[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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