[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     SOCIAL SECURITY BURIAL BENEFIT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced a bill that would expand 
eligibility for the Social Security burial benefit.
  As you may be aware, prior to 1981, any individual could receive the 
burial benefit lump sum of $255 in order to pay funeral expenses. 
Today, the surviving spouse receives a burial benefit only if the 
deceased spouse is insured by Social Security.
  However, I do not think it is particularly fair to deny this benefit 
to the spouse of the deceased. It is this person who is most likely to 
be responsible for the funeral expenses if there is no estate to handle 
this financial matter. Obviously, these expenses can be very costly.
  I was not in Congress at the time, but this change was made when 
Congress was attempting to make as many cost cuts in the Social 
Security system as possible because of projected financial problems. In 
retrospect, the fund has generated healthy surpluses.
  This legislation would correct this problem so that any surviving 
spouse, as long as one of the spouses is insured through Social 
Security, would be eligible to receive the burial benefit.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill and improve the Social 
Security death benefit for those who deserve it most.

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