[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 23, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

  Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to join my colleagues, first, in 
recognizing the important occasion of Greek Independence Day. After 
that, I will have another subject to talk on. I just wanted to note 
that much of what we celebrate in this country we get from the 
tradition of Greek democracy.
  As a Member of Congress and as a representative of the north shore of 
Massachusetts, I feel I have two reasons this evening to note Greek 
Independence Day.
  First, any Member of Congress ought to hold Greek civilization with 
great reverence. After all, it was Greece that gave birth to not just 
the word democracy, which means ``rule of the people,'' but of the 
concept of democracy.
  When we debate and vote in this room, for all Congress' flaws, we are 
partaking in a system that is a direct decendant of the government 
established by the Greeks more than 2,000 years ago. Freedom-loving 
people everywhere should remember that we are direct political 
decendants of the ancient Greeks.
  Second, I feel a particular need to recognize Greek Independence Day 
because of the nature of my district. From Saint Vasilios Church on 
Paleologos Street in Peabody to the beautiful Hellenic community center 
in Ipswich, Greek-Americans have made numerous contributions to life in 
Massachusetts.
  For people who walk through the Capitol, they notice what is called 
the Old House Chamber or Statuary Hall, and they notice its resemblance 
to a Greek temple. That was not an accident. The people who founded our 
country and helped design the Capitol knew that they were borrowing 
much from Greek tradition, and they were not going to limit themselves 
to just the form of government, but they even emulated the buildings 
themselves.
  Modern-day America also derives much from Americans of Greek descent. 
So as we celebrate our own freedoms, as we celebrate our own self-
government, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Greek people for the 
traditions they have given us.


            problems in the welfare system in massachusetts

  Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, today I plan to finish reading into the 
Congressional Record parts of an extensive series by the Eagle-Tribune, 
a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper that circulates in my district. The 
paper chronicles enormous problems in the welfare system in 
Massachusetts, including the fact that prisoners have been receiving 
welfare and SSI benefits; I believe the entire country needs to hear 
this story.
  Because of the enormous problems our welfare system represents, I 
have taken the time to read key parts of the series during special 
orders. No one wins under the current system: not the parents who too-
often become addicted to it, not the criminals and others who rip off 
the system with little fear of being caught, and certainly not the tax-
payers who pay billions of dollars a year to fund it.
  I have introduced legislation to enact one specific area of reform: 
the elimination of supplemental security income, or SSI benefits for 
prisoners. Currently, men and women doing time for serious misdemeanor 
offenses are collecting checks in prison.
  This is nothing short of insanity and it should stop immediately.
  The articles I would like to read tonight are brief but really 
underscore the point. The first one is entitled, ``Four Lives of Crime 
Supported by Welfare.''

        Bruce Lavigne--Mother Urged Him To Change Name on Checks

       A 21-month jail sentence for beating up his girlfriend did 
     not stop Bruce J. Lavigne's monthly Supplemental Security 
     Income disability checks.
       On Aug. 27, 1992, Mr. Lavigne, 33 of 324 Walnut St., 
     Lawrence, was found guilty in August 1992 of assault and 
     battery on a household member, malicious destruction of 
     property and operating to endanger.
       Mr. Lavigne received a longer than usual sentence because 
     he violated his parole for an earlier conviction for assault 
     and battery with a dangerous weapon.
       When he was sent to jail, he was receiving $581 a month in 
     SSI from Social Security.
       Jail officials confiscated an SSI check sent to him by his 
     mother with a two-page letter last September.
       ``You should have somebody else's name on the check so you 
     can have it cashed,'' the letter said. ``You could arrange 
     that with Social Security. Other people have done it.''
       The check was returned to the Social Security 
     Administration.
       Mr. Lavigne has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 
     1977, when he was first convicted of larceny. He was later 
     convicted of larceny over $250, malicious destruction of 
     property, breaking and entering and operating under the 
     influence.
       When contacted at Middleton jail, Mr. Lavigne wrote back: 
     ``Please just leave me alone and let me straighten out my 
     life. The past is history and cannot be changed. I made 
     mistakes in which I'm paying dearly for.''

