[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Dole,
Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Riegle, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Bond,
Mr. Sasser, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Simon, Mr.
Mack, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Burns, Mr. Brown, Mr. Durenberger, Mr.
Thurmond, Mr. Murkowski, and Mr. Stevens):
S. 1860. A bill to authorize the minting of coins to commemorate the
1995 Special Olympics World Games; to the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
1995 Special Olympics World Games Commemorative Coin Act
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, many of us over these last 10 days have been
transfixed, spellbound--you could use a variety of different adjectives
to describe our wonderment--at the performance of athletes around the
world as they compete in Lillehammer in Norway, watching the winter
Olympics. This evening I suspect millions of Americans and others
around the world will be watching the figure skating for a variety of
reasons, not necessarily because they wish to watch figure skating, but
we have all been moved by the competition of our athletes.
We are impressed with those who compete but not necessarily who are
able to win a medal at the winter Olympics. We will have a wonderful
event in Atlanta, GA, when the world comes to the United States to
compete in the summer Olympics in 1996.
It is that spirit, I suppose, of striving, the tremendous dedication,
the work, the desire that moves all of us to watch these young people
from around the globe spend 2 weeks with each other in the spirit of
the Olympic games. We learned that this spirit of striving can be
equally noble, whether it leads to a gold medal or even a last-place
finish. In fact, sometimes we are moved more just by the effort of an
individual rather than the particular moment of glory and victory.
Mr. President, I am very proud to tell my colleagues that next year,
Connecticut will host a similar exhibition of the human spirit. These
are the world summer games of the Special Olympics. It is in honor of
this event that I am today introducing the 1995 Special Olympics World
Games Commemorative Coin Act.
Twenty-five years ago, Mr. President, Eunice Kennedy Shriver had a
vision, one person had a vision of an international sports organization
for people with mental retardation. She envisioned an event that would
bring joy and pride developed from competition to those the world
believed could not compete at all.
Today, the Special Olympics has become one of the largest and most
successful sports and volunteer organizations in the world. Nearly 1
million Special Olympics athletes from ages 8 to 80 train and compete
year round. Every 4 years, thousands of these athletes gather for the
world summer games. I am proud to report, Mr. President, that from 14
cities worldwide, New Haven, CT, was selected to host the Ninth Special
Olympics World Games. The entire State of Connecticut is now gearing up
for those games. Our good friend and former colleague, Governor
Lowell Weicker, serves as the chairman of the 1995 Special Olympics
World Games Organizing Committee.
In July 1995, almost 7,000 athletes from every State in the Union and
from 125 nations from around the world will travel to Connecticut to
compete. An expected half million spectators will gather to witness
this exciting and inspiring event.
The bill I am introducing today would authorize 800,000 limited-
edition $1 silver coins which will be emblematic of the 1995 Special
Olympics World Games. Funds raised through the sale of the coins will
support the Special Olympics. That is the purpose of this effort.
This bill will not cost the Federal Government one single dime. All
the costs will be borne by the sale of those coins.
Mr. President, over the years since Eunice Kennedy Shriver began
these games, if we have seen them ourselves, which I have had the
pleasure of doing, in watching a child who is a special child, either
with a physical or mental handicap, striving in a road race, a running
race, a jumping contest, the look on that child's face in being
embraced and hugged by others, having achieved something that they did
not think was possible, that they would even be able to compete, I do
not believe anybody who witnessed such an event has not been moved by
it. All of us, whether we know anyone, or a family that has suffered
the problems of mental retardation, are moved by the human spirit when
it achieves and reaches for something they believe may have been beyond
their reach or grasp.
And so as we watch these wonderful Olympics on our television screens
in these closing days, the incredible athletes from around the world
who are gathered in Lillehammer, we should remind ourselves as well
that there will be a very special Olympics in this country next year of
children from around the world, from 125 nations, who may lack the
mental ability or physical ability to compete in the Atlanta or
Lillehammer games, but nonetheless are just as noble in the eyes of God
as any other child competing anywhere else in any other kind of
Olympics.
