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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

We must work to stabilize Social Security. We must not gamble with our nation's social insurance program, one of our most popular and effective federal programs that has remained dependable and stable for the past 70 years.