DFA Meetup 893

Opening Statement
Office of Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest
Monday, April 18, 2005 - 1:00 PM

Before we tell you about ourselves, we’d like to first thank you for your years of service to this district. In particular, we appreciate the legislative initiatives you have sponsored in areas affecting Maryland and the environment, such as your recent stated opposition to sewage blending, and sponsoring H.R. 705 increasing fuel standards.

We’re a group of citizens residing in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District. We come from east and west of the bay, from Severna Park, Severn, Salisbury, Delmar, Ocean City and Chestertown. Many of us have never in our lives been active in politics, but we have been thrust into action and have found each other due to the recent declining outlook for the future of our country under current management. We are educators, administrators, computer programmers, government workers, and retired. And there are many more who would be here, but for work and family obligations. We’re here because we wanted to give you, our representative in Congress, the benefit of hearing directly from your constituents.

Although there are many issues of concern, we’re here today to talk about Social Security. Our motivation in coming to your office stems from the large amount of news and reporting on this subject that is raging around Washington, within the media, at town hall meetings and elsewhere. No wonder it’s been referred to as the third rail of politics.

But for us, it’s no third rail, not a political football to be used for election year politicking, it’s an important part of our lives, and our family and friends’ lives.

With all that is being said, it is hard to cut through the noise and become accurately informed. So as responsible citizens, we decided to rely on ourselves, dig deeper, and find out as much as we could. What we found was that the essential facts are being misrepresented, that fear and distortion are being used to create the perception of a crisis that does not exist. We’d like to share our thoughts and findings with you today.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do so.