This coin will be a nobility, or a way in which all of us can express
our support for that effort, to support these young people, to support
their families, to support the Committee for the Special Olympics.
And so I am pleased to offer this legislation and to as well announce
the cosponsorship, of which we have many, of about 14 or 15 Senators of
this legislation.
Twenty-five years ago, Eunice Kennedy Shriver had a vision of an
international sports organization for people with mental retardation,
one that would bring the joy and pride developed through competition to
those the world believed could not compete.
Today, Special Olympics has become one of the largest and most
successful sports and volunteer organizations in the world. Nearly 1
million Special Olympics athletes, from ages 8 to 80, train and compete
year round for the love of sport, the thrill of accomplishment, and for
some, the chance to compete in the quadrennial world summer games.
Mr. President, I am extraordinarily proud to report that from 14
cities worldwide, New Haven, CT, was selected to host the Ninth Special
Olympics World Games. Accordingly, in July 1995, 6,700 athletes from
every State in the Union and from 125 nations around the world will
travel to Connecticut to demonstrate that they have the desire,
courage, and the skills to compete in world class competition.
The half-million spectators who come to watch will enjoy one of the
most exciting and inspiring experiences of a lifetime. They will see
outstanding athletic competition in the true Olympic spirit.
The bill I am introducing today would authorize the issuance of
800,000 limited-edition 1 dollar silver coins, which will be emblematic
of the 1995 Special Olympic World Games. Funds raised through the sale
of the coins will be used to provide a world class sporting event for
athletes with mental retardation and to demonstrate to a global
audience the extraordinary talents, dedication, and courage of persons
with mental retardation.
I am joined today by a number of our colleagues who enthusiastically
support the Special Olympics movement. President Clinton is equally
supportive of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games, and he recently
agreed to honor this world class sporting event by serving as its
honorary chairman.
My good friend and former colleague, Governor Lowell Weicker, serves
as the chairman of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games Organizing
Committee in Connecticut.
It is estimated that the games will attract a half-million
spectators, 45,000 volunteers, and 1,500 representatives from national
and international media. Tens of millions of people will view the
worldwide television coverage of this event.
The opening ceremonies alone will probably have an audience of 90,000
persons and be televised on a major network. We are estimating that
several heads of state and First Ladies, as well as 20 to 30
Ambassadors will be present when President Clinton officially opens the
games.
The excitement and splendor of these games will extend well beyond
the competition on the field. The worlds of science, diplomacy, art,
culture, and entertainment will unite in a celebration of the spirit of
Special Olympics and achievements of persons with mental retardation.
The games organizing committee has begun collaborating with the
United Nations and with leading scholars at Yale University to ensure
that the message of these games is heard and studied by the world's
leading policymakers, educators, and scientists. Their plans call for
an international symposium at the United Nations focusing on the policy
and programming issues facing people with mental retardation all over
the world.
Mr. President, an event of this magnitude requires substantial
organization and planning. It also needs significant financial
resources. The cost-neutral bill that I am introducing today would
raise up to $8 million to help underwrite the cost of staging the 1995
Special Olympics World Games.
The thousands of athletes who train for years to experience the
excitement of international athletic competition deserve the
opportunity to travel to New Haven for the change of a lifetime. The
funds raised by the issuance of the coin authorized in this bill will
help ensure that their dreams come true.
The coins issued pursuant to this bill would be subject to the
provisions of section 5134 of title 31, United States Code, relating to
the newly established numismatic public enterprise fund. The
legislation explicitly stipulates that the minting and issuance of the
coins authorized in this bill shall not result in any cost to the
Federal Government.
