Wilson Calls on Congress to Strengthen Social Security

Today, Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) made the following remarks from the House floor: "Mr. Speaker, I rise today in appreciation of President Bush seeking to strengthen our Social Security system," said Wilson. "When Social Security was conceived in the mid-1930's, the average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 60. Today, the average American life expectancy is over 77. Americans are now receiving benefits over longer periods of time because they are living longer.""Our Social Security system is financially broken, outdated, and unable to meet the retirement needs of our children and grandchildren. If we fail to act now, we'll burden further generations with dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing, or sudden and severe cuts to Social Security benefits or other government programs.""In 1998, President Bill Clinton said ‘My fellow baby boomers, let me say that none of us wants our own retirement to be a burden to our children and to their efforts to raise our grandchildren.' Seven years later, we still have not solved the problems facing Social Security. Congress must act soon to provide younger Americans with retirement choices and strengthen benefits for today's retirees. We need to fix the system now once and for all.""In conclusion, God bless our troops and we will never forget September 11th."