[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 164 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14762-S14763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE TICKET TO WORK AND WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the work 
incentives and ticket to work legislation. This is a day I have looked 
forward to for a long time.
  It is a great day for the disabled in America. By passing this 
legislation, we are going to make it easier for them to return to work 
and become self-sufficient. We are going to give those who want to try 
to return to work the tools they need to support themselves and to 
escape from the dependency on a monthly Government check.
  For years, the Social Security disability program has provided a 
vital safety net to assist those who fall on hard times and need help 
when they become sick or injured and cannot support themselves. It has 
done this job well. But for the many disabled people who have wanted to 
return to work and could be able to work, the disability program has 
not worked as well. It has not properly equipped them to return to the 
workforce. It has not given them the tools they need to move off the 
disability rolls. In fact, fewer than 1 percent of those who go on the 
disability rolls--that is currently 4.5 million people--never return to 
work because the program does not provide an adequate support network 
or resources for these Americans to move back into the workforce.
  For these disabled people, the disability program has become a black 
hole. Once they fall in, they cannot escape. The bill we hope to pass 
today or tomorrow finally gives these Americans new hope, the ladder 
they need to climb out of that hole. The Ticket To Work and Work 
Incentives Improvement Act modernizes the disability program and moves 
it into the modern age and provides more options for the disabled who 
want to work. It provides them with a ticket that can be used to help 
acquire skills to reenter the workforce.
  Under the old system, these workers had only one option if they 
wanted to return to work; they had to work through their State 
vocational rehabilitation programs. This option will still be open to 
them, but now they will also be able to use their ``ticket'' to go to 
other provider networks and employers to obtain skills and jobs. In 
short, the ``ticket'' expands opportunity for training and choices for 
rehabilitation for the disabled, and gives them the ability to tap into 
the power of the free market.
  This legislation also addresses the most pressing need for most of 
those who want to leave the disability rolls and return to work--the 
availability of adequate health care. Many of these potential workers 
continue to require a high degree of medical care even after they 
return to work. Obtaining this care--and paying for it--is often a high 
hurdle to cross, especially for those who move back to the workplace in 
entry and lower-level positions. Under the bill we are dealing with 
today, we expand continued Medicare coverage for the disabled and also 
increase Medicaid funding to the States to help them address the 
problems.
  All in all, this bill is win-win. It is a winner for the disabled 
community and a winner for the American taxpayers and all of us who pay 
Social Security taxes. The Congressional Budget Office tells us that 
for every 1 percent of disability recipients who return to work, the 
Social Security disability trust fund saves $3 billion. That is serious 
money. If this legislation only works partly as well as we expect, it 
will make a tremendous difference for the future of the trust fund and 
our ability to look after the neediest Americans.
  It's been almost 5 years since Congress began looking into problems 
with the disability program. In 1995, when I was the chairman of the 
House Social Security Subcommittee, we began holding hearings on 
possible changes we could make to Social Security to help the disabled. 
After those hearings, former Congresswoman Barbara Kenelley and myself 
wrote reform legislation that passed in the House in 1998 by a vote of 
410-1. While my bill died in the Senate last year because Senator 
Kennedy put a hold on my bill and some shenanigans by the White House, 
it is at the core of the legislation we are passing today and I am very 
proud of that. We have worked very hard to make sure the ticket-to-work 
portion of this reflects the bill that passed the House last year 410-
1.
  This is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it. It will 
truly make a difference for many Americans who need it the most, and I 
think it will stand as one of the most significant pieces of 
legislation to pass during this Congress.
  I yield the floor.

[[Page S14763]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Minnesota is recognized.

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