pd07my01 Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner...

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a citizen or legal permanent resident. However, the law generally 
requires them to go back to their home country to obtain a visa, and 
once they do so, they are barred from returning to the United States for 
up to 10 years. Many choose to risk remaining here illegally rather than 
to be separated from their families for those many years. This issue has 
been the subject of discussion in the Working Group that Attorney 
General Ashcroft and Secretary of State Powell co-chair with officials 
of the Mexican government, and should be addressed to ensure a more 
orderly, legal, and humane migration flow between our countries.

[[Page 691]]

    I encourage the Congress to consider whether there was adequate time 
for persons eligible under section 245(i) to apply for adjustment of 
status before the filing deadline expired yesterday. Information 
indicates an estimated 200,000 were eligible to file but did not meet 
the deadline. Preliminary reports suggest that many applicants were 
unable to complete their paperwork in time, due in part to the fact that 
the rules explaining how the provision would be applied were not issued 
until late March. It remains in our national interest to legitimize 
those resident immigrants, eligible for legal status, and to welcome 
them as full participants of our society. But we will only be able to do 
this if the path to legalization encourages family reunification. For 
this reason, I would support legislation that temporarily extends the 
recently expired April 30, 2001, filing deadline, while maintaining the 
requirement that the applicant was physically present in the United 
States on December 21, 2000.
    I look forward to working with you on this important legislation.
     Sincerely,
                                                George W. Bush

Note: Identical letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives; Richard A. Gephardt, House minority leader; 
Trent Lott, Senate majority leader; and Thomas A. Daschle, Senate 
minority leader.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 691-692]
 
Pages 679-711
 
Week Ending Friday, May 4, 2001
 
Remarks on Establishing the President's Commission To Strengthen Social 
Security

May 2, 2001

    The President. Please be seated. Mr. Secretary, thank you for 
coming. Members of the newly formed Social Security Commission, I want 
to thank you all for being here. And I want to thank your family members 
who are here, as well.
    Social Security is one of the greatest achievements of the American 
Government and one of the deepest commitments to the American people. 
For more than six decades it has protected our elderly against poverty 
and assured young people of a more secure future. It must continue to do 
this important work for decades to come.
    Yet, it has been apparent for many years that Social Security, 
itself, is becoming insecure. Social Security was designed for an era 
when few Americans lived much past the age of 65 and when families of 
three or four children were more than the exception.
    When Social Security was created, there was about 40 workers paying 
Social Security taxes for every one retiree receiving benefits. Today, 
there are three workers for every retiree; soon, there will be two. Long 
life is a blessing. Smaller families are an individual choice. But the 
consequence of this blessing and this choice is that the Social Security 
payroll tax, which was once 2 percent, has now passed 12 percent. 
Economists calculate that it will have to rise past 18 percent if the 
baby boomers are to receive the same benefits that Social Security has 
promised, unless we take steps soon to reform the way Social Security is 
financed.
    The threat to the stability of Social Security has been apparent for 
decades. For years, political leaders have agreed that something must be 
done, but nothing has been done. We can postpone action no longer. 
Social Security is a challenge now. If we fail to act, it will become a 
crisis. We must save Social Security, and we now have the opportunity to 
do so.
    Our Government will run large budget surpluses over the next 10 
years. These surpluses provide an opportunity to move to a stronger 
Social Security system. Two months ago, in my address to Congress, I 
described the principles that must guide any reform of Social Security. 
First, Social Security reform must preserve the benefits of all current 
retirees and those nearing retirement. Second, Social Security reform 
must return the Social Security system to sound financial footing. 
Third, Social Security reform must offer personal savings accounts to 
younger workers who want them. Today, young workers who pay into Social 
Security might as well be saving their money in their mattresses. That's 
how low the return is on their contributions. And the return will only 
decline further--maybe even below zero--if we do not proceed with 
reform.

[[Page 692]]

    Personal savings accounts will transform Social Security from a 
Government IOU into personal property and real assets, property that 
workers will own in their own names and that they can pass along to 
their children. Ownership, independence, access to wealth should not be 
the privilege of a few; they're the hope of every American, and we must 
make them the foundation of Social Security.
    Today I am naming a Presidential Commission to turn these principles 
into concrete reforms. This task is not easy, but the mandate is clear: 
Strengthen Social Security and make its promise more certain and 
valuable for generations to come. I have asked the Commission to deliver 
its report later this fall.
    Social Security does not belong to any one political party, so the 
Commission is drawn from both parties. Social Security does not belong 
to the Government or to the politicians, and so my Commission has 
members from many different walks of life. It will be chaired by two 
outstanding Americans: Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Richard 
Parsons of AOL/Time Warner.
    Senator Moynihan has been aptly described as the Nation's best 
thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician among 
thinkers since Jefferson. A profound mind, a compassionate heart, and a 
farseeing imagination have distinguished him throughout his career.
    Our task today is to preserve what is the best in Social Security, 
while updating it, and for a new time. And nobody will do that job 
better than this great student of Social Security's history, and 
stalwart champion of Social Security's principles.
    As cochief operating officer of AOL/Time Warner, Richard Parsons is 
one of the leaders of this Nation's information age economy. Few people 
have served more tours of duty in the American Government and business--
a senior aide in the Ford administration, managing partner of a 
distinguished law firm, CEO of a major savings bank before becoming 
president of Time Warner.
    Mr. Parsons serves his community as ably as he's served his country. 
He chairs the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, 
where he mobilized the creativity of the private sector to bring jobs 
and opportunity to people in need. And he sits on the boards of Howard 
University and the Lincoln Center. Richard Parsons represents in our 
time the spirit of business statesmanship at its highest.
    Fourteen other fine Americans have joined the Moynihan-Parsons 
commission; seven of them are Republicans, and seven are Democrats. They 
include a former aide to Robert Kennedy and a former aide to Ronald 
Reagan, political leaders, entrepreneurs, eminent experts on the Social 
Security system. Every one of these fine men and women is passionately 
committed to the safety, success, and long-term security of Social 
Security.
    I'm giving this Commission a great task, and its members have my 
full faith. When it makes its report, the Congress and I will face some 
serious decisions, but we must be inspired by the example of the founder 
of Social Security, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
    In his Fireside Chat of September 1934, shortly before Congress 
enacted Social Security, he warned that there will always be those 
frightened by boldness and cowed by the necessity for making decisions. 
``They will complain,'' he said, ``that all we have done is unnecessary 
and subject to great risks.''
    But now, as then, bold action and serious decisions are necessary, 
and we in our time must rededicate ourselves to the great ideal 
Roosevelt defined 67 years ago: greater freedom and greater security for 
the average man than he has ever known before in the history of America. 
That's our charge, and we must keep it.
    And now, one of the Cochairmen of this Commission, Senator Daniel 
Patrick Moynihan.

