[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H2217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME EQUALITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, today, I am reintroducing a bill to 
extend the Supplemental Security Income program, known as SSI, to 
Puerto Rico.
  Of all of the disparities that Puerto Rico faces because it is a 
territory and not a State, few are as damaging as its exclusion from 
SSI.
  SSI provides monthly cash assistance to blind, disabled, or elderly 
individuals who have limited or no income. We are talking about the 
most vulnerable members of our society. SSI applies in all 50 States 
and in the District of Columbia. However, since the program's inception 
in 1974, it has not been extended to Puerto Rico. Instead, the Federal 
grant program, known as Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled, or AABD, 
applies in Puerto Rico.
  The Social Security Administration sends monthly SSI payments 
directly to beneficiaries; whereas the AABD program is administered by 
the Puerto Rico Government, using an annual block grant provided by the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The gap between the 
treatment that is provided to beneficiaries in the 50 States and the 
treatment that is provided to their fellow American citizens in Puerto 
Rico is, in a word, shocking.
  According to the most recent Federal statistics, the average SSI 
payment to beneficiaries is $540 a month and is close to $650 a month 
for beneficiaries who are under the age of 18. By contrast, based on 
the most recent data that has been furnished to my office, the block 
grant that the Federal Government provides to the Puerto Rico 
Government is only $33 million a year.
  With this limited funding, the Puerto Rico Government provides an 
average payment to adult beneficiaries of just $74 a month. Let me 
repeat that--$540 a month in the States versus $74 a month in Puerto 
Rico. To add insult to injury, the Puerto Rico Government is legally 
required to meet a 25 percent match in order to receive this block 
grant. The States, obviously, do not have to make any matching payments 
for their residents to receive SSI assistance.
  In 2014, the GAO estimated that, if Puerto Rico were a State, it 
would receive up to $1.8 billion a year under SSI. That is 54 times as 
much as the territory receives annually under AABD. Again, let me 
repeat that--54 times greater. The GAO estimated that, if Puerto Rico 
were a State, 300,000 island residents would qualify for SSI payments. 
Under the current program in Puerto Rico, only 35,000 individuals 
receive assistance. Thus, Puerto Rico's exclusion from the SSI program 
means that its government cannot provide decent monthly payments to 
residents who cannot support themselves. It also means that the Puerto 
Rico Government cannot assist hundreds of thousands of extraordinarily 
needy residents at all.
  Those who seek proof of how Puerto Rico is harmed by its territory 
status need look no further than the treatment it receives under SSI. 
Those who want to comprehend why, roughly, 240,000 island residents 
relocated to the States between 2010 and 2014 in search of a better 
quality of life should realize that Puerto Rico's unequal treatment 
under key Federal programs, including--but not limited to--SSI, is a 
major contributing factor to this migration.
  Let me be crystal clear on this point. Politicians in Puerto Rico and 
the States who defend Puerto Rico's current status must accept the 
undeniable truth that this status is harming the people of Puerto Rico. 
When they rationalize or excuse Puerto Rico's territory status, they 
are complicit in Puerto Rico's mistreatment.
  But make no mistake. The era of inequality is coming to an end. I 
stand side by side with a large and growing army of proud U.S. citizens 
from Puerto Rico who refuse to accept such shameful treatment any 
longer. We believe in full equality for Puerto Rico under the American 
flag. We will fight for it until we achieve it, and we will achieve it 
soon.

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