Congress awaits President's move on Social Security

With a two-day conference on Social Security wrapped up, Congress will be looking for a prompt followup from the Clinton administration.

White House National Economic Council Chairman Gene Sperling said Tuesday that President Clinton has not ruled out offering his own reform plan, as many members of Congress, including Ways and Means Chairman Archer, would prefer. Sperling said Clinton would move in the way that seems most constructive. But Clinton will not act alone, and Sperling said progress depends on the availability of members of Congress who will not be in Washington on a regular basis until late January.

Sperling said his "gut feeling" is that "the more that [is] done in the first half of the year the better." Several members Wednesday afternoon said they may meet again, and Archer said there was "a strong commitment to bipartisanship" in yesterday's meeting.

Social Security Administrator Kenneth Apfel agreed, but added it would be "presumptuous" for him to predict Clinton would lay out a plan in the Jan. 19 State of the Union address and then clarify it in his budget plan. But he acknowledged "it is budget season" and Social Security could be part of the discussion.

White House officials said Clinton has not determined that stock market investment must be part of a strategy to bolster Social Security. "We haven't settled on anything," White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart told CongressDaily Wednesday.

Based on a conversation he had with Clinton Tuesday, Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., slated to chair the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee next year, said he expects Clinton to submit a plan before too long.

Archer pledged Tuesday to "get the president's plan before the Ways and Means Committee very quickly" and to refrain from attacking it so long as it does not violate some of the principles Archer has laid out. In particular, Archer said he will reject any plan that involves tax increases. Archer observed that Senate Majority Lott and other congressional leaders have similarly pledged to give the president "cover"-so long as Clinton acts first. In the absence of a plan from the White House, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., conceded it will be difficult to persuade Archer to move forward with a congressional plan.

But John Rother, director of legislative and public policy for the American Association of Retired Persons, said Tuesday an impeachment trial in the Senate would have grave consequences for any effort to craft a Social Security rescue package.

Rother said: "It would be very hard to strengthen Social Security on a bipartisan basis if at the same time the Senate is conducting an impeachment trial. I guess it might be possible, but it would be very, very hard."