[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 143 (Thursday, September 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE CRIMINAL WELFARE PREVENTION ACT

  (Mr. CLEMENT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I, along with Congressmen Herger 
and Shaw, introduced bipartisan legislation to address the problem of 
prisoners receiving Social Security and SSI benefits while 
incarcerated, a violation of public law and a huge waste of taxpayer 
money.
  I originally became aware of this issue last month when an inmate in 
my district who had been convicted of selling drugs in prison bailed 
himself out of jail with a Social Security check he was still receiving 
from the Social Security Administration. This legislation will begin to 
address the primary problem--the reporting of criminals to the Social 
Security Administration.
  In a time when we are working tirelessly to eliminate Government 
waste, to ensure the viability of the Social Security Program, and to 
provide benefits for those who truly need them, surely we all agree 
that we don't need to be paying prisoners for their drug habits and 
bail money.
  I call on my House colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 2320 and end this 
flagrant abuse of taxpayer money.


                          ____________________