Our energy demand outstrips our supply. We can produce more energy at home while protecting our environment, and we must. We can produce more electricity to meet demand, and we must. We can promote alternative energy sources and conservation, and we must. America must become more energy independent, and we will.
Perhaps the biggest test of our foresight and courage will be reforming Medicare and Social Security.
Medicare's finances are strained, and its coverage is outdated. Ninety-nine percent of employer-provided health plans offer some form of prescription drug coverage. Medicare does not. The framework for reform has been developed by Senators FRIST and BREAUX and Congressman THOMAS; and now is the time to act. Medicare must be modernized. And we must make sure that every senior on Medicare can choose a health care plan that offers prescription drugs.
Seven years from now, the baby boom generation will begin to claim Social Security benefits. Everyone in this Chamber knows that Social Security is not prepared to fully fund their retirement. And we only have a couple of years to get prepared. Without reform, this country will one day awaken to a stark choice: either a drastic rise in payroll taxes or a radical cut in retirement benefits. There is a better way.
This spring I will form a Presidential commission to reform Social Security. The commission will make its recommendations by next fall. Reform should be based on these principles: It must preserve the benefits of all current retirees and those nearing retirement. It must return Social Security to sound financial footing, and it must offer personal savings accounts to younger workers who want them.
Social Security now offers workers a return of less than 2 percent on the money they pay into the system. To save the system, we must increase that by allowing younger workers to make safe, sound investments at a higher rate of return.
Ownership, access to wealth, and independence should not be the privilege of a few. They are the hope of every American, and we must make them the foundation of Social Security.
By confronting the tough challenge of reform, by being responsible with our budget, we can earn the trust of the American people. And we can add to that trust by enacting fair and balanced election and campaign reforms.
The agenda I have set before you tonight is worthy of a great Nation.
America is a Nation at peace, but not a Nation at rest. Much has been given to us, and much is expected.