[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 83 (Thursday, May 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1075-E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS SHOULD BE OFF BUDGET

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                        HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 1995
  Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, today Mr. Cardin and I are introducing 
legislation to assure that Social Security administrative costs are 
off-budget, just as Social Security benefit costs are segregated from 
the rest of the budget.
  In the 101st Congress, we made the Social Security trust funds 
independent. In other words, the financial accounting of the Social 
Security Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance [OASDI] Program 
would not in any way be intermingled with the financial accounting of 
the rest of the Government.
  The trouble is that, despite this law, the administrative costs of 
the Social Security Program remain subject to the general caps on 
Federal spending that we passed in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.
  The backlog of disability cases pending at the Disability 
Determination Services is just over 700,000 cases. Thanks to the hard 
work of the stalwart employees of the Social Security Administration, 
that backlog has not grown since last year. However, the number of 
cases piling up at the Office of Hearings and Appeals for review by 
administrative law judges is increasing.
  I am introducing this legislation again this year to clarify that 
Social Security administrative funds are independent of the general 
[[Page E1076]] funds of the Government. Under this bill, administrative 
funds would continue to be subject to annual appropriations. In 
addition, the appropriations would be further limited by a budgetary 
point of order against any bill that provides Social Security 
administrative funding of more than 1.5 percent of estimated benefit 
payments for that year.
  The people who pay the Social Security tax are entitled to get what 
they pay for--and that includes adequate administration of the Social 
Security Program. Inadequate administration means long delays in 
benefit checks, inaccurate payments, high telephone busy rates, and 
poor services to both workers and beneficiaries. Furthermore, in the 
Social Security Disability Program, inadequate administration can mean 
that justice delayed is justice denied.


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