Mr. President, I understand that in recent years there has been some
question about the success of commemorative coins in the marketplace,
so let me say a brief word about the 1995 Special Olympics World Games
commemorative coin offering. First, our bill proposes a relatively
small issue of a single coin. Second, the traditional marketplace of 2
million devoted coin collectors will be significantly expanded for this
coin.
The Special Olympics movement is worldwide in scope. There are nearly
1 million Special Olympics athletes worldwide and nearly 450,000 in the
United States alone. There are more than 1 million family members in
the United States who are actively involved with Special Olympics; that
number increases to 2 million active families worldwide. There are more
than 500,000 Special Olympics volunteers and 250,000 coaches worldwide.
Families, volunteers, and supporters of the Special Olympics movement
provide a tremendous market for consumer products advertised in
connection with the 1995 games, including the first-ever Special
Olympics coin.
Moreover, the 1995 Special Olympics World Games Organizing Committee
has developed an aggressive marketing plan that will utilize the
Special Olympics chapter structure in every State and in more than 120
countries around the world. Ads will be run during the network and
cable broadcast coverage of the event, and the coins would be made
available to the hundreds of thousands of Special Olympics supporters
who attend the Games.
I remind my colleagues that Special Olympics is a movement that
represents 190 million people with mental retardation worldwide, so I
am confident that there is a market for these coins.
Mr. President, I invite every Member of the Senate to share the
sport, spirit, splendor of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. I
urge every one of my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Dodd in
sponsoring this bill which authorizes the minting of coins to
commemorate the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. Although the sales
of these coins will provide important financial support for the Special
Olympics, they have a much larger significance. In the past, the
Treasury has issued coins for the Olympics and the World Cup, but this
will be the first time for an international sports event featuring
disabled athletes.
In my view, these coins are more evidence we live in a new age of
disability. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans With Disabilities
Act, determined to base our national disability policy on the
principles of equal opportunity and full participation. Last July, to
extend these principles to American foreign policy, I introduced, with
strong bipartisan support, a bill which recognized for the first time
that discrimination against the disabled is a human rights violation.
Mr. President, the Special Olympics helped forge this new age. As
Sarge Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, wrote to me recently,
``for 10,000 years persons with mental retardation have been hidden in
jails or cooped up in institutions, or in some countries actually
killed. In 1968 a private philanthropic movement was started by an
American woman, and since then life for the 280 million human beings
with mental retardation have been changed forever.'' Let me note that
woman was, of course, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sarge's wife.
I am a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics. In June 1974 I
spoke on the Senate floor about the Kansas Special Olympic Games, which
I had just attended. And on July 1, 1995, I hope to join the 6,700
athletes with mental retardation from 125 countries, the special
olympics team from Kansas, and 70,000 other spectators at the opening
ceremonies of the 1995 Special Olympics at the Yale Bowl.
Mr. President, in closing let me note that there will be no net cost
to the Government in minting these coins, lest anyone think we are
forgetting our fiscal responsibilities. I urge my colleagues to join
with me in supporting this bill.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am very pleased to cosponsor the 1995
Special Olympics World Games Commemorative Coin Act. Beginning on July
1, 1995, my home town of New Haven, CT, will have the privilege and the
honor of hosting the 1995 summer games. This legislation, introduced by
Senator Dodd here in the Senate and by Congresswoman DeLauro in the
House, is an excellent way to help raise funds for the event.
The Special Olympics provide an extraordinary opportunity for
athletes with mental disabilities from around the globe to come
together and share in the spirit and rewards of athletic competition.
All over the world Special Olympics athletes compete year round in
Special Olympics competitions. These events help disabled individuals
strive to realize their full potential, and gain the sense of enjoyment
and self-worth that comes from doing one's best.
Those athletes that reach the quadrennial world summer games will
have the privilege of competing in a world class competition.
Organizers of the summer games expect the event to involve 6,700
athletes from over 120 countries, as well as 2,000 coaches, 15,000
families and friends, 45,000 volunteers, and half a million spectators.
