[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6717-H6719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ROBERT M. BALL FEDERAL BUILDING
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5773) to designate the Federal
building located at 6401 Security Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland, as
the ``Robert M. Ball Federal Building,'' as amended.
[[Page H6718]]
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5773
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.
The Federal building located at 6401 Security Boulevard in
Baltimore, Maryland, commonly known as the Social Security
Administration Operations Building, shall be known and
designated as the ``Robert M. Ball Federal Building''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper,
or other record of the United States to the Federal building
referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to
the ``Robert M. Ball Federal Building''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Mario Diaz-Balart) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
General Leave
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise
and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R.
5773.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5773, as amended,
which designates the Social Security Operations Building located at
6401 Security Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland, as the Robert M. Ball
Federal Building.
Commissioner Ball was often described in press accounts as not only
the longest serving Social Security Commissioner, but also as chief
advocate and defender through the years. Commissioner Ball started with
the Social Security Administration as a field assistant in 1939 in New
Jersey for the Social Security Administration, eventually becoming the
Social Security Administrator from 1962 to 1973.
After Commissioner Ball left the Social Security Administration, he
continued to have an outsized role in shaping the program. In 1981, he
served as a member of the National Commission on Social Security
Reform, arguing for a mix of tax increases and benefit cuts to maintain
the viability of Social Security. Commissioner Ball was an outspoken
opponent of any attempts to dismantle Social Security or to privatize
Social Security. Commissioner Robert M. Ball died January 29, 2008.
Given Commissioner Ball's exceptional public service and dedication
to the Social Security Administration, it is fitting to honor him by
naming the Operations Facility of the Social Security Administration
located at 6401 Security Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland, as the
Robert M. Ball Federal Building. I urge support of my colleagues.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, Mr. Ball served as Commissioner of Social Security
during the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations, and even in
1981, he served on the Greenspan Commission that was created by
President Reagan to examine the Social Security system. So I think it
speaks obviously very well for him; his expertise was tapped by both
Republicans and Democratic administrations. It seems fitting, Madam
Speaker, that we name a Social Security building after him in
recognition for his dedication to that agency.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).
Mr. POMEROY. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
Madam Speaker, normally I don't come to the floor to add to a
building naming that's flying through, but I want to put into the
Record my thoughts about Bob Ball, one of the most remarkable people I
have ever met. And there is no one I have met whose public sector
contribution I admire more. Naming this building on the campus of
Social Security, a building that has so much of the daily delivery of
the Social Security benefit to the American people, having this
building carry his name is just so utterly appropriate.
Bob Ball, through his entire service, had a clear vision of Social
Security. It comes down to simply this: If all of us protected each of
us, the lives of tens of millions would be improved and our country
would be stronger as a result.
He was the most influential proponent of social insurance our country
has ever had. He was a leading thinker, a gifted administrator, a
skilled political operative, an irresistible advocate, an exceptional
teacher, and I can tell you personally he was a very wise mentor.
Of all of his remarkable abilities and traits, perhaps the one we
will remember most was his dogged persistence. He stayed on task and
made valuable contributions to Social Security through six decades of
service. Bob knew what his mission was and he never wavered in pursuit
of it. By the time he resigned as Administrator of Social Security, he
had literally worked at the agency for 37 years. He was the longest
tenured administrator serving under three different Presidents of two
political parties.
Now, when he retired after 37 years, you might think, well, there he
goes riding off into the sunset, job well done. Well, Bob indicated
another inclination. In fact, he wrote in his letter of resignation to
President Nixon, ``I will continue to be available for whatever help I
can give promoting the sound development and sound administration of
this important program.''
As the preceding speaker said already, he served on the committee
that ultimately worked the long-term solvency package for Social
Security out in 1983, and he continued to work right until his final
days--at the ripe age of 93--on advancing this notion of Social
Security for the American people.
There is nobody I can think of more deserving of the perpetuating
honor memorializing his life and his work than Bob Ball, and I am just
delighted with this resolution and urge Members' support.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5773, as
amended, which names the operations building on the Social Security
Woodlawn campus in Baltimore, Maryland, as the ``Robert M. Ball Federal
Building'', after former Social Security Administrator, Robert M. Ball.
Robert M. Ball dedicated his professional life to Social Security and
its beneficiaries, serving as Commissioner of Social Security from 1962
to 1973, spanning the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations.
