(2/14/98 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)
by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
During President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address on January 27, 1998, he made history by submitting to Congress the first balanced budget since the days of Lyndon B. Johnson. However, critics continue to find fault with his agenda which calls for addressing the basic needs of average working families.
Amid an unimpressed Republican majority, the president estimated a budget surplus of more than $10 billion for the fiscal year of 1999, which is projected to reach $90 billion by 2002. That surplus has sparked a heated debate among congressional members because of the president’s proposal to set aside the multi-billion-dollar budget surplus until Social Security has been strengthened and preserved for future generations. I have and always will be a staunch supporter of our Social Security program. Social Security must come first if we as Congressional legislators are going to live up to the expectations of our constituents. Many people are counting on us to protect a system so vital to their future as they grow older.
My predecessors promised the American people in 1940 that if they contributed to the Social Security system through taxes taken from their hard-earned pay, the government would guarantee the return of that money at a time when Americans need it the most. Ever since, the president and Congress have been charged with the continued commitment to preserve this nation’s retirement system. As a member of Congress, I say we must honor that commitment.
Today, retired members of our community depend on Social Security to provide them with a primary source of income or as a supplement to a small pension. Many elderly people worked long and hard for most of their lives and never made more than $25,000 a year as a salary. As a result, some of them retired without any other source of income but Social Security. Today, even though younger blacks are in a better financial position than those who led the way, the foundation for the Social Security system still is as important as it was more than 60 years ago -- to contribute to the well-being of Americans by providing retirement income and permitting seniors to live with dignity.
Opinion polls show that fewer than 50 percent of the American people are confident in Social Security’s ability to meet its long-range commitments. The American Association of Retired Persons has over 32 million members, and there are estimated to be 76 million baby boomers who have yet to join the ranks of retired people. With a projected increase of 75 percent by 2025 in the number of people who will reach the age of 65 and only a 15 percent rise in the number of workers expected to finance the Social Security system, there is no wonder that widespread skepticism concerning the retirement system’s future persists.
When Social Security was established in 1940, the life expectancy of an average 65-year-old was 13 more years. Today, life expectancy at 65 is 17 years. Unfortunately, those figures do not fully consider what happens in the African American community. On average, black males are not expected to live to retirement age. However, they contribute to a system from which they eventually do not benefit. On the other hand, the children of those men can benefit from their fathers’ years of employment. Workers receive insurance protection that provides benefits to them and their dependents if that worker becomes disabled or dies.
In fact, 38 percent of Social Security benefits under the Social Security Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program go not to retired workers, but to disabled workers, families of disabled workers and survivors of deceased workers. Eight percent of beneficiaries are children.
The welfare of those children who have lost a parent before the age of majority are even more of a reason to move toward building a more stable retirement system now. Currently, the Social Security system’s income is exceeding its expenses. However, the system’s board of trustees projects that over the next 75 years, its expenditures will exceed its income by 17 percent. Furthermore, by 2029 the system’s reserves -- currently $650 billion -- will be depleted.
Yet many of my Republican counterparts already are brainstorming on how to funnel the surpluses into massive tax cuts for the wealthy. They argue that there is no need to face this issue now, given the uncertainty of long-range forecasting. Yet unlike the Republicans, the Democrats are focusing on what’s best for America’s families not what’s best for America’s rich.
President Clinton’s budget request is based on sound fiscal policy and also emphasizes the need to invest in America’s children as well as technology and education. The keystone of the president’s budget strategy is that once the budget is in balance, any surplus should be reserved to protect the nation’s retirement system. By paying off a portion of the national debt, President Clinton’s objective can be accomplished. The president has called for a series of nonpartisan hearings to be held around the country during the year to publicly discuss the issues involved in his proposal, ending with a White House conference to be held in December 1998 with Congressional action following in 1999.
As we look toward a new millennium and our futures, we cannot turn a blind eye to the past and what we have worked so hard to accomplish in this great nation. Our government must continue to live up to the responsibilities passed on to us by our predecessors. To do otherwise would be un-American. The longer we wait to gain control over this runaway train, the more devastating the disaster will be if we allow that train to jump its track.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.