Speech #1100071620

Speaker. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. This bipartisan legislation that we are considering today. the SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act. increases the amount of time that certain lowincome disabled and aged immigrants can continue to receive Supplemental Security Income. SSI benefits. from 7 to 9 years. These are individuals legally allowed in the United States for humanitarian reasons after fleeing persecution and suffering in their own countries. The approximately 28.000 individuals assisted by this legislation include refugees. asylees and Cuban/Haitian entrants from around the world. To gain access to permanent eligibility for SSI and all other benefits and freedoms afforded to Americans. legal refugees and asylees are eligible to become U.S. citizens through the naturalization process now administered by the Department of Homeland Security. However. as many Members have heard from constituents. this process does not always move forward in a timely manner for a number of reasons. For instance. a letter I recently received from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Illinois outlines a case in which an elderly Jewish refugee couple from the former Soviet Union working to become citizens encountered problems of lost paperwork and the need to have fingerprints retaken time and time again. A recent Washington Post story noted that as of March of 2007. this spring. nearly 1.3 million individuals were in the Department of Homeland Security citizenship application backlog. and 330.000 cases were In the FBI background check backlog. Recognizing the likelihood of ongoing issues in the naturalization process. this legislation provides up to one extra year of eligibility. for a total of up to 10 years. for those refugees and asylees needing more time to complete the naturalization process. This is an important provision as it emphasizes the relative temporary nature of SSI eligibility for newly arrived legal refugees and asylees. while encouraging them to pursue citizenship so that they may fully participate in our Nations democracy. As with the other features of this legislation that relate to eligibility for SSI benefits. this provision is effective from fiscal year 2008 through 2010. So a future Congress must reexamine whether these provisions are working as intended. including providing refugees and related individuals who are playing by the rules and applying for citizenship. sufficient time to go through that process without losing access to these important benefits. These additional SSI benefits are paid for through a provision that will reduce Federal income tax refunds to better recover unemployment benefit overpayments that resulted from fraud. Tax refund offsets already occur for delinquent child support payments and certain other debts owed to the Federal Government. and this simply allows the current process to work in recovering unemployment benefit overpayments.