The following material is being published, unedited, exactly as it was received via e-mail from the office of the government official or agency named, as a Source community service. Government office holders wishing to contribute to the FYI bulletin board must e-mail [email protected]. The Source reserves the right to choose what is published.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in response to the release of the annual Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report, Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen said today that the administration should abandon its risky plan to privatize Social Security and work with Democrats to address the challenge the Social Security program faces.

"The Trustees Report demonstrates that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits to American workers through 2041. Social Security is secure for the millions of Americans who rely on its benefits," said Christensen. "The real threat that Social Security faces is the plan to privatize the program and slash benefits by more than 40 percent."

The Trustees Report states that Social Security can pay full retirement, disability, and survivors benefits through 2041, and still pay 74 percent of benefits after that. This means that we have time to work in a bipartisan way to strengthen and improve Social Security – as the Congress did in 1983 with Speaker O'Neill and President Reagan putting together a compromise that put Social Security on solid footing for 70 years.

"The privatization plan makes Social Security weaker, not stronger," Christensen said. "The administration has already spent every penny of the Trust Fund to finance tax breaks for the wealthy. And now they want to drain trillions of dollars away from Social Security and increase the debt. They want the American people to pick up the tab, by slashing Social Security benefits and creating a risky scheme of private accounts that will leave seniors' retirement at the mercy of the stock market."

"Instead of cutting benefits, we should protect the only secure source of retirement funding that American workers have," she added. "That's why Democrats are working to reduce the deficit, protect Social Security, strengthen investment vehicles such as 401 (k)s and IRA plans, and provide clear and unbiased information on retirement investment options."