JOHN CARTER

Last week I introduced a bill that will protect Social Security, especially for the millions of Baby Boomers who will soon be receiving retirement benefits.  The Social Security Protection Act will prohibit illegal aliens from receiving Social Security benefits for time they were in the country illegally.�
If we give millions of illegal aliens Social Security benefits, there is no doubt—Social Security will go broke.  That is why I introduced this bill to ensure that Social Security is protected for the millions of Americans who have legally earned their benefits.�
Baby Boomers are quickly approaching retirement, and we are already working on solutions that will ensure that Social Security is available for future generations.  Now is not the time to increase the burden on the Social Security system by allowing the more than ten million illegal immigrants to receive benefits for the time they worked in our country illegally.
It is important to note that I believe that individuals should have access to Social Security on the wages they earn once they are in the U.S. legally.  But as a Judge for 20 years,  I simply cannot support giving people benefits for breaking the law.�
 

Specifically, my bill:
 

Ø      Prohibits Social Security from paying out benefits to any US Citizen for wages earned while said US Citizen was illegally in the United States.
 

Ø      Instructs the Commissioner of Social Security to recompute all existing benefits to account for any Social Security taxes paid while working without authorization.  This language will not require repayment of benefits already paid at the previous rate.
 

You might also be interested to know that for tax year 2003, even after 2 years of scrubbing the data, the Earnings Suspense File still contains 8.8 million W-2s, representing $57.8 billion in wages that cannot be accounted for.  The average illegal household pays $1,687 into Social Security and receives $289 annually: a net gain of $1,398 annually per household – this amounts to around $5 billion total added to the Social Security coffers.  If illegal immigrants suddenly gain access to these funds, it will endanger the solvency of Social Security for millions of legal American citizens.

Last night the President presented his new plan for the path ahead in Iraq.  I want to commend the President for taking a careful and deliberative approach to unveiling his new strategy in Iraq.  He has listened to the needs of the generals and commanders in the field and has developed a plan that will lead to success in Iraq.
 

If the Commander-in-Chief and the commanders on the ground in Iraq say our troops need more bullets to achieve victory, then we should give them more bullets.  If they say they need more body armor, then we need to give them more body armor.  If they say they need more boots on the ground, then we need to give them more boots on the ground.�
 

As the Congressman for the largest military installation in the world, Fort Hood, I will always work to protect and support our men and women in uniform.
 

It is wrong for the Democrats to say they support the troops if they won’t give them the boots on the ground they need to achieve victory.

My thoughts and prayers are with Betty Ford and the entire family as they mourn the loss of President Gerald Ford. 

I was honored to have attended the funeral and show my respect for our 38th President at the National Cathedral yesterday.  I was also very touched by President Bush’s kindness in escorting Betty Ford into the National Cathedral.  

We know now that Gerald Ford, the everyman, was what we needed to move the country back to where we believed in ourselves again. 

I had the honor to meet President Ford on two occasions.  He was a good and humble man and President.  Ford came in under tough circumstances.  But I’ll tell you what—I’d take two years of Gerald Ford over four years of Jimmy Carter any day.