[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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

 
                A BILL TO MAKE SSA AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY

 Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I would like to speak on behalf of a 
bill that was approved by the Senate on March 2, 1994: The Social 
Security Administration Independence Act, S. 1560. While I was unable 
to participate in the Senate floor debate that day, I want to state my 
whole-hearted support for the bill, and to mark the importance of its 
approval by the Senate. This is legislation whose time has come. In 
fact, it is long overdue. This Senator introduced the first bill in the 
U.S. Senate to make SSA independent in 1984. Since that time, both 
Houses of Congress have stepped up to the plate on this issue numerous 
times, without ever scoring a run.
  AT this time, under the able leadership of the chairman of the 
Finance Committee, I truly believe we will accomplish our longstanding 
goal of making SSA independent. Chairman Moynihan has been a tireless 
leader on this and all issues concerning Social Security. Due in large 
part to his leadership, March 2 will be remembered as a historic 
breakthough in the history of this critical agency.
  Mr. President, SSA deserves to be independent. It affects virtually 
every household in America. Nearly one out of every six Americans 
receives direct benefits from Social Security or Supplemental Security 
Income. Over 130 million Americans pay Social Security taxes. To carry 
out these huge responsibilities, SSA is one of the largest agencies in 
the Federal Government, with 64,000 employees, a network of 1,300 field 
offices, and an annual budget of over $300 billion.
  As an independent agency, SSA would be larger than most Federal 
departments. In fact, SSA currently has more employees than if you 
combined the staffs of the Department of State, the Department of 
Labor, the Department of Education, and the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development--SSA has more employees than all of these together.
  We need to remember that SSA started in the 1930's as an independent 
agency. The bill before us would restore SSA to its original position. 
Given how much the agency has grown since then, it is more important 
now than ever that SSA be made independent.
  The public demands and deserves the highest quality of service from 
SSA. Unfortunately, they haven't been getting that kind of service 
lately. When someone calls with an inquiry or concern about an 
important Social Security benefit, they ought to be able to get a 
direct, clear, and accurate answer. They should not get a busy signal, 
have to wait in a long line, or be transferred to some distant office 
on an 800 number. They should not get wrong information or an 
incomplete response.
  Until recent years, SSA was considered a flagship agency for quality 
service to the public. SSA, in my opinion, has lost that reputation for 
excellence. One way to turn this around is to make SSA independent, so 
it can more directly manage its own affairs, hire the people it needs, 
and get them out where they need to be in the field.
  Another step that needs to be taken is to completely remove Social 
Security from the Federal budget, so that its funds are not used in the 
budget arithmetic for something unrelated to Social Security. Despite 
having taken Social Security off-budget, games are still being played 
with SSA's administrative budget. I would like to work with the 
chairman of the Finance and Budget Committees, who have lead efforts to 
take SSA administrative expenses off-budget, to get that accomplished.
  This bill contains a number of key reforms, including its structure 
with a single administrator at the head of the Agency, overseen by a 
bipartisan advisory board. In 1989, I asked the National Academy of 
Public Administration to conduct a study as to the best governing 
structure for SSA. The study concluded, based on historical examples of 
problems faced by agencies that were run by boards, that the structure 
contained in this bill was the best model. The General accounting 
Office reached the same conclusion.
  The Social Security Administration is one of the few Government 
agencies that touches the life of every American citizen at one time or 
another. I congratulate the chairman of the Committee on Finance, Mr. 
Moynihan, and my colleagues on the passage of this legislation, which 
will benefit the millions of Americans who participate in Social 
Security, and for those who will be participating for years to 
come.

                          ____________________