Since its inception, Social Security has become one of the most popular and effective federal programs.  So many Americans depend on Social Security or count on receiving the benefit in the future that we must work to preserve, protect, and strengthen it.

Because of changes in our population, the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and other factors, the current Social Security system will begin to run a deficit in 2018 and will be insolvent by 2042.  We have an obligation to protect the system for Americans who have paid into it for decades. 

President Bush and his Social Security commission have begun to debate various options for reforming the Social Security system, but no definitive proposal has been set forward as legislation.  The most important aspect of any reform is how, first and foremost, to protect all current retirees' benefits and guarantee those benefits for everyone who needs them, while, secondly, improving the current system so future generations will have some assurance that Social Security will be there when they retire.

I will carefully weigh the options for reform as they are proposed, and support the proposal that best suits the needs of the good people of Tennessee.