[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 120 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3998-S4002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           STOPPING IMPROPER PAYMENTS TO DECEASED PEOPLE ACT

  Mr. PAUL. Madam President, I think it is a terrible thing that the 
government pays checks to dead people. The problem is that Social 
Security is not sharing that information with Treasury. I have a bill 
to do that and will ask unanimous consent for it to be joined with 
Senator Carper's bill and Senator Kennedy's bill.

[[Page S3999]]

  At this point, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. 4104, introduced earlier today. I ask 
further that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and 
that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, 7 years ago, the Government 
Accountability Office included in its recommendations--something called 
the High Risk List--a way for us to stop wasting money, which was not 
to send checks to dead people. It was called improper payments to 
deceased. The GAO said there was a way to fix this, a way to stop this, 
and it proposed a way to stop it.
  I worked with the late Tom Coburn to craft and introduce that idea 
from the GAO into legislation. It cleared the Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee not once, not twice, not three times 
but, I think, four times. Since the departure of Tom Coburn, it has 
been cosponsored by other Republicans, including, most recently, by 
John Kennedy of Louisiana.
  Improper payments are a huge deal for our Federal Government. The 
Government Accountability Office tells us that, last year, improper 
payments, overpayments, mistaken payments, and so forth were about $150 
billion. That is billion with a ``b.'' The GAO thinks we ought to do 
something about it, and it has been thinking we ought to have done 
something about it for a long time.
  The person who is the leader of the Government Accountability Office 
is a fellow named Gene Dodaro. He has been the Comptroller General for, 
I think, gosh, a decade or more. I was talking to Comptroller General 
Gene Dodaro the other night. It was right after it was reported last 
week that Treasury had sent out $1.4 billion worth of checks to people 
who were deceased. It actually sent out checks with the word 
``deceased'' printed on the checks for all of these dead people, and 
one of the people who got a check marked ``deceased'' was Comptroller 
General Gene Dodaro's mother who died in 2018.
  I happened to be on the phone last Thursday--I was talking to 
somebody on my cell phone--when I got interrupted by a call from a 
woman in Delaware whom I knew.
  She was calling to say: I just heard on MSNBC that Treasury sent $1.4 
billion worth of checks to dead people. Why don't you do something 
about it?
  We have been talking and thinking about doing something about it for 
a long time, and we are still talking about doing something about it. I 
think the time has come to do something about it. That is sort of where 
we are at this point in time.
  I understand this has been discussed off the floor for a little bit, 
and maybe one of our colleagues has an objection to the consideration 
of this bill by unanimous consent. It ain't like it hasn't been out 
there for people to raise objections to it, to raise concerns. They 
have had 7 years in which to do that, and for 7 years, the GAO has said 
to please fix this part of the improper payments program. This doesn't 
fix $150 billion, but it certainly is a good start. I don't know 
anybody in his right mind who would say we should send checks and 
continue to send checks to folks who are deceased. It just makes no 
sense. It didn't make sense in 2013, when the idea was first presented 
on the High Risk List by the GAO, and it doesn't make sense today.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. CARPER. I am happy to yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I want to associate myself with the 
