[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 22, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




LEGISLATION TO RESTORE ELIGIBILITY OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOR SSI AND FOOD 
                                 STAMPS

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, last year, the President and Congress 
enacted welfare legislation which I said was welfare repeal, not 
welfare reform. At that time, researchers at the Urban Institute 
estimated 2.6 million people would fall below the poverty line because 
of the legislation, 1.1 million of them children. The same researchers 
projected that 3.5 million children would be dropped from the rolls in 
2001 because of the time limits contained in the legislation.
  During the debate last year, there was little attention given to the 
provisions concerning the eligibility of legal immigrants for benefits. 
These immigrants have come to America legally. They pay taxes and serve 
in our military. Yet the new law eliminates the eligibility of these 
immigrants--should misfortune strike them--for SSI and food stamps, and 
it severely limits their eligibility for TANF and Medicaid. Many legal 
immigrants affected by these restrictions are elderly. In my own State 
of New York, they might be frail disabled survivors of the Holocaust, 
or refugees from the former Soviet Union who are about to lose their 
only means of support. This situation has come to our attention now 
because it is among the first parts of the bill to be implemented.
  The President has proposed restoring eligibility for SSI to those 
legal immigrants who become disabled after entering this country. He 
has also proposed permitting refugees and asylees additional time 
before becoming subject to the various restrictions, in light of the 
difficult circumstances under which they arrive on our shores. I 
support these proposals, although I regret that enactment of the 
welfare repeal law has made this new legislation necessary.
  I am pleased to join with colleagues of both parties in introducing 
legislation to continue SSI and food stamp benefits to those legal 
immigrants already receiving them and to permanently exempt refugees 
and asylees from the eligibility restrictions. This is a good first 
step in addressing the immediate and pressing needs of these 
immigrants, and I urge our fellow Senators to join us in this effort. 
It represents the beginning of a bipartisan discussion on how to 
address this issue, and I commend the legislation to the Senate.

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