[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS ONLY ACT

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2003

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Social Security for 
American Citizens Only Act. This act forbids the federal government 
from providing Social Security benefits to noncitizens. It also ends 
the practice of totalization. Totalization is where the Social Security 
Administration takes into account the number of year's an individual 
worked abroad, and thus was not paying payroll taxes, in determining 
that individual's eligibility for social security benefits!
  Hard as it may be to believe, the United States Government already 
provides Social Security benefits to citizens of 17 other countries. 
Under current law, citizens of those countries covered by these 
agreements may have an easier time getting Social Security benefits 
than public school teachers or policemen!
  Obviously, this program provides a threat to the already fragile 
Social Security system, and the threat is looming larger. Just before 
Christmas, the press reported on a pending deal between the United 
States and the government of Mexico, which would make hundreds of 
thousands of Mexican citizens eligible for U.S. Social Security 
benefits. Totalization is the centerpiece of this proposal, so even if 
a Mexican citizen did not work in the United States long enough to 
qualify for Social Security, the number of years worked in Mexico would 
be added to bring up the total and thus make the Mexican worker 
eligible for cash transfers from the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, press reports also indicate that thousands of foreigners 
who would qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits actually came to 
the United States and worked here illegally. That's right: The federal 
government may actually allow someone who came to the United States 
illegally, worked less than the required number of years to qualify for 
Social Security, and then returned to Mexico for the rest of his 
working years, to collect full U.S. Social Security benefits while 
living in Mexico. That is an insult to the millions of Americans who 
pay their entire working lives into the system and now face the 
possibility that there may be nothing left when it is their turn to 
retire.
  The proposed agreement is nothing more than a financial reward to 
those who have willingly and knowingly violated our own immigration 
laws. Talk about an incentive for illegal immigration! How many more 
would break the law to come to this country if promised U.S. government 
paychecks for life? Is creating a global welfare state on the back of 
the American taxpayer a good idea? The program also establishes a very 
disturbing precedent of U.S. foreign aid to individual citizens rather 
than to states.
  Estimates of what this deal with the Mexican government would cost 
top one billion dollars per year. Supporters of the Social Security to 
Mexico deal may attempt to downplay the effect the agreement would have 
on the system, but actions speak louder than words: According to 
several press reports, the State Department and the Social Security 
Administration are already negotiating to build a new building in 
Mexico City to handle the expected rush of applicants for this new 
program!
  As the system braces for a steep increase in those who will be 
drawing from the Social Security trust fund, it makes no sense to 
expand it into a global welfare system. Social Security was designed to 
provide support for retired American citizens who worked in the United 
States. We should be shoring up the system for those Americans who have 
paid in for decades, not expanding it to cover foreigners who have not.
  It is long past time for Congress to stand up to the internationalist 
bureaucrats and start looking out for the American worker. I therefore 
call upon my colleagues to stop the use of the Social Security Trust 
Fund as yet another vehicle for foreign aid by cosponsoring the Social 
Security for American Citizens Only Act.

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