[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5492-S5494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HELMS:
  S. 1789. A bill to amend the Social Security Act to deny the payment 
of Social Security and supplemental security income benefits to 
prisoners, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.


             the prevention of prisoner double-dipping act

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, a less formal but somewhat more revealing 
title for this bill would be ``The Prevention of Prisoner Double-
Dipping Act.'' A rose by any other name is still a rose and this bill 
is a winner by any name. It will save millions of dollars of the 
taxpayers' money and it will put a stop to the injustice of paying 
scarce Social Security disability benefits to prisoners charged with a 
felony who have been in jail for 30 or more days awaiting trial.
  Current law prohibits payment of disability benefits to anyone in 
jail after conviction for a felony. A loophole permits prisoners to 
continue receiving benefits despite the fact that they are in jail if 
they have not yet been convicted of the crime charged. This bill will 
close that loophole.
  Mr. President, I learned that prisoners are continuing to receive 
these benefits when Sheriff Mike Joyce of Stokes County, NC, wrote me 
earlier this year about it. Sheriff Joyce wrote to me about Earl 
Blevins, a career criminal and convicted murderer, who has been in 
Stokes County jail since December 16, 1995, awaiting trial on charges 
of larceny and breaking and entering. Incredibly, Blevins has been 
receiving disability payments since 1988, even though as Sheriff Joyce 
stated, Blevins obviously is healthy enough ``to run from a bloodhound 
and hide up under leaves under a tree.''
  Until last month, when Blevins was convicted of unrelated felony 
charges in Surry County, he was receiving $450 per month in disability 
payments while Stokes County taxpayers were picking up the tab for his 
room and board and other care.
  Mr. President, Sheriff Mike Joyce is a fine law enforcement officer. 
His outrage about the Federal Government's paying prisoner Blevins $450 
per month in Social Security disability benefits while he is in jail 
awaiting trial on yet another felony charge, will be matched by the 
outrage of the public at large once they learn about it.
  The point is this: Earl Blevins and other career criminals prey on 
law-abiding citizens. When they are apprehended, their food, clothing, 
shelter, and often their legal fees are paid for by the very citizens 
whom the criminals have victimized. It is unwarranted salt rubbed in 
the taxpayer's wounds that these predators are allowed by law to 
collect disability benefits while awaiting trial. This bill will change 
that law.
  The purpose of Social Security disability payments is to provide a 
minimum income to beneficiaries in order to insure that they have 
access to food and shelter. A prisoner awaiting trial is already being 
provided these needs and the taxpayers are paying the bill. Prisoners 
should not be allowed to ``double-dip'' into the pocket of taxpayers.

[[Page S5493]]

  Mr. President, for the record, I reiterate that current law stops 
Social Security disability payments to anyone who has been convicted of 
a felony. It also stops payments to the criminally insane who are 
confined to a mental hospital. Other disability benefits, for example, 
SSI, are cut off to a recipient who is locked up for 30 or more days, 
even if they have not yet been brought to trial. My bill will simply 
apply the same policy to Social Security [OASDI] disability benefits 
that we now have for SSI disability benefits.

  Mr. President, the existing situation brings to mind the case of 
Michael Hayes who cold-bloodedly killed four people and shot five 
others during a 1988 murder spree in Winston-Salem. After being 
confined to a State mental hospital, he began receiving over $500 a 
month in Social Security disability payments which he used to buy 
luxuries like leather coats, electronics, and even a motorcycle. 
Payments to Hayes finally stopped last year after the 103d Congress 
passed and the President signed my bill which I had offered in response 
to this outrage. It's now time for this Congress to act to stop further 
waste of Social Security funds.
  Mr. President, let me make clear for the Record what the pending 
bill, the Prevention of Prisoner Double-Dipping act will do:
  It will eliminate pretrial benefits to anyone charged with a felony 
who has been in jail for 30 or more days;
  It will authorize $50,000,000 for the Social Security Office of 
Inspector General to increase the number of investigators and auditors 
pursuing charges of fraud against the SSA;
  It will require SSA to make recommendations to insure the timely and 
accurate reporting of pre-trial felony detainees in order to stop 
benefits to those who will no longer qualify under this bill;
  It will give the Commissioner of SSA the authority to make payments 
to State and local correctional facilities that report the receipt of 
benefits by those who are in custody;
  It will give the SSA power to impose civil monetary penalties of up 
to $5,000 each time someone fraudulently uses a Social Security number 
or card, in addition to being subject to an assessment of up to five 
times the amount of disability benefits paid; and
  It will require SSA to make recommendations to streamline the review 
and appeals process.
  Mr. President, a few concluding thoughts: I expect some of my 
colleagues will raise concerns about the constitutionality of the 
Prevention of Prisoner Double-Dipping Act. I am confident that this 
legislation will easily pass constitutional muster because prisoners 
have no constitutional right to be paid while they are sitting in jail.
  Second, although this bill is targeted towards prisoners, it is not 
punitive. These payments should be stopped because they are 
duplicative, not because Congress is imposing a punishment on the 
recipient. The payments would be stopped regardless of the ultimate 
finding of guilt.
  Finally, stopping payments to a prisoner will have no effect on the 
payment of benefits to children and other dependents who are otherwise 
entitled to these or other benefits.
  I do hope the Senate will expedite consideration of these common 
sense reforms of the Social Security Act and thereby, save millions of 
dollars that the taxpayer would otherwise have to provide.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of S. 1789 be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1789

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       The short title of this Act may be cited as the 
     ``Prevention of Prisoner Double-Dipping Act''.

     SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

       (a) Denial of Benefits to Individuals Jailed on Felony 
     Charges.--
       (1) In general.--Section 202(x)(1)(A) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(x)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
     ``or'' at the end of clause (i), by striking the period at 
     the end of clause (ii) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding 
     at the end the following new clause:
       ``(iii) is confined in a jail, prison, or other penal 
     institution or correctional facility pursuant to a charge of 
     an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year, 
     but only with respect to months after the first 30 days of 
     such confinement.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 202(x)(1)(B)(i) of such 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 402(x)(1)(B)(i)) is amended by striking 
     ``clause (i)'' and inserting ``clauses (i) and (iii)''.
       (3) Study of methods to insure the collection of 
     information respecting public inmates.--
       (A) Study.--The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
     conduct a study regarding methods to insure the timely and 
     accurate reporting of information respecting court orders by 
     which individuals described in section 202(x)(1)(A)(iii) of 
     the Social Security Act (402 U.S.C. 402(x)(1)(A)(iii)) are 
     confined in jails, prisons, or other public penal, 
     correctional, or medical facilities as the Commissioner may 
     require for the purpose of carrying out section 202(x) and 
     1611(e)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(x) and 1382(e)(1)).
       (B) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 
     shall submit a report on the results of the study conducted 
     pursuant to this paragraph to the Committee on Finance of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     shall apply to payments made for months beginning after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Implementation of Prohibition Against Payment of 
     Benefits to Prisoners.--
       (1) In general.--Section 202(x)(3) of the Social Security 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 402(x)(3)) is amended--
       (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(B)(i) The Commissioner is authorized to enter into a 
     contract, with any interested State or local institution 
     described in clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) the 
     primary purpose of which is to confine individuals as 
     described in paragraph (1)(A), under which--
       ``(I) the institution shall provide to the Commissioner, on 
     a monthly basis, the names, social security account numbers, 
     dates of birth, and such other identifying information 
     concerning the individuals confined in the institution as the 
     Commissioner may require for the purpose of carrying out 
     paragraph (1); and
       ``(II) the Commissioner is authorized to pay to any such 
     institution, with respect to each individual who is entitled 
     to a benefit under this title for the month preceding the 
     first month throughout which such individual is confined in 
     such institution as described in paragraph (1)(A), an amount 
     determined by the Commissioner.
       ``(ii) The provisions of section 552a of title 5, United 
     States Code, shall not apply to any contract entered into 
     under clause (i) or to information exchanged pursuant to such 
     contract.''.
       (2) Conforming ssi amendments.--Section 1611(e)(1) of such 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(e)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new subparagraph:
       ``(I)(i) The Commissioner is authorized to enter into a 
     contract, with any interested State or local institution 
     referred to in subparagraph (A), under which--
       ``(I) the institution shall provide to the Commissioner, on 
     a monthly basis, the names, social security account numbers, 
     dates of birth, and such other identifying information 
     concerning the inmates of the institution as the Commissioner 
     may require for the purpose of carrying out this paragraph; 
     and
       ``(II) the Commissioner is authorized to pay to any such 
     institution, with respect to each inmate of the institution 
     who is eligible for a benefit under this title for the month 
     preceding the first month throughout which such inmate is in 
     such institution and becomes ineligible for such benefit (or 
     becomes eligible only for a benefit payable at a reduced 
     rate) as a result of the application of this paragraph, an 
     amount determined by the Commissioner.
       ``(ii) The provisions of section 552a of title 5, United 
     States Code, shall not apply to any contract entered into 
     under clause (i) or to information exchanged pursuant to such 
     contract.''.

     SEC. 3. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES FOR FRAUDULENT USE OF SOCIAL 
                   SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND CARDS.

       (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 1129 of the 
     Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8) is amended by 
     redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3) and by inserting 
     after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) Any person who--
       ``(1) willfully, knowingly, and with intent to deceive, 
     uses a social security account number assigned on the basis 
     of false information provided by such person or another 
     person;
       ``(2) with intent to deceive, falsely represents a number 
     to be a social security account number;
       ``(3) knowingly alters a social security card;
       ``(4) buys or sells a card that is, or purports to be, a 
     social security card;
       ``(5) possesses a social security card or counterfeit card 
     with the intent to sell or alter such card; or
       ``(6) discloses, uses, or compels the disclosure of the 
     social security account number of any person in violation of 
     the law,


[[Page S5494]]


     shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that 
     may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not more 
     than $5,000 for each offense. Such person also shall be 
     subject to an assessment, in lieu of damages sustained by the 
     United States because of such offense, of not more than 5 
     times the amount of benefits or payments paid under titles II 
     and XVI as a result of such offense.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (1) of section 1129(c) 
     of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8(c)) is amended by striking 
     ``statements and representations'' and inserting ``actions''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to conduct occurring on or after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO COMBAT FRAUD IN THE SOCIAL 
                   SECURITY SYSTEM.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Out of any money in 
     the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are authorized 
     to be appropriated, to remain available without fiscal year 
     limitation, $50,000,000 for the Commissioner of Social 
     Security through the Office of Inspector General to utilize 
     only for increasing the number of investigators and auditors 
     charged with pursuing charges of fraud against the programs 
     under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act.
       (b) Additional Funds.--Amounts appropriated under 
     subsection (a) shall be in addition to any funds otherwise 
     appropriated for the purposes described in subsection (a).

     SEC. 5. STUDY REGARDING REVIEW AND APPEALS PROCESS.

       (a) Study.--The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
     conduct a study regarding methods to streamline the review 
     and appeals process under title II and XVI of the Social 
     Security Act.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 
     shall submit a report on the results of the study conducted 
     pursuant to this section to the Committee on Finance of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
     Representatives.
                                 ______