Joe Barton: “Mr. Speaker, I think we need to address directly what the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Bunning] has just talked about.…”

“Mr. Speaker, I think we need to address directly what the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Bunning] has just talked about. First of all, he is absolutely correct that Social Security is a very important program and a very special program. I want to point out that it is a Federal entitlement program. It is an earned entitlement program, but it is a Federal program, so it should be a part of any comprehensive enforcement mechanism. I would also point out that the caps on Social Security in our bill are not arbitrary caps. They are the estimates of spending on Social Security over the next 5 years that have been put into the bill by the President and the congressional leadership. There is nothing arbitrary about them at all. They are based on the very best estimates of a very well run program. I would also point out that under our procedure on Social Security, the President and the Congress have three options: They can vote to waive the cap on Social Security, if they want to; they can vote to make some programmatic changes in Social Security, if they want to; and only as a last resort would sequestration go into effect.”