Tens of millions of people are expected to view television coverage of
the games.
The potential benefits of the event are immeasurable. As we know from
the winter Olympics now underway in Norway, Olympic competition
benefits not only the athletes but all of those who participate. The
dedication, courage, and spirit demonstrated by the Special Olympic
athletes help break down the stigma and stereotypes associated with
mental illness and remind all of us how important it is to build a
society where individuals can live up to their full potential.
This bill will authorize the issuance of 800,000 limited edition $1
silver coins bearing the Special Olympics emblem. Money raised through
the sale of these coins will help fund the 1995 Special Olympic World
Games. The coins will pay for themselves, so that the bill will not
impose a net cost on the Federal Government.
I am pleased that President Clinton is the honorary chairman of the
games, and that Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker is chairing the
games organizing committee in Connecticut. I commend Governor Weicker
for his commitment to the games, and I look forward to working with him
and with Senator Dodd, Congresswoman DeLauro, and with our colleagues
in Congress to help make the 1995 Special Olympic World Summer Games an
event all Americans can participate in and be proud of.
______
By Mr. CHAFEE:
S. 1861. A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on certain pigments;
to the Committee on Finance.
duty suspension legislation
Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to
grant temporary duty suspensions for the importation of several
chemical products.
These products are colorants that are used in the coating, ink, and
plastic industries; and they are particularly important because they
are used to replace colorants that use heavy metals such as lead and
cadmium.
Duty is placed on foreign products in order to prevent harm to U.S.
companies producing the same product. However, in this case, none of
the colorants in question is produced in the United States. That means
that the granting of these duty suspensions should not affect any
domestic chemical industry.
That also means that these particular duties serve solely as an added
cost to those U.S. companies who need the products and must purchase
them from foreign firms. We have one such company in my State, and it
employs some 850 persons in a town with a population of just 31,000,
making it the major employer. In this difficult economic time, the
significant cost of these duties cannot be passed on to the company's
customers. That means the company, faced with losing customers or
cutting back internally, has no choice but to cut back to the bone
internally. This kind of cost reduction effort inevitably threatens
jobs.
Enactment of these duty suspensions will ensure that our domestic
coating, ink, and plastics industry compete fairly with foreign
competitors. Our foreign competitors do not have to pay the extra costs
imposed by these duties. By paying these duties, our industry is placed
at a competitive disadvantage.
The bill I am introducing today would grant duty suspensions through
December 31, 1998. It is my hope that Congress soon will move to enact
comprehensive duty suspension legislation that will include these
provisions.
I ask unanimous consent that the legislation be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 1861
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TEMPORARY DUTY SUSPENSION FOR CERTAIN PIGMENTS.
(A) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 99 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is amended by
inserting in numerical sequence the following new headings:
``9902.32.1 Hostaperm Yellow H4G (CAS No. 031837-42-); Pigment Yellow 151) No No On or
1. (provided for in subheading 3204.17.50)............................... Fre char chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
99021.32.12 PV Fast Yellow H3R (CAS No. 074441-05-7; Pigment Yellow 181) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.30)......................................... Fre chan chan berore
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.13. Hostaperm Yellow H3G (CAS No. 068134-22-5; Pigment Yellow 154) No No On or
(provided for in subheading 3204.17.30)............................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.14. Hostaperm Yellow H6G (CAS No. 035636-63-6; Pigment Yellow 175) No No On or
(provided for in subheading 3204.17.30)............................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.15. PV Fast Yellow HG (CAS No. 077804-81-0; Pigment Yellow 180) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.30)......................................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.16. PV Fast Yellow HGR (CAS No. 129423-54-7; Pigment Yellow 191) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.30)......................................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.17. PV Fast Red HF4B (CAS No. 059487-23-9; Pigment Red 187) (provided for No No On or