eloquent remarks of Senator Carper.
  I don't need to remind everyone that we have $25 trillion worth of 
taxpayer debt--not our debt, taxpayer debt. It is more than $25 
trillion. If we add in the mandatory spending--the Medicare, the 
Medicaid, Social Security--it is over $100 trillion, which is the 
entire net worth of the American people. For the most prosperous 
country in all of human history, it is just barely over $100 trillion.
  As Senator Carper said, my constituents ask all the time: Why don't 
you do something about it? Why don't you just set priorities?
  Now, we have had a lot of wasteful spending--all of us in the U.S. 
Congress--going back years. I don't need to remind everyone of some of 
the wasteful spending, but this is why people are so cynical.
  In the past, this Congress, not this particular Congress, spent 
$370,000 to study whether mothers love dogs as much as their kids. In 
the past, the U.S. Congress spent $700,000 to restore a Buddhist temple 
in Vietnam. In the past, not this Congress but a past Congress spent 
$400,000, which it gave to a major university--I kid you not--to study 
the oddity of the duck penis. Yet we just set a record. We just sent 
$1.4 billion to 1.1 million people in America who are deceased when we 
owe $25 trillion, and we know they are deceased.
  Senator Carper's bill, which he has been working on for 7 years, and 
my bill, which I have been working on with him for the last 3\1/2\ 
years, will stop this. It is not a heavy lift.
  I am not criticizing the Treasury Department. It did a great job of 
sending out about $270 billion to 161 million people through the CARES 
Act, and I thank it for that, but do you know the problem? The problem 
is it sent $1.4 billion to 1.1 million dead people. Why did that 
happen?
  Here is why: We have what is called the Death Master File. If you die 
in America, your State or others in your State send to the Social 
Security Administration the fact that you are dead. The Social Security 
Administration makes a list that is called the Death Master File. It is 
not a perfect list, but it is fairly accurate and can be better. The 
problem is, the Social Security Administration has taken the position 
for years that it can only share the Death Master File with a few other 
agencies.
  It has said: We don't have the authority to share it with other 
agencies, only with a couple of agencies.
  Guess which one agency it couldn't share the death file with--the 
Department of the Treasury. That is why we wasted $1.4 billion.
  It is a very simple fix, and Senator Carper has worked on it for 7 
years. Here is what our bill will do. It is really quite simple.
  First of all, it tells the Social Security Administration to share 
the death records with everybody in the Federal Government who writes 
checks so we don't send dead people money. Duh.
  It will allow Federal agencies access to each other's databases. 
Imagine that. They would talk to each other.
  It would direct agencies to use this information to curb improper 
payments, and it would direct the Social Security Administration to do 
a better job.
  Now, how simple is that? How simple is that? We are spending, right 
now, $800 million a year. That is on top of the $1.4 billion that we 
just wasted--took and threw it in the dirt. We threw it in the dirt. 
Like clockwork, every year we send $800 million to dead people. It has 
all been in the papers, and it is a very easy fix, and that is what 
Senator Carper's and my bill does.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. PAUL. Madam President, at this point we have a pending motion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is a unanimous consent request pending. 
There is a reservation and the right to object.
  Mr. PAUL. Madam President, I am asking, are there any objections? If 
there are no objections, I guess it passes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 4104) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed as follows

