Our Hispanic community needs to understand how important the Social Security system is for not only its retired citizens, but also its disabled workers.

Almost half of all Latinas currently on Social Security rely exclusively on their benefit check in retirement.

Even without reforms, the Social Security fund will be able to meet 100 percent of its obligations until 2042.

I am not criticizing investing in the stock market; I am an investor.

Latinos are disproportionately more likely to be injured on the job than other ethnic groups.

President Bush has consistently used rhetoric, and that is not convincing given his past record.

Social Security has been effective for 70 years; prior predictions of its demise have been totally overstated.

There is a need for Social Security reform to ensure its stability, and Congress must act.

We must explain the truth: There is no free lunch.

We must take the time to do what needs to be done now, what is right, instead of passing a bad bill.

A Congressional Budget Office report released as recent as June 2004 says the system will be able to pay full benefits until 2052, and 80 percent after that.

Because of my own experience with market fluctuation, I recognize the great risks one takes on investments. This converts the Social Security safety net into a risky proposition many cannot afford to take.

Because of their low earnings and family obligations, Latinas would not be putting much money into private investment accounts. An average Latina could wind up losing thousands of dollars under this proposal.

Because Social Security is specifically designed to boost the retirement income of low earners with a progressive benefit formula, the program has played an enormous and necessary role in keeping Latinas out of poverty.

For people who have for been putting their hard-earned money into the system for years, the president's idea would replace their safety net with a risky gamble with no assurance of a stable return of investment.

If Congress doesn't raise taxes, you cannot get a private investment account without forgoing a portion, possibly all, of your guaranteed benefit check.

Latinas' life expectancies are relatively long. When a current retiree hits 65 and begins receiving her benefit check, she can expect to live another 22 years. That life expectancy is higher than white women or men.

Our political leaders must be honest and forthcoming with data that will allow citizens to use facts and figures to judge for themselves what state Social Security is in.

The president's claim that Social Security is going broke is misleading at best. The sky is not falling, although there is no doubt that the system needs to be strengthened.

To allow all U.S. workers to put part of their earnings into private investment accounts would definitely erode the Social Security system and cause uncertainty for new investors.