Remarks in a discussion on strengthening social security in Tucson

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 28, 2005

You know how I know that that's not the case? We got this kind of plan already in place, the Federal employee Thrift Savings Plan. I'm not here on stage inventing something new; I'm here saying, if this is good enough for Federal employees to be able to take some of their own money and set it aside in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks, it ought to be good enough for the worker who doesn't work for the Federal Government.

So that's what I think we ought to consider, for the sake of the worker. I think we ought to say, you know, there's a 401(k) culture in America--in other words, more and more people are investing their own money. They know what it's like. Why don't we extend this concept to make it available for younger workers, if they choose to do so. If a younger worker says, "Let me do this," it seems like to make a lot of sense to me for the Federal Government to say, "You bet. We'll give you an opportunity to make sure you get a better deal out of the Social Security system."

And so I'm looking forward to discussing this idea with members of both political parties. It's a powerful idea. A lot of people have thought about it before me. A lot of Republicans liked it; a lot of Democrats thought it was an interesting idea in the past; and it ought to be on the table.

Now, we've got some people with us who know--they know what they're talking about on this subject, starting with Lee Abdnor. Lee is right here to my left. Lee, tell us what you do.

[At this point, Leanne Abdnor, former member, President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, made brief remarks.]

The President. What Lee is talking about is when we first got into office in 2001, I think it was, is I asked Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former colleague of John McCain's and Jon Kyl's, from New York, Democrat Senator, to chair a panel on Social Security. I saw it was a problem; others saw it was a problem. And they put together--we put together a group of eight Republicans and eight Democrats who sat down at the table and said, "Why don't we come up with some ideas for Congress to look at."

First of all, I appreciate the spirit. If you noticed, eight Democrats and eight Republicans sat down at the table to discuss things in a positive way. It wasn't to sit down and say, "My party is better than your party, or your party is deficient here." It was to sit down to say, "We care deeply about the future of the United States of America, and so why don't we sit down in the spirit of reform and discuss the issue."

And I want to thank you for serving on the panel, Lee. I presume there was no fistfights or anything else. [Laughter]

[Mrs. Abdnor made further remarks.]

The President. And one of the interesting things that came out of this Commission--there was a guy named Pozen on there; he's a Democrat fellow who put forth some interesting ideas that I know the Congress is looking at, and that we can make sure this system takes care of low-income retirees. In other words, there are ways to make sure the system is progressive. And I appreciated his suggestion, and it's an interesting idea that I know that some in the Senate are looking at and some in the House are looking at.