                                S. 4104

       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 ``Stopping Improper Payments 
     to Deceased People Act''.

     SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FURNISHED TO OR 
                   MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY 
                   ADMINISTRATION.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) In general.--Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended--

[[Page S4000]]

       (A) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''; and
       (ii) by inserting ``, and to ensure the completeness, 
     timeliness, and accuracy of,'' after ``transmitting'';
       (B) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(3)(A) In the case of individuals with respect to whom 
     federally funded benefits are provided by (or through) a 
     Federal or State agency, the Commissioner of Social Security 
     shall, to the extent feasible, provide such information 
     through a cooperative arrangement with such agency for 
     ensuring proper payment of those benefits with respect to 
     such individuals if--
       ``(i) under such arrangement the agency agrees to such 
     safeguards as the Commissioner determines are necessary or 
     appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use 
     or disclosure;
       ``(ii) under such arrangement the agency provides 
     reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social Security for the 
     reasonable cost of carrying out such arrangement, including 
     the reasonable costs associated with the collection and 
     maintenance of information regarding deceased individuals 
     furnished to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and
       ``(iii) such arrangement does not conflict with the duties 
     of the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (1).
       ``(B) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the 
     extent feasible, provide for the use of information regarding 
     all deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the 
     Commissioner under this subsection, through a cooperative 
     arrangement in order for a Federal agency to carry out any of 
     the following purposes, if the requirements of clauses (i), 
     (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A) are met:
       ``(i) Under such arrangement, the agency operating the Do 
     Not Pay working system established under section 5 of the 
     Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 
     2012 may compare death information disclosed by the 
     Commissioner with personally identifiable information 
     reviewed through the working system, and may redisclose such 
     comparison of information, as appropriate, to any Federal or 
     State agency authorized to use the working system.
       ``(ii) The tax administration duties of the agency.
       ``(iii) Oversight activities of the Inspector General of an 
     agency that is provided information regarding all deceased 
     individuals pursuant to this subsection.
       ``(iv) Civil or criminal enforcement activities that are 
     authorized by law.
       ``(C) With respect to the reimbursement to the Commissioner 
     of Social Security for the reasonable cost of carrying out a 
     cooperative arrangement described in subparagraph (A) between 
     the Commissioner of Social Security and an agency, the 
     Commissioner shall--
       ``(i) establish a defined calculation method for purposes 
     of calculating the reasonable cost of carrying out the 
     arrangement that does not take into account any services, 
     information, or unrelated payments provided by the agency to 
     the Commissioner; and
       ``(ii) reimbursement payments shall be accounted for and 
     recorded separately from other transactions.
       ``(4) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into 
     similar arrangements with States to provide information 
     regarding all deceased individuals furnished to or maintained 
     by the Commissioner under this subsection for use by States 
     in programs wholly funded by the States, or for use in the 
     administration of a benefit pension plan or retirement system 
     for employees of a State or a political subdivision thereof, 
     if the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of 
     paragraph (3)(A) are met. For purposes of this paragraph, the 
     terms retirement system and political subdivision have the 
     meanings given such terms in section 218(b).
       ``(5) The Commissioner of Social Security may use or 
     provide for the use of information regarding all deceased 
     individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner 
     under this subsection for statistical purposes and research 
     activities by Federal and State agencies (including research 
     activities conducted under a contract or a cooperative 
     arrangement (as such terms are defined for purposes of 
     sections 6303 and 6305, respectively, of title 31, United 
     States Code) with such an agency) if the requirements of 
     clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) are met.''; and
       (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking ``subparagraphs (A) 
     and (B) of paragraph (3)'' and inserting ``clauses (i), (ii), 
     and (iii) of paragraph (3)(A)''.
       (2) Repeal.--Effective on the date that is 5 years after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the amendments made by 
     this subsection to paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (8) of 
     section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) 
     are repealed, and the provisions of section 205(r) of the 
     Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) so amended are 
     restored and revived as if such amendments had not been 
     enacted.
       (b) Amendments to Internal Revenue Code.--
       (1) In general.--Section 6103(d)(4) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 is amended--
       (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by striking ``Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``Commissioner of Social Security''; and
       (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``such Secretary'' 
     and all that follows through ``deceased individuals.'' and 
     inserting ``such Commissioner pursuant to such contract, 
     except that such contract may provide that such information 
     is only to be used by the Social Security Administration (or 
     any other Federal agency) for purposes authorized in the 
     Social Security Act or this title.''.
       (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Report to Congress on Alternative Sources of Death 
     Data.--
       (1) Requirements.--The Commissioner of Social Security, in 
     coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 
     conduct a review of potential alternative sources of death 
     data maintained by the non-Federal sources, including sources 
     maintained by State agencies or associations of State 
     agencies, for use by Federal agencies and programs. The 
     review shall include analyses of--
       (A) the accuracy and completeness of such data;
       (B) interoperability of such data;
       (C) the extent to which there is efficient accessibility of 
     such data by Federal agencies;
       (D) the cost to Federal agencies of accessing and 
     maintaining such data;
       (E) the security of such data;
       (F) the reliability of such data; and
       (G) a comparison of the potential alternate sources of 
     death data to the death data distributed by the Commissioner 
     of Social Security.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget shall submit a report to Congress on 
     the results of the review and analyses required under 
     paragraph (1). The report shall include a recommendation by 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget regarding 
     whether to extend the agency access to death data distributed 
     by the Commissioner of Social Security provided under the 
     amendments made by subsection (a)(1) beyond the date on which 
     such amendments are to be repealed under subsection (a)(2).

     SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF DATA BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO 
                   CURB IMPROPER PAYMENTS.

       The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement 
     Act of 2012 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:

     ``SEC. 8. IMPROVING THE USE OF DEATH DATA BY GOVERNMENT 
                   AGENCIES.

