"…this report of the so-called Commission to Save Social Security…is the Commission to Privatize Social Security."
--Congressman Peter DeFazio, day of the vote, July 25, 2001

"This amendment, which is only one sentence long, may be the most significant sentence that we vote on in this Congress, because it would prevent any funding being used for the purpose of implementing a Social Security privatization plan."

As the Congressional Record indicates, the House of Representatives conducted a debate and then a recorded vote (roll call #273) on my amendment. The result of the recorded vote was that my amendment lost by a margin of 188-238.

As we all know, the stock market has continued to plunge since the time of our vote.  If the Social Security program had been privatized in the way the Commission recommended, American workers would have lost billions of dollars. 

Now, many legislators and policy makers are distancing themselves from earlier statements of support for Social Security privatization. That will not change the vote cast on July 25, 2001.

"Now we are told the solution is privatize. Take a system which guarantees a person a certain benefit, and tell them they will only get a fraction of that benefit and the rest will depend on their luck on the stock market."
--Congressman Jerrold Nadler, day of the vote, July 25, 2001

To put it simply, Members of the House of Representatives who voted for my amendment voted to stop the Commission from moving forward with privatizing Social Security.  Members voting against my amendment supported the Commission's agenda of privatizing Social Security.

[Chronology of the events leading 
up to the introduction of the amendment]