[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Madam Speaker, across the Nation, Social Security 
offices are experiencing increased backlog, longer wait times, and 
insufficient staff levels. Despite this, the Social Security 
Administration has proposed the closing of four New York regional 
offices, including the Amherst office in my western New York community.
  Since 2010, 96 field offices have been consolidated into 46 without a 
uniform closure process. In response, I have introduced H.R. 3997, the 
Social Security Administration Accountability Act, which brings 
transparency to the Social Security field office closure process.
  This legislation requires the Social Security Administration to 
consult with local officials and the public before deciding to relocate 
or merge offices. In my own community, after the notice of proposed 
closure of the Amherst field office, we learned from the Buffalo Fire 
Department that the new office has insufficient capacity and would be a 
fire hazard. If this bill were already law, this would have been 
discovered before a proposed closure was announced.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting our 
communities from hastily planned and ill-conceived Social Security 
field office closures.

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