NRCC: Personal Account Opponents Misrepresent Filner Vote

September 5, 2002

Congressional Democrats are poised to launch a multimillion-dollar ad campaign charging Republican incumbents with voting to privatize Social Security, the National Republican Congressional Committee. The controversy centered on the Filner Amendment, a proposal offered by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) and voted on July 25th, 2001, garnering a majority of Democratic votes but largely opposed by Republicans. Some Democrats claim that GOP members who voted against the amendment established their support for Social Security privatization. The NRCC argues, however, that the Filner Amendment was not a referendum on Social Security at all and that voting says nothing regarding so-called privatization.

The Filner Amendment sought to block funds for the implementation of any recommendations by the President's bipartisan Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Twenty Democrats voted against the amendment, including Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-TX). He criticized the pattern of inaction represented by supporters of the amendment, calling on those who oppose the Commission's reform efforts to "stand up and tell the American people how they would address [Social Security's] challenges."

Some Democrats argue that the Filner Amendment was a referendum on proposals from the President's Commission, but Republicans counter that the amendment was voted on nearly five months before the Commission issued its findings. Moreover, none of the Commission's recommendations even mentioned "privatization" as a solution to Social Security's problems. Further, two hundred and five Democrats supported Resolution 282 applauding the President for creating the Commission a week-and-a-half before the Commission issued its final report.

Why vote to block funding for a Commission and then commend the President for creating it, the NRCC asks. Republicans attribute Democrats' claims to election-year politics: "Millions depend on the benefits they have earned through a lifetime of work, and they deserve a dialogue free from the irresponsible accusations and distortions that have characterized the Democrat campaign thus far."

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