       ``(a) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.--
       ``(1) Guidance to agencies.--Not later than 1 year after 
     the date of enactment of this section, and in consultation 
     with the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and 
     Efficiency and the heads of other relevant Federal, State, 
     and local agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal 
     organizations, the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget shall issue guidance for each agency or component of 
     an agency that operates or maintains a database of 
     information relating to beneficiaries, annuity recipients, or 
     any purpose described in section 205(r)(3)(B) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(3)(B)) for which improved data 
     matching with databases relating to the death of an 
     individual (in this section referred to as death databases) 
     would be relevant and necessary regarding implementation of 
     this section to provide such agencies or components access to 
     the death databases no later than 1 year after such date of 
     enactment.
       ``(2) Plan to assist states and local agencies and indian 
     tribes and tribal organizations.--Not later than 1 year after 
     the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall jointly develop a plan to assist States and local 
     agencies, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, in 
     providing electronically to the Federal Government records 
     relating to the death of individuals, which may include 
     recommendations to Congress for any statutory changes or 
     financial assistance to States and local agencies and Indian 
     tribes and tribal organizations that are necessary to ensure 
     States and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal 
     organizations can provide such records electronically. The 
     plan may include recommendations for the authorization of 
     appropriations or other funding to carry out the plan.
       ``(b) Reports.--
       ``(1) Report to congress on improving data matching 
     regarding payments to deceased individuals.--Not later than 1 
     year after the date of enactment of this section, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the heads of 
     other relevant Federal agencies, and in consultation with 
     States and local agencies, Indian tribes and tribal 
     organizations, shall submit to Congress a plan to improve how 
     States and local agencies and Indian tribes and tribal 
     organizations that provide benefits under a federally funded 
     program will improve data matching with the Federal 
     Government with respect to the death of individuals who are 
     recipients of such benefits.
       ``(2) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
     of enactment of this section, and for each of the 4 
     succeeding years, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit 
     to Congress a report regarding the implementation of this 
     section. The first report submitted under this paragraph 
     shall include the recommendations of the Secretary required 
     under subsection (a)(2).

[[Page S4001]]

       ``(c) Definitions.--In this section, the terms Indian tribe 
     and tribal organization have the meanings given those terms 
     in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
     Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).''.

     SEC. 4. PLAN FOR ENSURING THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF 
                   DEATH DATA MAINTAINED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE 
                   SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security 
     shall submit to Congress a plan, which shall include an 
     estimate of the cost of implementing the policies and 
     procedures described in such plan, to improve the accuracy 
     and completeness of the death data (including, where feasible 
     and cost-effective, data regarding individuals who are not 
     eligible for or receiving benefits under titles II or XVI of 
     the Social Security Act) maintained and distributed by the 
     Social Security Administration.
       (b) Content of Plan.--In developing the plan required under 
     subsection (a), the Commissioner of Social Security shall 
     consider whether to include the following elements:
       (1) Procedures for--
       (A) identifying individuals who are extremely elderly, as 
     determined by the Commissioner, but for whom no record of 
     death exists in the records of the Social Security 
     Administration;
       (B) verifying the information contained in the records of 
     the Social Security Administration with respect to 
     individuals described in subparagraph (A) and correcting any 
     inaccuracies; and
       (C) where appropriate, disclosing corrections made to the 
     records of the Social Security Administration.
       (2) Improved policies and procedures for identifying and 
     correcting erroneous death records, including policies and 
     procedures for--
       (A) identifying individuals listed as dead who are actually 
     alive;
       (B) identifying individuals listed as alive who are 
     actually dead; and
       (C) allowing individuals or survivors of deceased 
     individuals to notify the Social Security Administration of 
     potential errors.
       (3) Improved policies and procedures to identify and 
     correct discrepancies in the records of the Social Security 
     Administration, including social security number records.
       (4) A process for employing statistical analysis of the 
     death data maintained and distributed by the Social Security 
     Administration to determine an estimate of the number of 
     erroneous records.
       (5) Recommendations for legislation, as necessary.

     SEC. 5. REPORT ON INFORMATION SECURITY.

       Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a 
     report to the Committees on Ways and Means, Oversight and 
     Reform, and Homeland Security of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Committees on Finance and Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate that--
       (1) identifies all information systems of the Social 
     Security Administration containing sensitive information; and
       (2) describes the measures the Commissioner is taking to 
     secure and protect such information systems.

