Graham, Lindsey: Good morning. Thank you all. We'll be getting to our witnesses here quickly. So this hearing was requested by my Democratic colleagues and warmly accepted by my Republican colleagues. In a time of great political upheaval, there seems to be one thing that we do agree on, that Social Security is one of the most valuable programs in America to keep people out of poverty. It allows them to go into retirement years with a source of income. Very quickly, when I was 21, I think, my mom passed away. We owned a restaurant, a pool room and a liquor store and lived in the back. Neither one of my parents graduated high school, but they worked hard and had those businesses. If you own your business, you wake up early and you go to bed late and you don't take many vacations. So I just remember that experience of growing up and well loved is a very great life. So my mom was 17 years younger than my dad. You always think she's going to be around. Well, life throws you a curveball. So she passes away from Hodgkin's disease and about 15 months later, my dad dies and I've got a 13-year-old sister and nothing, you know, people have worse stories than mine. The only reason I tell this is that we moved in with an aunt and uncle and Social Security survivor benefits, they worked in the textile plants, really mattered. There's a time in my life where that Social Security check really, really mattered. Now, there's a time in my life where I could probably get by with less and that's what it takes to save Social Security to count me in. This program is under stress because of demographics. We're looking for solutions. So we have Senator Cassidy who has stepped out and led and I know Senator Kaine, you've been talking about this and Senator Johnson, it's all about entitlements, right, when it comes to spending. So I am glad we had the hearing. We're going to hear from Senator Cassidy about his proposal and I think Senator Whitehouse, he stepped out and he's leading too. We'll hear about his proposal, then we'll do the second panel and I'll be running back and forth between here and judiciary. But this is a good topic and I am glad we're having this hearing. Senator Merkley.
Merkley, Jeff: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and this decision to hold this hearing, well done. This is such an important topic. What we know about Social Security is that the sooner you address the growing shortfall in the trust fund, the easier it is to address it. And over a decade ago, I was holding town hall meetings specifically on the question of asking people how they wanted to address Social Security and I wish we'd addressed it then. And we didn't. We didn't do it under Democrats, we didn't do it under Republicans, but now's the chance for...