U.S. Congressman David Price : 4th District Of North Carolina


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	Legislation introduced by Rep. Price in the 109th Congress

	Legislation cosponsored by Rep. Price in the 109th Congress

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image of a bridge at night, a office bulding, church tower, and a gazebo.

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Social Security and Retirement Benefits

I believe that every working American has a right to a secure retirement. As a Member of Congress, I have worked to expand opportunities and incentives for retirement savings and to ensure that there are effective programs in place to help bridge the gap when individual savings aren’t enough.

I am a strong supporter of the Social Security system and believe that Congress must act to address the long-term financing gap forecast for the program. President Bush’s plan to convert Social Security into a system of private accounts, however, would only add to the problem. Privatizing Social Security would leave many workers—especially younger workers—significantly worse off while doing absolutely nothing to address the funding shortfall. In fact, a recent analysis by the House Budget Committee found that the President’s plan would actually speed up the date by which the Social Security trust fund will be depeleted by 11 years, from 2041 to 2030. Even the President estimates that his privatization plan would cost more than $700 billion over the first decade alone, money that would have to be borrowed and added, with interest, to our skyrocketing national debt. To find out how you would fare under the President’s plan, you can visit this easy-to-use Social Security calculator.

Fortunately, the President's plan appears to have stalled in the face of widespread public opposition and concerns by a majority of Congress. Yet the President continues to insist that any legislative fix for Social Security must include private accounts, and his fiscal year 2007 budget request quietly included major elements of his privatization proposal.

The sooner we address the long-term Social Security shortfall, the better, but we have time to develop and adopt a measured and sensible solution. I am ready to work with the President and other members of Congress to create a bipartisan plan to strengthen Social Security. I will not, however, support a plan that “fixes” Social Security through massive benefit cuts and trillions of dollars in additional debt for our children.