Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad Open to Personal Accounts?

January 31, 2001

During Thursday's Senate Budget Committee hearing featuring Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota hinted that personal retirement accounts modeled after the federal Thrift Savings Plan could form a compromise savings vehicle for Social Security investment. Following is a brief interchange between Conrad and Greenspan:

Conrad: "I think what I hear you saying this morning is that we've got a real opportunity here to get it right -- a real opportunity, if we continue fiscal discipline, we continue to pay down debt, we also provide for these high priority domestic needs that have been identified, but that we also have the opportunity here to provide some help for the Social Security trust fund, which over time is challenged. You've indicated one way to do that would be individual accounts. Another way, perhaps, would be some form of what federal employees have in federal retirement accounts where it is not the federal government making the investment decision. Because, I gather from your testimony, one of the things that is important to us is that we not be in a situation where the federal government is making investment decisions."

Greenspan: "Yes."

Conrad: "So this would be a way of having individuals be able to guide their investment decisions."

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