During his tenure in a variety of senior executive positions at the
Social Security Administration, both the disability program and
Medicare were enacted into law, and Commissioner Ball played a
significant role in creating, securing enactment of, and implementing
both of these landmark pieces of legislation.
Commissioner Ball, after retiring from public service in 1972,
remained active and engaged in social security issues and policy. In
1981-83, he served on the Commission on Social Security Reform. Mr.
Ball was instrumental in working out a compromise among Commission
members, that led to the Social Security Act Amendments of 1983, which
restored solvency to the Social Security Trust Fund. These amendments
remain the most substantive changes to the social security system in
the last 30 years.
Recognizing the contributions of Robert M. Ball to the Social
Security system by naming the Operations Building at the Social
Security Woodlawn campus is a fitting and apt tribute to this public
servant who one historian describes as ``the major non-Congressional
player in the history of Social Security in the period between 1950 and
the present.''
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5773.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I introduced H.R. 5773 to name the
Social Security Operations Building in Baltimore in honor of Robert
``Bob'' Ball, a man who dedicated his career to defending and
strengthening Social Security and who helped to expand the safety net
for our Nation's seniors by supporting the creation of Medicare.
Mr. Ball's legacy of service makes it truly fitting that we designate
the Social Security Operations Building located at 6401 Security
Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland, as the ``Robert M. Ball Federal
Building.''
Mr. Ball helped build Social Security from the ground up.
In 1939, he started working for the newly formed Social Security
Board as a field assistant in Newark, New Jersey.
[[Page H6719]]
His experiences in the field demonstrated to him that Social Security
was meant to be a contract between the generations enacted to ensure
that retired seniors could avoid poverty in their later years. Mr.
Ball's dedication to this basic principle guided all of his future
work.
In 1949, Mr. Ball was appointed assistant director of the Bureau of
Old Age and Survivors Insurance. He was subsequently promoted to deputy
director and then acting director.
Through these positions, he developed a deep technical expertise in
Social Security, learned how Congress works, and developed the
relationships with Members of Congress that would enable him to serve
as a valued technical resource for decades.
During his tenure, Mr. Ball assisted Congress members in developing
the policies that have been essential to ensuring Social Security
programs are run responsibly and effectively.
For example, Bob Ball was the architect of the 1950 amendments
raising Social Security benefits and expanding coverage to more
Americans, including such groups as the self-employed, and making it
easier for these groups to begin to qualify for benefits.
Ball helped draft the legislation establishing Social Security
disability benefits in 1956 and helped Members secure its passage even
though the Eisenhower administration opposed this change.
In 1957, Ball helped Representative Aime Forand draft a bill that was
essentially the forerunner of the legislation that created Medicare.
Ball continued to advocate for health insurance for seniors from that
time until Medicare's eventual passage in 1965.
For this and his subsequent work supporting the implementation of the
Medicare program, he is also known as the father of Medicare.
President John F. Kennedy appointed Robert M. Ball as commissioner of
Social Security in 1962. Mr. Ball served in this post until 1973--
longer than anyone else prior or since.
During his service as commissioner, Mr. Ball helped develop the 1972
amendments that linked benefits to inflation, ensuring that Social
Security would never fail to meet basic needs.
Robert M. Ball continued to serve Social Security beneficiaries even
after leaving government employment through his service on several
federal commissions, including the Greenspan Commission in 1983, where
he helped broker a compromise that averted a financial crisis and
brought decades of financial stability to the Social Security trust
fund.
Robert Ball was described by American Scholar magazine in 2005 as
Social Security's ``biggest thinker, longest-serving commissioner and
undisputed spiritual leader'' and as ``Social Security's chief advocate
and defender.''
I cannot imagine a better tribute to a man who dedicated his life to
the health and welfare of others than that his name be permanently
attached to the building where Social Security operates.
As I close, I thank my colleagues from Maryland who have co-sponsored
this legislation as well as Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member Mica, and
my colleagues in the Transportation and Infrastructure committee for
working with me to move this legislation.
I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield back the
balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I have no further
requests for time, I simply ask for support of the bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5773, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to designate the
Federal building located at 6401 Security Boulevard in Baltimore,
Maryland, commonly known Social Security Administration Operations
Building, as the `Robert M. Ball Federal Building'.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________