2001 Report of Commission to Strengthen Social Security

About four years ago, December 2001, The Report of the President’s Commission "Strenthening Social Security and Creating Personal Wealth for All Americans" was issued--it had 256 pages. Of course, we all know that it is now languishing, and not even President Bush seems too excited about it. However, that isn't what I wanted to tell you. Surprise.

I happened to find it in the CyberCemetery which is where old committees, commissions, departments and agencies are buried. CyberCemetery is part of the Federal Depository Library Program, created through a partnership of the University of North Texas Libraries and the USGPO to provide permanent public access to the Web sites and publications of defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions.

Let's say, for example, you wanted to know who the chair of the 9/11 commission was, but you didn't remember the right title. The search window will accept, "chair 9/11 attack." And it finds "The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States" and it finds 170 pages for you to look at, probably because the chair's name appears in the side bars so frequently.

Using quotation marks to define your search, such as "food pyramid" instead of food pyramid, will get you closer to the defunct committee or commission report you want. The second phrase will find the word food and the word pyramid anyplace in the document. It's a wonderful way to waste time. By keying in "agriculture" I learned that the first Iraqi aircraft used after the war was an Mi-2 helicopter from the former Saddam Hussein’s military, refitted to spray date palm trees. That came from a news release of The Coalition Provisional Authority, now defunct--I think. I tried to download its history, and my computer failed. Ghosts in the cemetery?