Witnesses: Dr. Olivia Mitchell, International Found. of Employees Benefit Plans, Prof. of Insurance & Risk Mgmt., The Wharton School of the Univ. of Penna. & former Commissioner, President's Comm. to Strengthen Social Security; Dr. Peter Orszag, Joseph Pechman Sr. Fellow, Brookings Institute; Dr. Andrew Biggs, social security analyst, The CATO Institute; Robert Greenstein, exec. dir., Center on Budget & Policy Priorities; Esther TessÓ Canja, immediate past pres., AARP; Barbara Kennelly, pres. & CEO, the Nat. Comm. to Preserve Social Security & Medicare; Robert Bixby, exec. dir., The Concord Coalition; & Marty Ford, co-chair, social security task force, Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities.

"In the course of human events there have always been those who deny or reject human freedom, but Americans will never falter in defending the fundamental truths of human liberty proclaimed on July 4, 1776. We will-we must-always hold these truths. The declared purpose of the President's Advisory 1776 Commission is to "enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union." This requires a restoration of American education, which can only be grounded on a history of those principles that is "accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling." And a rediscovery of ourshared identity rooted in our founding principles is the path to a renewed American unity and a confident American future"--