Political Quotes

“I do not believe the Senator from New Hampshire used the word ``privatization.'' My colleagues will not hear me use the term ``privatization.'' Privatization intimates to the American public that we are going to abandon the current Social Security system and turn it over to completely private accounts, which is not what any proposal on this side of the aisle or what the President's commission suggested. What the President's commission suggested, what every bill over on this side of the aisle proposes--and, by the way, joined in a bipartisan fashion and has historically been a bipartisan issue--is to take a portion of the contribution that comes into the Social Security Administration and give people the option voluntarily to establish a personal retirement account to be part of their Social Security benefit which continues to be guaranteed as it is, as much as it is, under current law. So let's understand that we are still talking about the foundation of this system being the same. What we are talking about is trying to solve the problem, a problem that my two colleagues on the other side of the aisle did not address.”