[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 214 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S8916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT OBJECTION--H.R. 5345

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am announcing my intention to object to 
any unanimous consent request to proceed to H.R. 5345, the Improving 
Social Security's Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act.
  I support my colleagues' efforts to support victims of identity 
theft, including children, and I am a proud cosponsor of this effort. 
However, I continue to be concerned that the bill's lack of 
administrative funding to implement the legislation would harm the 
Agency's ability to serve the American public.
  According to SSA estimates in August 2024, implementing this bill 
would cost approximately $93 million over 10 years due to hiring and 
training new employees, implementing necessary system changes, and 
estimated increased workloads.
  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Social 
Security's customer service budget has dropped by 23 percent since 
fiscal year 2010 after adjusting for inflation. Over the same period, 
SSA is serving 17 million more Social Security beneficiaries, a 28-
percent increase. Moreover, Since February 2025, SSA reduced staff by 
nearly 6,000 employees through encouraging retirements and voluntary 
resignations, including 2,000 from frontline positions. In August 2025, 
SSA diverted 2,000 field office staff away from serving customers in 
the front office to answer national 800 number calls indefinitely. 
Field offices, which bore the brunt of those staffing cuts, are now 
forced to backfill the staffing shortages with other employees at the 
expense of timely processing benefit claims and assisting seniors who 
come into the field offices. Simply put, SSA is having to do more with 
less resources and fewer staff.
  Creating a new component within the Agency without sufficient funding 
will force SSA to divert even more of its skeletal staff away from its 
other core mission work to perform these duties, exacerbating wait 
times further.
  I am committed to working with the sponsors of the legislation and 
our colleagues on the Committee on Appropriations to ensure that SSA 
has the necessary resources to effectively implement the bill while 
improving customer service for the millions of Americans who rely on 
Social Security. Until then, I will object to any unanimous consent 
request in relation to this legislation.

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