[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Bachus] is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BACHUS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, there is a cancer eating away 
at our Nation's Social Security trust funds. The cancer is rapidly 
growing out of control, and unless this Congress acts, it threatens the 
future financial security and livelihoods of not only our senior 
citizens but each and every one of us.
  The cancer I am referring to is the impending insolvency of the 
Social Security disability insurance trust fund. This fund has been 
depleted, and some experts predict it will be completely insolvent by 
mid-1995. My preliminary findings lead me to conclude that the 
impending insolvency will occur even earlier. Because disability claims 
are increasing at a faster rate than anyone predicted, I believe the 
Social Security disability trust fund will be bankrupt by the end of 
this year--1994.
  The question you may be asking is why have not we heard anything 
about this? Last year, when some in Congress realized that the 
disability trust fund was in trouble, the Social Security 
Administration and others proposed what some considered the easy 
solution: simply take money out of Social Security's old-age and 
survivors trust fund [OASI]. I say that taking money out of this trust 
fund and away from our senior citizens and every working American is no 
solution. Certainly an unacceptable solution.
  We cannot condone or allow a raid on the Social Security old-age and 
survivors trust fund and, at the same time, expect to keep that fund 
solvent for our children or even our own generation.
  Millions of senior citizens, my parents among them, depend on their 
monthly Social Security checks. They paid into the fund while they were 
working, and they have a right to expect that what they contributed 
will be returned to them in their retirement years.
  In the early 1980's, the American public was told that the Social 
Security trust funds were fixed. During the debate over the Social 
Security Amendment of 1983, Ways and Means Chairman, Dan Rostenkowski 
told this body, and I quote, ``Those expecting to receive benefits in 
the next century would be assured that the system is solvent.'' But 
since Mr. Rostenkowski made that promise on March 9, 1983, rapidly 
expanding disability insurance payments have been threatening the 
future of our senior citizens.
  Yet, according to the 1993 report of the board of trustees of the 
Social Security trust funds, the disability trust fund will be 
completely bankrupt by the end of 1995 unless immediate action is taken 
to correct the situation.
  The 1993 trustees' report shows that the fund will have used its 
entire accumulated balance and will be $1.6 billion short of the amount 
required to pay benefits by the end of 1995. In other words, by late 
August 1995--or if my prediction is correct, before the end of this 
year--the disability trust fund will be unable to send out benefit 
checks unless some action is taken to provide additional funds.
  This is a problem of enormous proportions. According to the 
actuaries, $105 billion will be required to resolve this problem for 
just the next 8 years. This is more than has been spent on the savings 
and loan bailout.
  Even more disturbing is the fact that the actuaries who prepared this 
report used intermediate level estimates to project this outcome. If 
they had used worst case estimates--which, unfortunately, have proven 
to be more accurate in the past, the numbers would have been even 
worse.
  In my research, I found many startling things. First, once people go 
on the disability rolls, they may be reexamined, but almost invariably, 
they remain there until they reach retirement age. That means that they 
will never return to work, even if rehabilitation and medical recovery 
later makes working possible.
  According to Dr. Carolyn Weaver, the Director of the Social Security 
and pension project at the American Enterprise Institute, the 
proportion of new beneficiaries under 40 years of age jumped from 18 
percent to 28 percent, between 1980 and 1990--over a 50-percent 
increase.

