Speech #990084492

We were voting on a senseoftheSenate resolution. There are many on both sides of the aisle who would like to go further and actually take steps that would lead as soon as possible. beyond just expressing our desires. to protecting Social Security from actions to balance the budget that would reduce benefits to recipients. I am now going to offer a motion to recommit the immigration bill in a way that will bring it back immediately without the Social Security issue on it but will assure that real action will take place in regard to protecting the Social Security Program. The motion would instruct the Budget Committee and the Finance Committee to find ways of dealing with the Social Security problem that. to quote from the motion. would make plain that "alterations would not be made in Social Security benefits for the purpose of reducing the Federal deficit. and the placement and means of considering the Social Security Program in relation to the congressional budget will be such that it will be ineffective to seek to achieve reduction of the overall Federal deficit by means of proposing reductions in Social Security benefits" and to report back to the Senate within a fixed period of time legislation to do just that. Let me simply add one point before I send this to the desk.