[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 179 (Thursday, December 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S8604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren, and Mr.
Merkley):
S. 2387. A bill to restore protections for Social Security, Railroad
retirement, and Black Lung benefits from administrative offset; to the
Committee on Finance.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, every day, Social Security provides vital
benefits to millions of Americans who worked and paid into the system.
To ensure workers would receive full access to these fundamental
lifeline benefits, for many years, the law protected these earned
benefits from attempts to recover debts. However, 20 years ago,
Congress suddenly reversed course, and made a change to the law that
allowed the government to cut Social Security and other hard-earned
benefit payments in order to collect student loan and other Federal
debts, like home loans owed to the Veterans Administration, and food
stamp overpayments.
Now more than ever, the loss of these protections is creating a major
hardship for American Citizens who rely on Social Security and other
earned benefits to make ends meet. Student loan debt is becoming an
increasingly serious problem in in Oregon and across the nation, with
students and their families burdened by crushing student loan debt.
Even in the best circumstances, many families will struggle to pay off
crippling loans for years to come. However, for people who rely on
benefits like Social Security after retirement, disability, or the
death of a family member, making payments on student loans or other
federal debts can become an insurmountable hardship.
Because of the lifeline nature of these earned benefits, for more
than 40 years the law prevented all creditors from collecting hard-
earned Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and Black Lung benefits to
recoup debts. The only exceptions included unpaid Federal taxes, child
support or alimony payments, and court-ordered victim restitution.
These protections helped ensure that our social safety net programs
were functioning as intended--something I think we can all agree is
essential to preserving Social Security and other earned benefits.
Astonishingly, when the law changed as part of a 1996 omnibus budget
bill, these changes were never fully debated in Congress. This means
Members of Congress never had the chance to really explore how this
policy would affect beneficiaries. The legislation ultimately included
some protections for the most vulnerable, but even those protections
have not been updated in 20 years.
We now realize what a profound effect the loss of these protections
has had on retirees and individuals with disabilities, who often live
on fixed incomes. More and more seniors and people with disabilities
are having their Social Security and other lifeline benefits taken away
to pay federal debts. For example, according to a September 2014 GAO
report, the number of individuals whose Social Security benefits were
offset to pay student loan debt increased significantly between 2002
and 2013, from about 31,000 to 155,000. For individuals 65 and older
with student loan-related Social Security garnishments, the number grew
from about 6,000 to about 36,000 over the same period. Congress should
restore sanity to the system, and reestablish the protections that
these beneficiaries deserve.
That is why I, along with Senators Brown, Whitehouse, Gillibrand,
Klobuchar, Sanders and Warren are introducing the Protection of Social
Security Benefits Restoration Act. The bill would restore the strong
protections in the law that prevented the government from taking away
earned benefits to pay Federal debts, and guarantee beneficiaries will
be able to maintain a basic standard of living by receiving the
benefits they have earned. The bill is supported by Social Security
Works, The Strengthen Social Security Coalition, AFL-CIO, Justice in
Aging, Campaign for America's Future, Global Policy Solutions, Student
Debt Crisis, the National Organization for Women, RootsAction.org,
Project Springboard, The Alliance for a Just Society, the Economic
Opportunity Institute, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, The
Arc of the United States, The Public Higher Education Network of
Massachusetts, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2387
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protection of Social
Security Benefits Restoration Act''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY, RAILROAD RETIREMENT, AND
BLACK LUNG BENEFITS FROM ADMINISTRATIVE OFFSET.
(a) Prohibition on Administrative Offset Authority.--
(1) Assignment under social security act.--Section 207 of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Subparagraphs (A), (C), and (D) of section 3716(c)(3)
of title 31, United States Code, as such subparagraphs were
in effect on the date before the date of enactment of the
Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act, shall
be null and void and of no effect.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 14(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974
(45 U.S.C. 231m(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``. The provisions of section 207(d) of the Social
Security Act shall apply with respect to this title to the
same extent as they apply in the case of title II of such
Act.''.
(B) Section 2(e) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
(45 U.S.C. 352(e)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``The provisions of section 207(d) of the Social
Security Act shall apply with respect to this title to the
same extent as they apply in the case of title II of such
Act.''
(b) Repeal of Administrative Offset Authority.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (3) of section 3716(c) of title
31, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking ``(3)(A)(i) Notwithstanding'' and all that
follows through ``any overpayment under such program).'';
(B) by striking subparagraphs (C) and (D); and
(C) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as paragraph (3).
(2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (5) of such section is
amended by striking ``the Commissioner of Social Security
and''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to any collection by administrative offset
occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act of a
claim arising before, on, or after the date of enactment of
this Act.
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