[At this point, former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Richard D. 
Parsons made brief remarks.]

    The President. I now have the honor of signing the Commission into 
being.

[The President signed the Executive order.]

    The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 10:27 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.

[[Page 693]]


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 693-694]
 
Pages 679-711
 
Week Ending Friday, May 4, 2001
 
Executive Order 13210--President's Commission To Strengthen Social 
Security

May 2, 2001

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), and to preserve Social 
Security for senior Americans while building wealth for younger 
Americans, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Establishment. There is established the President's 
Commission to Strengthen Social Security (Commission).
    Sec. 2. Membership. The Commission shall be composed of sixteen 
members appointed by the President, of which no more than eight shall be 
members of the same political party. The President shall also designate 
two members of the Commission to act as co-chairs. The two co-chairs 
shall not be members of the same political party.
    Sec. 3. Mission. The mission of the Commission shall be to submit to 
the President bipartisan recommendations to modernize and restore fiscal 
soundness to the Social Security system according to the following 
principles: (a) Modernization must not change Social Security benefits 
for retirees or near-retirees;
    (b) The entire Social Security surplus must be dedicated to Social 
Security only;
    (c) Social Security payroll taxes must not be increased;
    (d) Government must not invest Social Security funds in the stock 
market;
    (e) Modernization must preserve Social Security's disability and 
survivors components; and
    (f) Modernization must include individually controlled, voluntary 
personal retirement accounts, which will augment the Social Security 
safety net.
    Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The Social Security Administration 
shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide administrative support 
and funding for the Commission.
    (b) Members of the Commission shall serve without any compensation 
for their work on the Commission. Members appointed from among private 
citizens of the United States, however, while engaged in the work of the 
Commission, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently 
in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), to the extent funds are 
available.
    (c) The Commission shall have a staff headed by an Executive 
Director, who shall be selected by the President. To the extent 
permitted by law, office space, analytical support, and additional staff 
support for the Commission shall be provided by executive branch 
departments and agencies as directed by the President.
    (d) The Commission shall receive input from and provide briefings to 
the Congress, by procedures determined by the President in consultation 
with the congressional leadership and the Commission. Public hearings 
shall be held at the call of the co-chairs, in consultation with the 
President.
    (e) The functions of the President under the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, as amended, except for those in section 6 of that Act, 
that are applicable to the Commission, shall be performed by the Social 
Security Administration, in accordance with the guidelines that have 
been issued by the Administrator of General Services.
    Sec. 5. Reports. The Commission shall submit reports to the 
President as follows: (a) Interim Report. An interim report shall 
describe the challenges facing the Social Security system and the 
criteria by which the Commission will evaluate reform proposals. These 
criteria may include but are not limited to: solvency, sustainability, 
benefit adequacy, fair treatment across generations and demographic 
groups, total annual cost obligations, net impact on the Federal budget, 
impact upon national savings, impact on workforce participation, impact 
on employer-provided pension plans, rates of return, and protections 
against poverty.
    (b) Final Report. The final report will set forth the Commission's 
recommendations, in accordance with its stated mission in section 3 of 
this order, regarding how to strengthen Social Security with personal 
accounts. The Commission shall submit its final report during the fall 
of 2001. The submission date shall

[[Page 694]]

be determined by the co-chairs in consultation with the President.
    Sec. 6. Termination. The Commission shall terminate 30 days after 
submitting its final report.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 May 2, 2001.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:58 a.m., May 3, 
2001]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on May 
4.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 694]
 
Pages 679-711
 
Week Ending Friday, May 4, 2001
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the President's Commission To 
Strengthen Social Security

May 2, 2001

Dear Senator Daschle and Congressman Gephardt:

    Thank you for your letter of April 12, providing your 
recommendations concerning the creation of a Social Security commission.
    I have pledged that I will work to develop a bipartisan consensus to 
strengthen Social Security, preserving the program for senior Americans 
and building wealth for younger Americans. I believe that a bipartisan 
commission will provide the renewed energy and focus that can help us 
transform our common commitment to strengthening Social Security into 

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