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1994.06.09 : Shalala Appoints Advisory Council on Social Security




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			Social Security Administration
Thursday, June 9, 1994			Phil Gambino (410) 965-8904

					HCFA Press Office
					(202) 690-6145

	Stressing the importance of ensuring the long-term solvency and 
viability of this nation's Social Security program, HHS Secretary 
Donna E. Shalala today announced the appointment of the 1994 
Advisory Council on Social Security.

	"Each and every American citizen has a stake in the continued 
good health of this country's Social Security program," Secretary 
Shalala said.  "This council, composed of leading experts in public 
and private pension systems in the United States, will examine some 
of the most challenging issues that go to the core of providing 
adequate and equitable income for the elderly in retirement." 

	By law, the advisory council, comprised of 12 members in 
addition to the chairman, is appointed every four years to examine 
issues affecting the Social Security Old-Age, Survivors, and 
Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs, as well as the Medicare 
program and Medicaid, which were created under the Social Security 
Act.  

	Unlike advisory councils of the 1980s which focused primarily 
on disability, Medicare and health-care issues, the 1994 council 
will focus on the Social Security OASDI program.  Specifically, the 
secretary has asked the council to examine the following areas:

	o	Social Security financing, including developing 
recommendations for improving the long-range financial 
status of the OASDI program;

	o	The adequacy and equity of Social Security benefits paid 
to persons at various income levels, in various family 
situations, and various age cohorts, taking into account 
such factors as the increased labor participation of 
women, lower marriage rates, increased likelihood of 
divorce, and higher poverty rates of aged women; and
	
	o	The relative roles of the public and private sector in 
providing retirement income and how policies in both 
sectors affect the retirement decisions and economic well-
being of individuals.
	
	Secretary Shalala appointed as chairman of the council Edward 
Gramlich, director of the Institute of Public Policy Studies and 
professor of economics and public policy at the University of 
Michigan.  Professor Gramlich, 54, also has served as chairman of 
Michigan's Economics Department and as acting director and deputy 
director of the Congressional Budget Office.  Other members are:

	Robert Ball, 80, of Virginia - former commissioner of 
Social Security (1962-1973); member of the 1991 Advisory 
Council on Social Security and the National Commission on 
Social Security Reform (Greenspan); chair of the board, 
National Academy of Social Insurance.

	Joan Bok, 64, of Massachusetts - chairman of the New 
England Electric System; member, boards of directors of 
Avery Dennison Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of 
Boston, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company and the 
Monsanto Company.

	Ann Combs, 37, of Washington, D.C. - principal, William M. 
Mercer, Inc.; former deputy assistant secretary for 
Policy, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, Labor 
Department (1986-1993); staff member, National Commission 
on Social Security Reform (Greenspan).

	Edith Fierst, 69, of Maryland - attorney, Fierst & Moss, 
P.C., and member of the Advisory Committee of the Pension 
Rights Center; chair, Technical Committee on Earnings 
Sharing; specialist in federal and military pension 
litigation.

	Gloria Johnson, 66, of Maryland - director of the 
Department of Social Action, International Union of 
Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture 
Workers and vice president of AFL-CIO Executive Council; 
president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.

	Thomas Jones, 45, of Connecticut - president and COO, 
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College 
Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF); member, boards of 
directors of Thomas & Betts Corporation and Eastern 
Enterprises; trustee of Cornell University, Brookings 
Institution and Committee for Economic Development.

	George Kourpias, 61, of Maryland - president, 
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace 
Workers, AFL-CIO; member, boards of directors for the 
National Council of Senior Citizens, Space Cause and the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science; 
member of Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

	Sylvester Schieber, 47, of Maryland - vice president and 
director of the Research and Information Center, The Wyatt 
Company; former director of research, Employee Benefits 
Research Institute; a senior economist and deputy director 
of policy analysis for the Social Security Administration.

	Gerald Shea, 47, of Washington, D.C. - director, 
Department of Employee Benefits for health care, pensions, 
Social Security and child care, in AFL-CIO; previously, 
assistant to the president for government affairs for the 
Service Employees International Union and organizer for 
SEIU in Massachusetts.

	Marc Twinney, 64, of Michigan - director of pensions for 
the Ford Motor Company; member of the American Academy of 
Actuaries and the Pension Research Council of the Wharton 
School; previously, a consultant at Hewitt Associates, 
Milliman and Robertson, and Hansen Consulting Actuaries.

	Fidel Vargas, 25, of California - mayor of Baldwin Park, 
Calif., and senior policy analyst to Los Angeles Mayor 
Richard Riordan; past vice president of Phillips Brooks 
House, the community service organization of Harvard 
College.

	Carolyn Weaver, 42, of Virginia - director, Social 
Security and Pension Studies, The American Enterprise 
Institute; member, 1987 Social Security Disability 
Advisory Council and senior advisor, National Commission 
on Social Security Reform (Greenspan); former staff member 
of Senate Finance Committee and the economics faculties of 
Tulane University and Virginia Tech.


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