Orrin Hatch: “a few weeks ago I came to the floor to discuss the situation surrounding President Obama's nominees to serve as public…”

“a few weeks ago I came to the floor to discuss the situation surrounding President Obama's nominees to serve as public trustees on the board of trustees for the various Social Security and Medicare trust funds. At that time, I noted that these nominations had become the center of a political firestorm. Sadly, that firestorm has continued in the weeks since I last spoke about this issue. While I have little desire to delve into what is a manufactured controversy, I do want to take some time to note how some events taking place this week should impact this particular debate. Tomorrow, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees will release their annual reports, providing their assessment of the past, present, and projected future financial conditions of the trust funds. For decades, these reports have largely been devoid of politics, which is important because it allows policymakers and the general public to trust the numbers that are reported. Currently, there are four senior Obama administration officials who serve as trustees on these various Boards. There are also two positions for public trustee--one from each party according to the law--that are currently vacant. While it is not unheard of for the Boards to issue their reports without confirmed public trustees in place, this administration has issued more trustees' reports with vacancies in the public trustee positions than any other administration.…”