Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide that certain trust funds are outside the budget of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, in January I introduced H.J. Res. 88, a bill proposing a Constitutional amendment to make the Social Security trust funds, the Medicare trust funds, the military retirement trust fund, and the civil service retirement trust fund off-budget so that the annual budget deficit will reflect the true costs of the obligations that accrue each year.

My bill has been endorsed by the TREA Senior Citizens League, an affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. I would like to insert the letter of support from George A. Smith, Chairman of TREA Senior Citizens League into the Record:

January 15, 2004.

Hon. Gene Taylor

Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Taylor: TSCL, a nonpartisan advocacy

organization consisting of some 1.2 million members and

supporters nationwide, understands that you intend to

reintroduce a constitutional amendment resolution that would

lock Social Security, Medicare and military retirement trust

funds off budget. On behalf of our members and supporters, I

want to convey our strong support for your resolution.

Contrary to popular belief, Social Security and other trust

fund monies are not kept separate from other government

funds. The government uses those monies when it needs to, and

simply writes an IOU to the trust fund. I believe the

American people would be outraged if they truly understood

this was happening.

Also, because of the way the government counts the

surpluses that we have in the various trust funds, the

deficit appears to be less than it really is. Once again, I

believe if the American people would see the true size of the

deficit, there would be an end to business as usual in

Washington. As Comptroller General David Walker said in a

September 2003 speech, ```while we are starting off in a

financial hole, we don't really have a very good picture of

how deep it is'' because the Congressional Budget Office and

the Office of Management and Budget's current measurement and

scorekeeping approaches relay an incomplete and misleading

picture of the government's financial condition.'' [Roll

Call, September 18, 2003]

TSCL also applauds the approach you are taking by

introducing a constitutional amendment resolution. If

legislation only were to be enacted, we believe that Congress

and the White House would ignore or work around the law. This

is why it is imperative that a constitutional amendment be

ratified.

TSCL's parent organization is The Retired Enlisted

Association. As such, we are especially grateful for the

protections you seek not only for Social Security and

Medicare trust funds, but also for the military retirement

and disability trust fund.

Please be assured, Rep. Taylor, that we will be doing

whatever we can do to move this resolution forward. Again,

thank you for your efforts. We look forward to working with

you on this critical matter.

Warm Regards,

George A. Smith,

Chairman.