     SEC. 6. LIMITED ACCESS TO DEATH INFORMATION MAINTAINED BY THE 
                   SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FOR RECOVERY OF 
                   ERRONEOUS REBATE PAYMENTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 405(r)), as amended by section 2, is further 
     amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(10)(A) Notwithstanding any provision or requirement 
     under paragraph (3), not later than 30 days after the date of 
     enactment of this paragraph, the Commissioner of Social 
     Security shall provide the Secretary with access to any 
     records or information maintained by the Commissioner of 
     Social Security pursuant to paragraph (1), provided that--
       ``(i) such records and information are used by the 
     Secretary solely for purposes of carrying out subsection (h) 
     of section 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
       ``(ii) the Secretary agrees to establish safeguards to 
     assure the maintenance of the confidentiality of any records 
     or information disclosed.
       ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `Secretary' means the 
     Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate.''.
       (b) Recovery of Rebate Payments to Deceased Individuals.--
     Section 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i), and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(h) Recovery of Rebate Payments to Deceased 
     Individuals.--In the case of any individual who is shown on 
     the records or information disclosed to the Secretary under 
     section 205(r)(10) of the Social Security Act as being 
     deceased before January 1, 2020, if the Secretary has 
     distributed a payment to such individual pursuant to 
     subsection (f), the Secretary shall, to the extent 
     practicable, carry out any measures as are deemed appropriate 
     to suspend, cancel, and recover such payment.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

  Mr. PAUL. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I would now like to yield to Senator 
Carper. I think I have the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has been recognized.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I would like to yield to Senator Carper, who I believe 
will have a motion with respect to our bill, which I call the Stop 
Paying Dead People Act.
  I believe I still have the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator does have the floor.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I would like to yield, if he wishes the time, to Senator 
Carper to make a motion. If he is not prepared to make a motion, I am.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). Is there objection to the 
yielding?
  The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Senator Wyden has some concerns about the legislation. 
Would he just take a couple minutes and explain what those are?
  Again, I think my friend knows that it is something we have worked on 
for 7 years--same concept reported out of committee unanimously, 
repeatedly, and we are still waiting to get it done.
  Let me yield to the Senator from Oregon.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: Has this bill passed 
now on UC?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Which bill are you referring to?
  The Paul bill passed, S. 4104.
  Mr. WYDEN. The Paul bill passed that my colleagues are discussing.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. S. 4104 has passed.
  Mr. WYDEN. All right. Well, I will just tell my colleagues--and I 
made it clear I was on my way here--I think that this is a flawed 
approach to a very serious problem, and the reason I feel this way, as 
the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, is this gives Social 
Security more responsibilities without any additional resources, and it 
comes at a time when I think there are going to be real challenges for 
Social Security as it tries to pay benefits.
  Around here you always have a chance to take another crack at it. I 
was on my way over here to offer to work with my colleagues--the 
Senator from Louisiana, the Senator from Delaware--but apparently it 
was so important that I couldn't come over here and make that offer, 
and I think the Senate will regret this.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to respond to that because the 
Senator from Oregon knows how much I admire him. But my understanding, 
after talking with his chief of staff--and as I said, Senator Carper 
has been working on this for 7 years. I have been working on it for 
3\1/2\ years.
  We hotlined this bill, I think, last Thursday. We had no objections. 
Well, actually, I take that back. We had a couple of objections, and we 
worked them all out.
  Then we got down here today at 3:25 to start, and we found out that 
Senator Wyden had an objection, so we tried to reach Senator Wyden. We 
couldn't. We talked to his chief of staff. I was listening to the call. 
He said that Senator Wyden wasn't available. He didn't know when he 
would be available. We tried to do it tomorrow, but we weren't sure. 
That is why we--Senator Carper and I--proceeded.
  I am more than willing to sit down and work with Senator Wyden. He 
knows that. We are working on a number of other bills together. But I 
want to reiterate the urgency of this. The American people are laughing 
at us. They are laughing at us. We sent out 1.1 million checks. Do you 
know what the check said? ``John Doe, deceased.'' It said: ``John Doe, 
deceased.'' The time has come to do something about it.
  Now, something just passed. I am going to ask for a ruling from the 
Chair to find out what passed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. S. 4104.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Was that Senator Paul's bill?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Combined with Senator Carper's bill and my bill?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Let me just read this:


[[Page S4002]]


  

       I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
     immediate consideration of S. 4104, introduced earlier today. 
     I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time 
     and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
     made and laid upon the table.