in subheading 3204.17.30)............................................. Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.18. PV Red HG (CAS No. 043035-18-3; Pigment Red 247) (provided for in No No On or
subheading 3204.17.30)................................................ Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.19. PV Red HB (CAS No. 043035-18-3; Pigment Red 247) (provided for in No No On or
subheading 3204.17.30)................................................ Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.20. PV Fast Orange H4G-L (CAS No. 078245-94-0; Pigment Orange 72) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.30)......................................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.21. Permanent Yellow NCG-71 (CAS No. 005979-28-2; Pigment Yellow 16) No No On or
(provided for in subheading 3204.17.10)............................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.22. PV Carmine HF4C (CAS No. 051920-12-8; Pigment Red 185) (provided for in No No On or
subheading 3204.17.10)................................................ Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.23. Novoperm Red HF28-01 (CAS No. 031778-10-6; Pigment Red 208) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.10)......................................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.24. Novoperm Red HF3S (CAS No. 061847-48-1; Pigment Red 188) (provided for No No On or
in subheading 3204.17.10)............................................. Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98
9902.32.25. Novoperm Red HF3S-70 (CAS No. 061847-48-1; Pigment Red 188) (provided No No On or
for in subheading 3204.17.10)......................................... Fre chan chan before
e ge ge 12/31/
98''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
applies with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
______
By Mr. McCONNELL:
S. 1862. A bill to repeal the public financing of and spending limits
on Presidential election campaigns; to the Committee on Rules and
Administration.
taxpayer-funded presidential campaign system repeal act
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, there is an annual poll on the
Presidential system of taxpayer-funded spending limits called ``the
checkoff.'' In 1992, the checkoff rate was just over 17 percent,
continuing the nose dive that has marked it since soon after its
inception. The vast majority of the American people choose not to
divert $1 from the Treasury to prop up the Presidential system.
Five elections and three-quarters of a billion dollars later, the
fund is nearly bankrupt.
Before the Senate Rules Committee in recent years, one nonpartisan
witness after another has testified that the Presidential system of
spending limits doesn't work as advertised. It limits neither spending
nor special interests.
We have, in the current Presidential system, an expensive failure
that Americans do not choose to support with taxes they have already
paid. The Presidential system is a massive fraud that most Americans
are not falling for anymore.
Taxpayer dollars that have been pumped into the Presidential system
have not replaced special interests--they have merely augmented them.
Spending has not been limited in the Presidential system--it has gone
underground into ``sewer'' soft money.
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund and the system it props up is
a disaster, riddled with special interest soft money--off the books,
unlimited and undisclosed.
Virtually every reputable scholar who has studied the issue believes
the Presidential system is a disaster. Among the most notable of these
scholars is Michael Malbin of the Rockefeller Institute of Government
who testified before the Senate Rules Committee in 1991:
In every presidential election since public funding,
spending has gone up--with more and more of the money going
off the books and underground. If people care enough about an
election, they will look for ways to get involved. If they
are big and well organized, and cannot contribute directly,
then they will look at independent expenditures. Or delegate
committees. Or registration and got-out-the-vote. Or
communicating with members. Or buying issue ads that
publicize the position of an incumbent without directly
advocating election or defeat. Or dozens of devices--some of
which have not even been thought up.
Off-the-book activities like these have become more
prominent in every election since 1976. Some of them can be
regulated, but there is no way they can all be eliminated
without running roughshod over the First Amendment. More
importantly, all of these devices favor the well organized
and the powerful over smaller participants. What the limits
seem to be doing, in other words, is encouraging the powerful
to engage in subterfuge and legal gamesmanship. It is giving
them an incentive to increase their influence in ways that
are poorly disclosed. As a cure for cynicism or corruption,
this seems bizarre.
Mr. President, what is really bizarre is forcing taxpayers to pay for
a proven disaster and proposing to expand it to include congressional
races.
