U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) will stop in Ames today on an 18-city tour to hold a forum on the future of Social Security and Medicare.

Boswell and Corey Davidson, Midwest regional director of the Concord Coalition, will present a program titled “Just Generations” at noon in the Ames Public Library’s Community Room, 515 Douglas Ave. The program is free and open to the public.

Boswell said he feels now is the time for people to make choices that will help future generations of Americans.

“The people near retirement and who are retired are fine,” Boswell said. “[But] if they care about their children and grandchildren, they will want to know we’ve got some work to do.”

Boswell also said the current Social Security situation will affect college-aged people if something is not done now.

“It will take until 2034 to use up the reserves, so it will be in trouble if we don’t take care of it,” he said.

Jim Hutter, associate professor of political science and adviser to the ISU Democrats, said Social Security affects everyone.

“Whether you’re receiving or paying into Social Security, a newborn or college student, it affects everyone up and down society,” Hutter said.

Boswell said people have been misinformed about Social Security and Medicare.

“I hope people get a good understanding of the current situation,” he said. “There are a lot of people who have been misrepresented.”

Boswell said he will open the forum with a 10 to 15 minute introduction, followed by short speeches from Davidson and a Social Security representative.

Next, he said audience members will form groups of three or four people and fill out a worksheet that will allow them to come up with and discuss ideas to keep Social Security and Medicare alive. Then, everyone will share his or her ideas.

Boswell said people will learn two things from this forum.

“One, something needs to be done, and two, it’s not going to be easy,” he said.

Boswell said he expects mostly senior citizens to attend but hopes younger people will participate as well.

“I hope we have a cross-section of people because this has an impact on everybody,” he said.