  Dr. Weaver also reports that the proportion of people awarded 
benefits based on mental disorders increased from 11 percent to 22 
percent between 1980 and 1990 alone. Among workers under 35, the 
proportion rose from 32 percent to 46 percent--almost half. And 
furthermore, these people are likely to stay on the rolls longer than 
those in any other major diagnosis group.
  We also have a serious problem with the growing number of disability 
claims and the way we process them. Throwing more money at the problem 
is not going to make it go away.
  Last year, the Ways and Means Committee heard testimony from the 
Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration on the 
severity of the problem and its implications for the future. The 
response of Social Security, the Ways and Means Committee, and this 
House was to propose taking money out of the old-age and survivors fund 
to bail out the disability fund. The Senate later stripped this 
provision. The problem, unresolved, continues to worsen.
  The Clinton administration and the current Commissioner of the Social 
Security Administration seem to be on the same course this year. 
Yesterday's budget, again calls for diverting funds from the retirement 
fund to the disability fund. This may be the easiest solution, but it 
is really nothing more than a stop gap solution, consisting of a raid 
on the retirement funds of every working American.
  Shifting funds from the old-age and survivors fund to the disability 
fund has been done before. But, this time, the problem is much worse 
than it has been in the past. We are talking about $105 billion over 
the next 8 years. This is a massive amount of money, and the magnitude 
of this problem poses a significant threat to the Social Security trust 
fund and our senior citizens.
  If we continue on this course, we are going to bankrupt the fund that 
insures the financial security of our seniors in their retirement 
years. That is wrong.
  Shifting funds from one fund to the other is not an acceptable 
solution. It does nothing to address the real problem which is a 
disability claims process that is out of control.
  Madam Speaker, I first became aware of this problem through casework 
in my district. Last January, my office began receiving numerous 
complaints about the length of time required to resolve Social Security 
disability claims on appeal, so I decided to investigate the situation.
  I discovered that the average wait, from the time a disability claim 
is filed until benefits are awarded, is 18 months. One of the factors 
contributing to this problem is the dramatic increase of disability 
claims.
  The preliminary solution offered by HHS to relieve the backlog in my 
congressional district was to hire additional employees. I was pleased 
at first, but when I realized that the same thing was happening across 
the country, I became concerned that there might not be enough money 
available to pay for the rapid influx of new claims. As a result, I 
began to study the Social Security disability trust fund and its 
financial security.
  I am convinced that more personnel and more money are not the answer 
to this problem. We need a complete reevaluation of the criteria used 
to determine whether a person is truly disabled, and we need a clearly 
defined method of reexamination that will allow us to remove people who 
are no longer disabled from the rolls and get them back to work.
  Right now, the system is not working. We need to change the 
procedures and redefine the role and mission of our disability system.
  The Americans With Disabilities Act [ADA] was passed with the promise 
of eliminating barriers and creating employment opportunities for the 
disabled. It also had a very high price tag. We ought to be able to use 
the Americans With Disabilities Act to place more disabled workers in 
real jobs. Additionally, we ought to be able to take advantage of 
medical advances and rehabilitation in order to increase the 
opportunities for disabled citizens to reenter the work force and at 
the same time, reduce the number of disability insurance payments.

  Madam Speaker, I am calling on the President, and I call on my 
colleagues today, to consider this problem carefully. We must act now.
  The reality of this situation is that the disability insurance fund 
is going to run out of money and soon. My question is why can not we 
address this problem now and avoid the crisis atmosphere of a last-
ditch effort to bail out the program later?
  Last week, we approved emergency supplemental appropriations for 
earthquake assistance. This natural disaster happened suddenly and 
without warning. But I would ask my colleagues today: Must we wait for 
the ground to move from under the Social Security disability trust fund 
before we act?
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this 
resolution which would require the Department of Health and Human 
Services to thoroughly examine and confront this threat and report back 
to Congress with honest solutions, so that we can act in an orderly and 
timely manner.
  My bill states that neither taking money from the Federal old-age and 
survivors insurance trust fund nor taking money from the general fund 
of the Treasury, thereby adding to the deficit is an acceptable 
solution.
  Madam Speaker and my colleagues, it is time for action. It is time to 
be honest and deal fairly with the American people. We cannot continue 
to play with the numbers and expect this problem to go away.

                       [Excerpt from 1995 Budget]

        Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security

           FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SURVIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND           
                [Status of Funds in thousands of dollars]               
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1993          1994            1995     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Security tax rate                                                
 reallocation...............           0    (11,942,000)    (16,114,000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                 FEDERAL DISABILITY INSURANCE TRUST FUND                
                [Status of Funds in thousands of dollars]               
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1993                                   
                                actual       1994 est.       1995 est.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Security tax                                                     
 reallocation...............           0      11,942,000      16,114,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                          

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