The Baltimore Sun published an editorial a couple of years ago
reflecting taxpayer disdain for the fund, later reprinted in the
Lexington, KY, Herald-Leader:
The overwhelming majority of taxpayers think campaign
subsidies are a bad idea, period. More think so every year.
The public's support for public financing can be measured
by the percentage of 1040 forms filed each year with $1 or $2
checked off for the presidential campaign fund. This is not
an extra dollar or two of taxes, just an earmarking. It costs
the filer nothing. Yet the percentage of those checking off
has fallen every year since 1980 * * *
Why has public support declined? Perhaps because the public
is learning that this subsidy has supplemented rather than
replaced special interest money.
Mr. President, it is often said that regardless of what the objective
scholars say, despite the clear rejection of the checkoff by our
constituents, Americans actually support public funding in exchange for
spending limits Many Senators want taxpayers to pay for all
congressional campaigns as well.
Yet over 80 percent of taxpayers choose not to check off $1 from
taxes already paid to go to the Presidential system. My constituents
have resoundingly rejected the Presidential system of taxpayer
financing. Only 10 percent of Kentuckians check off for that mess, to
allocate $1 from taxes already paid.
Mr. President, that's not a poll. That's reality.
There is no outpouring of support among Kentuckians, or residents of
any other State, for an entitlement program to pay for congressional
campaigns. They are instead screaming out that they do not want their
tax dollars paying for anyone's campaign. Not ours. Not the
President's. Not David Duke's. Not Lenora Fulani's. Not anybody's.
And certainly not a campaign that Lyndon LaRouche ran from his prison
cell. Yet, Mr. LaRouche soon will receive Federal matching funds for
the Presidential campaign he conducted while serving a 15-year sentence
for fraud.
The taxpayer-funded Presidential system is a failed government
program. Reformers had a dream in the 1970s which the Federal Election
Campaign Act transformed into reality. A reality that has now turned
into the taxpayers' nightmare. The fund's supporters had a utopian
vision of a system cleansed of special interests, where money was not a
concern for candidates. That was their dream two decades ago.
Time to stop dreaming, Mr. president. Time to wake up. The
Presidential system is a disaster, taxpayers cannot afford it and they
certainly do not support it.
Taxpayers sure are not clamoring for a taxpayer-financed
congressional system. They do not want to pay for David Duke to further
his agenda. They do not want to pay for Lenora Fulani to further her
agenda. They do not want their tax dollars used to pay for furthering
anyone's agenda.
Voters are telling us that it is time we furthered the taxpayers'
agenda. Our first spending cut should be to end a politicians'
entitlement program--the taxpayer-funded Presidential system.
To add a little historical perspective to this issue, let me add the
following interesting footnote: former House Speaker Jim Wright made
the following comment to a colleague who was opposed to the
Presidential Fund during the debate over its creation in 1974:
``Congress could repeal this law if it did not work out as we intend,
at any time in the future.''
Mr. President, it has been nearly 20 years since that debate. The
Presidential Election Campaign Fund has failed. The legislation I am
introducing would end it.
______
By Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. Dole, Mrs. Kassebaum, Mr. Kohl,
Mr. Lugar, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Warner, Mr.
Domenici, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Bennett, and Mr. Stevens):
S. 1863. A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to
institute certain reforms relating to the provision of disability
insurance benefits based on substance abuse and relating to
representative payees, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Finance.
the social security disability and rehabilitation reform act of 1994
Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, today I am joining with Senators
Dole, Kassebaum, Kohl, Lugar, Thurmond, Grassley, Warner, Domenici,
Chafee, Bennett, and Stevens in introducing legislation to stop the
flow of millions of Federal dollars into the hands of illegal drug
users, many of whom simply turn around and use the money to buy more
drugs.
By reforming the Social Security disability programs, our legislation
will encourage treatment for substance abusers, get tough on those who
manipulate the system, and send the strong message that the Federal
Government will no longer be handing out blank checks to drug dealers
and addicts, and others who are not seriously trying to help themselves
when rehabilitation is possible.
