Speech #1090133540

I will explain my amendment to the American people and to the Senate. Under current law. individuals who work in the United States illegally and later obtain legal employment status can use their illegal work history to qualify for benefits. For example. if an illegal immigrant works in the United States for 9 years. and then receives legal status under this bill. the immigrant would qualify for full Social Security benefits after just 1 year of legal work. Essentially. the illegal immigrants can go back to the Social Security Administration and ask them for credit for his or her illegal work. What is important to understand is that in order to go back to the Social Security system. the illegal immigrant must get legal status in some way. This bill is an avenue that gives them that legal status. This bill opens the door for illegal immigrants to get Social Security based on their illegal work history. My amendment closes that door. I know some of my colleagues may argue that the illegal immigrants paid into the system. and as a result they should be able to collect benefits based on paying into the system. To those colleagues who feel that way. I say this: First. the crime of identity theft and Social Security fraud are not victimless crimes. The victims of these crimes are American citizens and legal immigrants. My staff has spoken to some of these victims. Some victims Social Security records are such a mess that the Social Security Administration has wiped out all of the work history from the victims account.