Rep. Salazar Proposes Legislation To Protect Social Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To secure the retirement income for working Americans, U.S. Rep. John Salazar (CO-3) introduced legislation this week that protects Social Security funds from being used to establish private accounts.  It also ensures that those funds are only used to pay Social Security benefits. 

“For more than 70 years, Social Security has kept many of the hard-working people in this country from living in extreme poverty.  We must keep our promise to protect Social Security.  It should be there when our seniors retire,” Rep. Salazar said.  “I will fight to strengthen our Social Security so that U.S. workers get the benefits they were promised.”

As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, Salazar is concerned about restoring fiscal responsibility to the federal government. Currently the president’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 is estimated to have a deficit of $226 billion, but that number is figured by including revenue received by the Social Security Trust Fund.  If revenues from that fund are not included in the estimate, the deficit skyrockets to $428 billion.

Salazar’s H.R. 1353 would force Congress to present federal budget information in a way that clearly shows the state of federal surpluses or deficits, absent Social Security funds. It protects retirees by not allowing Social Security withholding payments to shore up the budget.

Salazar is sponsoring the legislation with U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore (KS-3).

Social Security was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress in the 1930s to provide Americans with a safety net for retirement, disability, or survivors under the age of 18. As the number of retirees increases, Social Security cannot afford to be used for anything other than paying promised benefits to Americans who deserve to receive them.