  The second story in this series:

 Thomas Phoutopolous--Social Security Benefits Mailed Directly to Jail

       The federal Social Security Administration knew him as 
     Thomas Phoutopolous, a 34-year-old Somerville man receiving a 
     monthly SSI disability check for $464.
       Law enforcement officials also knew him by his alias Thomas 
     Gerraughty. He is a career criminal with a rap sheet five 
     pages long that dates to 1976. He has been an armed robber, 
     burglar and escapee.
       Administered by the Social Security Administration but paid 
     in part by the state taxes, SSI is supposed to go to the 
     poor, elderly and disabled.
       SSI benefits are also supposed to be stopped if the 
     recipient is sentenced to more than a month in jail, Social 
     Security spokesman Kurt Czarnowski said.
       It is not known how long Mr. Phoutopolous had been 
     receiving SSI when he was sent away to jail for a year last 
     May for possession of heroin and hypodermic needles and 
     receiving stolen property.
       It is known the sentence did not stop his benefits. In 
     June, a U.S. Treasury check was mailed directly to Middleton, 
     bearing Mr. Phoutopolous's name and the jail's address. Jail 
     officials confiscated the check and returned it to the Social 
     Security Administration.
       When Mr. Phoutopolous's met a reporter at the jail, he 
     walked with a slight limp and carried a cane. His well-
     developed biceps were covered with tatoos.
       He denied receiving SSI and quickly slammed the phone down 
     in the visitors room after the subject was raised.
       ``You must have me confused with someone else,'' he said 
     before getting up to leave.
       ``How do I know you're not a cop,'' he yelled as he left. 
     ``Talk to my lawyer.''

  The third life mentioned is Mr. John Ward.

     John G. Ward, Jr.--Welfare Continued Despite Parole Violation

       John G. Ward Jr., 28, of Boxford, was sentenced in October 
     1990 to 2\1/2\ years in Concord state prison for robbing a 
     woman.
       When he was paroled, he started collecting $339 a month in 
     General Relief benefits, plus food stamps.
       Until Gov. William F. Weld stopped the practice two years 
     ago, ex-convicts were automatically entitled to welfare 
     benefits for 60 days but the checks were supposed to stop if 
     the recipient was jailed again.
       In July 1991, Mr. Ward violated his parole by driving drunk 
     on a suspended license. He was sentenced to 60 days in 
     Middleton Jail.
       His welfare did not stop. While in jail, Mr. Ward's General 
     Relief checks were sent to an address in Boxford that Mr. 
     Ward identified as the home of his son's godparents.
       Someone who he refused to identify sent the checks to Mr. 
     Ward at the jail. A deputy sheriff found one of the checks, 
     confiscated it and the benefits stopped.
       ``I don't know how it got here,'' Mr. Ward said. ``They 
     probably sent it so I could sign it. That's all legit. If it 
     wasn't I wouldn't say anything.''

  The fourth life,

  James Freeman--In Jail Three Different Times But Welfare Kept Coming

       Even with a New Hampshire jail as his address, James 
     Freeman was able to keep collecting welfare through the 
     Lawrence welfare office.
       At 26, Mr. Freeman, of Lawrence, has a record dating back 
     to at least 1984 for a wide variety of petty crimes and more 
     serious offenses.
       He has done time for burglary, drug possession and assault 
     and battery on a police officer, among other things. He is 
     now awaiting trial for armed robbery.
       He went on the General Relief welfare rolls in January 1991 
     for a disability and switched to Supplemental Security Income 
     benefits a year later.
       ``I was in a big accident when I was 11 years old. I split 
     my head open. I can't remember too well,'' he said when asked 
     about his disability.
       His welfare case was still active as of last September.
       While on welfare, Mr. Freeman went to jail three different 
     times and his checks kept coming. It is illegal to collect 
     welfare behind bars.
       In September 1991, Mr. Freeman was sent to Middleton jail 
     for 30 days for drunken driving.
       In April 1992, Mr. Freeman was sent away for four months to 
     Rockingham County jail in Brentwood, N.H., for drug 
     possession and several motor vehicle offenses.
       Mr. Freeman said he was able to keep collecting welfare 
     while in Brentwood by having his girlfriend cash his checks. 
     Both Mr. Freeman and his girlfriend said she had permission 
     from his social worker.
       He returned to Middleton in July 1992 after he was arrested 
     for robbing a man at knifepoint at a highway rest stop.
       Mr. Freeman, still awaiting trial, said the man had 
     propositioned him.
       He said he is no longer collecting welfare behind bars.

