In the late 1990s, it became clear that efforts taken in 1993 to reduce the federal deficit were having a substantial impact on the budget outlook. Perhaps the most important Social Security vote in the last 10 years was the vote to pass the historic 1993 deficit reduction plan. In 1993, without a single Republican vote, Senator Kerry and a Democratic Congress passed a monumental budget plan to reverse the course of deficit spending. From 1992 through 1998, the federal unified budget went from a $290 billion deficit to a $69 billion surplus. Much of those gains were related to surpluses in the Social Security program. In 1999, the federal government ran its first surplus, excluding Social Security, since the 1950s. With the federal budget outlook reversed substantially from the early 1990s, Senator Kerry recognized an opportunity to strengthen Social Security for the long-term.

Throughout the late 1990s, Senator Kerry was a strong supporter of Senate Democratic budget resolutions designed to "Save Social Security First." Under the Democratic plan, only after they had put Social Security on a sound financial footing for the new century would Congress and the President consider using any remaining surpluses for tax relief or other initiatives. Democrats recognized that projected budget surpluses were far from certain. On the other hand, Congressional Republicans immediately proposed using projected surpluses to pay for new tax breaks, directly contradicting Senate Democrats' call to protect and strengthen our nation's retirement security program.

As a fiscal conservative, Senator Kerry also recognized that any surpluses should be used to reduce the national debt. That, in itself, would contribute to protecting Social Security by reducing the size of the national debt that would exist at the time the baby boom generation retires and the Social Security trust fund begins to pay out more than it receives.

In addition, Senator Kerry has consistently supported attempts to remove Social Security from general budget calculations so that the trust fund surpluses would not mask the size of budget deficits or artificially inflate the size of budget surpluses.

For several years, before new wartime demands altered the budget picture, Senator Kerry supported a real Social Security lockbox to protect the Social Security program from raids on its resources. Senator Kerry opposed Republican efforts to pass a phony Social Security lockbox that did nothing for Medicare, did not adequately protect Social Security, and established annual public debt limits that risked default. He opposed Republican efforts to include a trap door in lockbox legislation-any legislation that Republicans label "Social Security reform" could use Social Security surpluses for any number of purposes unrelated to paying Social Security benefits, including privatizing Social Security or paying for tax cuts.

In December of 2001, the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security unveiled its recommendations for Social Security reform. All of the recommendations endorsed a partial privatization of the program. While Senator Kerry is open to considering various avenues of reform, provided they preserve and maintain benefits for recipients, he believes it is fundamental that the reform effort starts under a sound financial footing. For that to occur, Congress must resist the temptation to spend Social Security surpluses on unrelated causes.

Social Security has made tremendous strides in combating poverty among America's elderly. Forty-four million Americans receive Social Security benefits. Without Social Security, 52 percent of America's elderly would be below the poverty level. As a safety net for the nation's aged, widowed, orphaned, and disabled, Social Security is a success story. Nevertheless, the retirement and disabled benefits program faces serious tests in the years ahead. Demographic changes as our labor force ages will continue to place new pressures on the Social Security program. Senator John Kerry is wholeheartedly committed to protecting and strengthening the cornerstone of our retirement security system and looks forward to meeting Social Security's challenges in the 21st century.