Under current law, drug addicts and alcoholics are eligible for
supplemental security income [SSI] and Social Security disability
[SSDI] benefits if they are not able to work and if their disability is
expected to last more than 1 year.
Although the current law places conditions on drug addicts and
alcoholics who receive benefits, a year-long investigation conducted by
the minority staff of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the
General Accounting Office found that the current disability system is
totally out of control. The laxity in the system not only wastes
valuable tax dollars, but also undermines our war on violent crime and
drug abuse and endangers the substance abusers themselves by giving
them more money to fuel their addictions.
Currently, substance abusers are eligible for SSI benefits only if
they receive appropriate treatment for their substance abuse, if
treatment is available. Also, their benefits are supposed to be paid to
a third party to protect the money from abuse.
Our investigation found, however, that these rules are rarely
followed. Instead, the word on the street is that the Social Security
disability programs are an easy source of cash for drugs and alcohol,
and that once the Government checks start flowing, the Government
hardly ever checks up to see if the addict is going to treatment--or to
be sure that the benefits are not being used to buy more drugs.
The bottom line is that addicts are actually seeking out the
disability programs to get money for their additions.
If Willie Sutton was alive today, in addition to robbing banks, the
probably would be tempted to apply for Social Security disability
benefits--because that's where the money is.
The size of the problem is staggering. According to the GAO, at least
250,000 drug addicts and alcoholics are now receiving over $1.4 billion
in cash benefits from the SSI and the Social Security disability
insurance programs. However, only about 78,000 of these recipients--or
less than one-third--are now required by the Social Security
Administration to receive treatment for their addictions or to have
someone else collect their checks on their behalf.
This means that no one is-watching over $1.1 billion in SSI and
disability benefits being paid each year to over 170,000 drug addicts
and alcoholics. No treatment is required and no guardian for the
benefits is appointed. Instead, the cash benefits are freely available
to feed their addictions.
The picture gets worse. Of the 78,000 substance abusers who are
supposed to be watched by the SSA to be sure they are under tight
controls, less than 10 percent were known by the Social Security
Administration to be in treatment.
In other words, only about 3 percent of all drug addicts and
alcoholics on the disability rolls are known to be in treatment for
their substance abuse. The Federal Government does not have a clue
whether the rest are in treatment or not--or where these dollars are
going.
What is clear, however, is that tax dollars are being used to support
illegal drug habits. Earlier this month, for example, a drug bust in
Williamsport, PA netted at least 28 packets of cocaine, a cutting agent
for mixing cocaine--and direct deposit receipts from Social Security
disability checks. According to the local district attorney, two of the
three suspects allegedly had been receiving Social Security benefits
for their drug addictions, but were not in any treatment program.
The Federal Government's performance in this program has been
disgraceful. Through last year, for example, the Social Security
Administration had established programs to monitor treatment
requirements for substance abuse recipients in only 18 States. While
steps are now underway by the Social Security Administration to monitor
addicts in many more States, these actions are long overdue.
Further, we found that some lump sum benefits--in some cases over
$20,000--are being paid to drug addicts and alcoholics, many of whom
are spending the money on drugs or alcohol, resulting in dangerous
consequences, or even death, to the claimants. Even when the benefits
are paid to a third party, this money often finds its way back into the
hands of the addicts--and into the local bar or drug houses.
For example, an SSI applicant was found to be disabled on the basis
of his drug addiction, and then died of a lethal drug overdose
purchased with his lump sum benefits from SSA.
Another addict used his $19,000 lump sum benefit check to buy
cocaine.
We have even found cases where the Federal Government is awarding
disability benefits to drug addicts even when it knows first hand that
the addict is dealing drugs or engaging in other criminal activity to
sustain his or her habit.
To sum it up, the message of our disability program is:
Show us that you are a severe drug addict and the Government will pay
you.
