiding yesterday when the distinguished Senator from Wyoming, the senior Senator, Senator Simpson, who is the chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee and, I think we all agree, is the authority in this body on Social Security--he is here and will be responding to these questions in a much more informed and eloquent way than I would be able to respond to them. But I do have to respond to a few things that have been said by both my good friend, the Senator from North Dakota, and the Senator from Kentucky. First of all, it was implied--I am sure it was not intentional--that I was only concerned about Republican grandchildren. Obviously, we are all concerned about our own. I opened my remarks yesterday on the floor making a reference to Senator Simon, who had talked about Nicholas Simon, his grandchild. I said I know he is just as emotionally involved with his children and grandchildren as I am, and Democrats are as much as Republicans. I hope that is understood. But, when the distinguished Senator from North Dakota used the example of government control, with the rats eating the bread laced with arsenic, certainly if I had been there at the time I would have strongly supported an effort to stop these types of abuses and these types of unsanitary practices from taking place.”