FACT SHEET

President Bush Establishes New Social Security Commission

On May 2, President Bush announced establishment of a bipartisan, 16-member Commission "to study and report … specific recommendations to preserve Social Security for seniors while building wealth for younger Americans."

Guiding Principles
The Commission has been asked to make recommendations to modernize and restore fiscal soundness to Social Security, using six guiding principles:

• Modernization must not change Social Security benefits for retirees or near-retirees.
• The entire Social Security surplus must be dedicated only to Social Security.
• Social Security payroll taxes must not be increased.
• The government must not invest Social Security funds in the stock market.
• Modernization must preserve Social Security's disability and survivors insurance programs.
• Modernization must include individually controlled, voluntary personal retirement accounts, which will augment Social Security.

Commission Members
The 16-member Commission consists of eight Republicans and eight Democrats, with a member from each party serving as a co-chair. The co-chairs are former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Richard Parsons, Chief Operating Officer of AOL/Time Warner.

The other members of the Commission include Sam Beard, Founder and President of Economic Security 2000; John Cogan, former OMB Deputy Director; Robert De Posada, Executive Director, Hispanic Business Roundtable and President and CEO of ONE Research and Marketing, Inc.; Bill Frenzel, former U.S. Representative; Estelle James, Consultant with the World Bank; Robert Johnson, CEO of Black Entertainment Television; Gwendolyn King, former Commissioner of Social Security; Olivia Mitchell, professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School; Gerry Parksky, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Tim Penny, former U.S. Representative; Robert Pozen, Vice Chairman of Fidelity Investments; Thomas Saving, current Social Security Public Trustee; Fidel Vargas, Vice President of Reliant Equity Investors; and Carolyn Weaver, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Commission Schedule
Public hearings will soon be scheduled by the Commission. An interim report, describing the challenges facing the Social Security system, will be followed by a final report this fall with specific reform recommendations. The Commission's recommendations would, of course, require legislative and Presidential action.