As long as you continue to shoot up or drink, the money keeps coming.
Then, even if you tell us that you are breaking the law to get your
drugs, we'll still pay you.
And finally, once we start the checks, they will probably never stop
coming.
At the same time that we are losing the war against violent crime and
drug abuse, this is an outrageous message for the Federal Government to
send.
Tragically, these lax policies not only drain the Federal Treasury,
but also are detrimental to substance abusers themselves by rewarding
addiction, and by discouraging and failing to provide necessary
treatment.
Psychiatrists and drug abuse counselors have told us that the laxity
in the current system violates the basic rules of drug and alcohol
treatment: Never give cash to an addict, because it is like giving him
or her the key to the medicine cabinet.
Studies show that giving cash to an addict greatly undermines
treatment. For example, visits to a methadone treatment program dropped
off sharply directly after the drug addicts received their disability
checks. Other drug abuse treatment experts have told us that drug
induced psychosis cases often increase at the end of the first week of
the month, and that requests for treatment drop off during the first
few days of the month. It is no coincidence that this is the same time
that the SSI and disability checks arrive in the mail.
It is crucial that we fix this system which has run amok.
The legislation we are introducing today will go far in stopping the
cash from flowing into the pockets of drug dealers and into the veins
of drug addicts.
Specifically, the bill requires that any individual who receives
disability benefits under the SSDI and SSI programs on the basis of
substance abuse must undergo appropriate treatment for substance abuse
if it is available; comply with the terms of treatment; and receive
benefits through a qualified representative payee.
The bill sets up a strict disability review process for those who
disability is based on substance abuse. Upon completion of first year
of treatment the SSA will be required to review the case for continued
disability and compliance with treatment requirements. If an individual
fails to comply with treatment, benefits will be suspended.
At the end of 2 years of treatment, the individual is again reviewed.
If substance abuse is no longer a basis for disability, no additional
treatment is required.
In no event will disability payments be made on the basis of
substance abuse for more than a cumulative period of 3 years. This
termination will not affect any person receiving SSI/SSDI benefits made
on the basis of other nonsubstance abuse medical impairments.
To address the need for more treatment of hard core addicts, the bill
gives high priority to SSI and disability insurance substance abusers
in programs supported through the substance abuse block grant.
To stop abuses in the payment of benefits to third parties, the bill
requires representatives payees for substance abuse recipients to be
Government agencies or other facilities, which will not be subject to
coercion by the substance abuser.
The bill also requires that any lump sum benefit payable to a
substance abusers in SSI and SSDI must be paid to a representative
payee.
We also require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
designate an agency to refer and monitor treatment of individuals who
receive benefits on the basis of substance abuse for each State within
1 year of enactment.
The bill further requires that any proceeds derived from criminal
activity to support substance abuse shall be considered substantial
gainful activity, thereby making that individual ineligible for
benefits.
Finally, the bill includes tough measures to stop the manipulation of
the disability program by addicts and others who want to cash in on the
disability system. Specifically, the bill toughens penalties for
fraudulent statements or misrepresentations made by applicants or
recipients to obtain SSI or SSDI benefits, or by others who assist in
such fraudulent acts. The Secretary of HHS is also given authority to
exclude from all HHS health and disability programs any person who
defrauds the disability system in order to receive or help someone else
receive benefits.
Far from abandoning substance abusers, this proposal stresses
treatment and rehabilitation, while closing the loopholes in the
disability system which now invite abuse.
If we are serious about reducing illegal drug abuse and reforming our
welfare system, we cannot ignore these wasteful, counterproductive
practices in our Social Security disability system. Fighting crime is
hard enough without supplying the other side with money for their
drugs.
The proposal we are introducing today is an important step toward
reforming the disability process into a system that encourages
rehabilitation for those who can and should recover from their
addictions, rather than providing a lifelong--and life threatening--
source of cash for drugs.
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