  So that was the entirety of the request.
  The title is ``to amend the Improper Payments Elimination and 
Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, including making changes to the Do 
Not Pay Initiative, for improved detection, prevention, and recovery of 
improper payments to deceased individuals, and for other purposes.''
  Mr. KENNEDY. So if I might ask, does that mean that both bills 
together have passed?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. I am not sure what is in the bills, but I 
would assume that that is the case.
  We did not have the paperwork beforehand.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, excuse me. My understanding is that 
Senator Paul's bill and the Carper-Kennedy bill were merged together, 
so we had two bills.
  Is my understanding correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. To be honest, the Chair cannot answer that.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I believe the Record will reflect that is correct, that 
Senator Paul--I am not asking you to comment on the accuracy of what I 
am about to say, but I believe the Record will reflect that Senator 
Paul's bill was merged with the Carper-Kennedy bill and that those 
bills have passed as one bill.
  Now, having said that, if Senator Wyden or anybody else would like to 
sit down with Senator Carper and me and make some improvements to the 
bill, I am more than happy to do this and to do that.
  I will not speak for my good friend and mentor Senator Carper, but I 
know he would share in my feelings, and I would extend that courtesy to 
Senator Wyden and to any other Senator who would like to make some 
changes.
  Let me reiterate again: This is a serious problem. We hotlined this 
bill on Thursday. We have worked out many difficult issues, and we 
found out that there was another Senator who couldn't be available--he 
said, 5 minutes ago--and that is why we proceeded. But I am willing to 
unproceed to work with Ron or anybody else who wants to improve this 
bill. But improving this bill, for me, doesn't mean--I have only been 
here 3 or 4 years, but I have learned--I have learned the hard way--
that sometimes negotiations can last years.
  Do you know what? I have said it before: Doing nothing is hard. You 
never know when you are finished, and we need to do something on this.
  I am embarrassed to go home. I feel like putting on a bag in the 
airplane when I get out so that my constituents will not see me. We 
sent out $1.4 billion of taxpayer money to 1.1 million dead people, and 
all we had to do was pass a simple bill that says to people at Social 
Security: Share your death file with the rest of your colleagues. What 
is controversial about that?
  Mr. CARPER. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. KENNEDY. Certainly.
  Mr. CARPER. I think the concern raised by Senator Wyden is if the 
Social Security Administration is going to be sharing this information 
not just with the IRS and a handful of agencies, there is going to be 
some cost involved in that sharing. That is a legitimate concern. 
Speaking for myself--and my guess is speaking for my friend from 
Louisiana--if there is an additional cost incurred by the Social 
Security Administration, I am sure it is going to be a lot less than 
$1.4 billion that we have just wasted in sending out these $1,200 
checks over the last several months.
  I will pledge--and will invite my friend from Louisiana to join me--
to assure Senator Wyden that we will work with him and his staff and 
the folks at the Social Security Administration to make sure that the 
Social Security Administration is made whole if the legislation that we 
have just apparently adopted here--if it actually is adopted and signed 
into law, we will make the Social Security Administration whole. That 
is a very fair thing to ask of us, and we should do that.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. CARPER. I would be happy to.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Senator, do I understand correctly that one of Senator 
Wyden's problems or issues is the cost?
  Mr. CARPER. The cost that might be incurred by the Social Security 
Administration because they would be asked to share this information 
more widely among Federal agencies than they do today.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Well, will the Senator yield for 30 seconds?
  Then I would suggest, Senator Carper, through the Presiding Officer, 
that we sit down with Senator Wyden and try to address these very 
legitimate concerns.
  For the moment, I happen to be chairman of the Financial Services and 
General Government Subcommittee in Appropriations, and it may be that 
we can address those concerns there, and I would be more than happy to.
  But I am equally happy to report to the American people that the U.S. 
Senate finally did something to stop paying dead people hard-earned 
taxpayer money, and I want to give most of the credit to Senator Carper 
because he is a patient man. He has been working on this for 7 years. 
He is a more patient man than I am
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his work, his 
efforts, and his tenacity.
  I yield the floor.

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