  The next article is entitled ``On the Lam, On the Dole'':

       Three years ago, Elmer Sandoval's face was on posters in 
     U.S. post offices across Massachusetts.
       The illegal immigrant from Guatemala was wanted for 
     kidnapping, assault and battery with a knife and a slew of 
     other crimes.
       State welfare officials knew how to find Mr. Sandoval.
       While wanted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 
     Mr. Sandoval, 42, of Lawrence, was collecting a monthly check 
     for $339 a month in General Relief, plus food stamps.
       But welfare officials could not tell INS how to find Mr. 
     Sandoval. An executive order signed by Gov. Michael S. 
     Dukakis made it a crime for any state employees to help INS 
     agents find illegal immigrants, even violent fugitives.
       Charles Baker, who oversees welfare as Gov. William F. 
     Weld's secretary of health and human services, said he was 
     unaware of the executive order. It still stands.
       Mr. Sandoval remains missing, though his welfare benefits 
     were cut off when he failed to report for a routine review of 
     his case in June 1990.
       The Eagle-Tribune found several other cases of illegal 
     immigrants enjoying the support and protection of the 
     Department of Public Welfare while wanted for various crimes. 
     Among them:

  The final article I would like to read is just a synopsis of The 10 
Most Common Types of Fraud:


                          1. unreported income

       A welfare recipient holds a job.--Investigators call this 
     the most common form of welfare fraud. Most of these cases 
     are uncovered through routine computer matches between the 
     welfare department and the departments of revenue and 
     unemployment. But many people avoid detection by taking their 
     pay in cash or under the table.


                        2. state employee fraud

       A welfare employee creates a series of fake recipients who 
     collect benefits. The employee manages the cases and deposits 
     all of the checks into a private checking account.--A former 
     financial assistance worker in the Lowell welfare office was 
     indicted for stealing $46,000 in benefits from the state last 
     year using a similar scam.


                           3. man in the home

       A welfare recipient hides the fact that she lives with the 
     father of her children while collecting monthly Aid to 
     Families With Dependent Children, or AFDC, benefits. Often, 
     the father works full-time so the family collects two 
     incomes.--It is not against the law for a boyfriend to live 
     with an AFDC recipient, as long as he is not the father of 
     the children. Some critics believe this regulation causes 
     families to split.


                            4. vendor fraud

       A doctor or a dentist submits bills for office visits when 
     a person never appears. Or a landlord falsifies records in 
     order to receive payments for dead or non-existent tenants.--
     A doctor who ran a clinic in Lawrence was found guilty of 
     submitting bills to Medicaid for phantom services. He got a 
     one-year sentence in the Middleton jail.


                          5. multiple benefits

       A person walks into a welfare office with a bogus name and 
     fake Social Security number. The next week, that same person 
     applies for welfare in another office under a different 
     Social Security number and new name. Two welfare checks 
     arrive each month.--This scam is also used to collect welfare 
     under different programs such as Supplemental Security 
     Income, or SSI, and AFDC.


                              6. residency

       A couple lives in another state but use different 
     Massachusetts addresses to collect welfare benefits.--Often, 
     welfare cheats travel from town to town and set up fictitious 
     addresses.


                  7. ineligible/non-existent recipient

       A woman reports extra children in order to boost her 
     monthly welfare grant. But there are no children.


                             8. food stamps

       A recipient trades his vouchers for cash at a corner store 
     for less than their market value. The store redeems the 
     coupons at the bank for 100 percent of their value. Food 
     stamps are also traded for drugs.


                      9. emergency assistance scam

       Landlords and recipients falsify documents to qualify the 
     recipient for Emergency Assistance grants. A tenant who has 
     been thrown out on the street or burned out of a home can 
     collect four months in back rent and, until this year, up to 
     six months in utility payments as well.--Welfare commissioner 
     Joseph V. Gallant said a minority of recipients deliberately 
     fall behind in their rent to collect EA payments.


                           10. stolen checks

       Most welfare recipients get checks twice a month through 
     the mail. Checks are often reported stolen.--People who have 
     had checks stolen in the mail may arrange to pick up their 
     checks at the local welfare office.

  Mr. Speaker, what you and anyone else listening have heard is a 
series of stories about problems in the welfare system.
  Instead of giving families a short-term hand, the current system is 
sucking them into a long-term addiction. Literally generations of 
Americans have been debilitated by welfare and its morass of rules that 
discourage work and then stigmatize recipients.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come to revamp the welfare system from the 
ground up. We should recatch the compassionate vision that guided those 
who founded welfare.
  By this I mean that we should exercise real compassion, aiming to 
help families through crises, encourage them to work and help them get 
back on their own feet. If we can do that, everyone will benefit.
  Families will retain the dignity that comes from hard work and self-
sufficiency. Government will become more efficient. And taxpayers will 
have the satisfaction of knowing their hard-earned dollars are being 
spent wisely.
  Mr. Speaker, States around the country from neighboring Virginia to 
Wisconsin are tackling this problem head on. It is about time, and we 
should do the same.

                              {time}  1940

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Barca of Wisconsin). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of February 11, 1994, the gentlewoman from Hawaii 
[Mrs. Mink] is recognized for 60 minutes as the majority leader's 
designee.

  [Mrs. MINK addressed the House. Her remarks will appear hereafter in 
the Extensions of Remarks.]

                          ____________________