Saturday, June 26, 1999
Portman: Fix Social Security
Republicans detail domestic agenda
BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Rep. Rob Portman on Friday called for protecting Social Security and expanding retirement savings options as House Republicans outlined their domestic agenda for the rest of the 106th Congress.
“For too long, the Social Security trust fund has been a slush fund for big spenders here in Washington. We want to stop that,” Mr. Portman, R-Terrace Park, said.
He spoke on the west front of the Capitol, the same spot where the Republicans unveiled their “Contract With America” in 1994.
Mr. Portman was one of four House Republicans that Speaker Dennis Hastert picked to outline GOP legislative goals.
Rep. Tillie Fowler of Florida called for increasing military spending; Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan called for more restructuring of American education; and Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington called for tax breaks for working-class Americans, including an end to the so-called marriage penalty.
They were attempting to counter the domestic policy push that President Clinton made for the Democrats, first at a major address at Georgetown University on Friday morning and later in an afternoon news conference.
“This is the best agenda to secure the life and liberty of the American people,” Mr. Hastert said.
Mr. Portman, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, has made Social Security and expansion of private sector retirement opportunities his legislative emphasis this year.
He urged the Senate to adopt the same “lock box” idea for Social Security that the House passed last month. The idea is to guarantee that revenues from Social Security and Medicare taxes are used exclusively for those purposes.
“For years, American workers have been paying Social Security taxes fully expecting that they'd be locked away for future benefits,” Mr. Portman said.
“But the sad truth is, the money that's come in for Social Security has been used to pay for other government programs — programs not at all related to retirement security.”
Mr. Portman has become closely aligned with Mr. Hastert and the House leadership in recent months and has been invited into several leadership meetings.
Mr. Hastert's staff said Mr. Portman has been assigned a key role in handling communications on Social Security.
Mr. Portman said he has been urging Republican leaders to do more to present their agenda.
“I was one of those Republicans who had been saying for months that we Republicans were not aggressive enough in getting our message out,” he said.
The pressure was on, Mr. Portman said, as the GOP tried to counter the president Friday.
“I get a little nervous when I'm in that situation,” he said. “You never have enough time and your words are going to be overanalyzed.”
Ms. Fowler's message on defense included a call for a missile defense system to protect American cities. The recent report on the theft of nuclear secrets, she said, makes it all the more urgent. “Republicans are committed to ensuring that Americans can be secure,” she said.
Mr. Hoekstra stressed continuing the movement of power over education decisions back to states and localities. “One size doesn't fit all. We found that out in welfare reform, and we're seeing it every day in education,” he said.
Ms. Dunn complained that the tax system penalizes fundamental values, pointing out how married couples can pay more in taxes jointly than if they had remained single.
“We should honor marriage, not tax it,” she said.
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