Speech #1100071619

Mr. Speaker. refugees come to America fleeing persecution. injustice. torture and even death. During a hearing before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. we heard from one of those refugees. His name was KKeng. and he fought alongside American forces during the Vietnam war. In fact. he was recruited and trained by our Special Forces. After the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam. he was imprisoned for 6 years as a political prisoner. after which he eventually made it to the United States as a refugee. He tried working. but the wounds he suffered during the war made that difficult. Based on his disability and the fact that he had almost no other source of income. he began receiving Supplemental Security Income. or SSI. benefits. But those benefits were terminated when he reached a 7year time limit on SSI on refugees. He is now 75. partially blind. and lives on only a few hundred dollars worth of food stamps every month. as well as assistance from his young son. Nearly 7.000 elderly and disabled refugees have lost their SSI benefits. The Social Security Administration projects another 16.000 will do so over the next few years unless the Congress acts. As the beacon of freedom around the world. America can do better than this. While it is true that a refugee may continue to receive SSI if he or she becomes a citizen. a series of obstacles make that transition to citizenship difficult within the 7year limit of SSI benefits. First. a refugee must live in the United States for at least 5 years before they are eligible to submit an application for citizenship. O] 1615 A refugee must then confront a lengthy application process which can take up to 3 to 4 years. Backlogs in processing citizenship applications have been caused by a variety of Issues. including protracted background checks put in place after September 11 terrorist attacks. There are other barriers to citizenship. such as the continuing impact of the recent annual cap on the number of asylees who may become legal permanent residents. a status which asylees must maintain for 4 years before they may submit an application for citizenship. Also. some disabled and elderly refugees encounter difficulties navigating the application process. which includes both an English language and a U.S. civics test. Im pleased to say there is bipartisan support for addressing this issue. The last several budget proposals from the Bush administration have called for an extension in SSI benefits for refugees. and there is a bipartisan bill pending in the U.S. Senate. I would like especially to thank Mr. WELLER. the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. for working with me to forge the bipartisan bill we are now considering. This bill. H.R. 2608. would generally extend SSI benefits for an additional 2 years for disabled and elderly refugees. asylees and other qualified humanitarian immigrants. including those whose benefits have expired in the recent past. Benefits could be extended for an additional period for those awaiting a decision on pending application for citizenship. These policies would be in effect till 2010. The legislation completely offsets the cost of the SSI extension for refugees within a provision that will reduce Federal tax refunds to recover unemployment insurance debts due to fraud. 53. Pt. 13 18545 The Federal tax refund offset authority already exists to collect unpaid child support. unpaid State taxes and debts owed to the Federal agencies. The bill simply says that if a State concludes that a worker has fraudulently received unemployment benefits or a business owner has failed to pay UI taxes based on fraud. the State can seek to receive a portion of any Federal tax refund that the individual may be owed. Before pursuing a tax offset. the State would be required to notify the individual and provide them with at least 60 days to contest the amount being recovered. By catching and reducing fraud in the unemployment insurance system. this provision not only offsets the cost of the SSI extension for refugees. but it also will reduce unemployment taxes on employers. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the legislation will cut payroll taxes by $326 million over the next 10 years. Mr. Speaker. refugees come to our country fleeing persecution. They reside in our country legally. and those eligible for SSI are disabled. elderly or both. This legislation extends a modest benefit to help them provide for their most basic essentials.