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Social Security Hearing by Senate Aging Committee
Presents Balanced Testimony
Chairman Gordon Smith conducts his second hearing;
first in series on Social Security
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
Feb. 6, 2005 If the second hearing conducted by
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) of the Senate Special Committee on Aging is an
example, seniors can expect more balance in the testimony than was often
provided in hearings by the former chairman. Last weeks hearing focused
on Social Security and had balanced testimony and good information by
the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the General Accounting Office
(GAO), AARP, the Concord Coalition, and the Heritage Foundation. It was
the first in a series on this topic.
The first of the baby boomers are only a few years
from entering the ranks of senior citizens, and the challenges that
their swelling numbers will have on this and other vital programs of
government are enormous, Chairman Smith said. We have a rare and
perhaps small window of opportunity to set partisan differences aside,
and attempt to achieve what many in recent years have felt was
unreachable -- greater retirement security for ourselves and our
children.
Smith brought the diverse group of witnesses
together because, he said, they reflect divergent viewpoints in the
Social Security debate. Some have argued that the Social Security trust
fund will have reserves at least until 2042 and is not threatened in the
near future. Others state that the stress on the federal government will
begin to mount in 2018 or earlier. There is no doubt, however, that the
75 million-strong baby boom generation will place an increasing strain
on the system upon retirement.
Every year that improvements are put off greatly
raises the risk of large tax increases or sudden benefit reductions in
the future, Smith said. Addressing the issue now may not solve all our
problems, but it would be a good start. This is going to be a difficult
debate, but it is one we absolutely have to have.
Witnesses testifying at todays hearing were Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
Director of the Congressional Budget Office; David Walker, Comptroller
General of General Accounting Office; John Rother, Policy Director
Association of American Retired Persons; Bob Bixby, Executive Director
Concord Coalition; David John, Research Fellow the Heritage Foundation.
Editors Note: More on the hearing can be found at
this link
Click Here. The links to testimony, however, were not working on
February 6.
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