Speech #1100194787

Mr. President. I rise to extend my appreciation that the Senate will pass the "SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act." I thank Chairman BAUCUS and Senator GRASSLEY for their help in moving this important legislation to the President. This is a bill that I introduced in the Senate with Senator KOHL and it will make a significant impact in helping our most vulnerable asylees and refugees. I also want to thank Senator SPECTER for his tremendous support of this bill and help in negotiating a final package. The passage of this bill sends a message that we have not and will not turn our back on those whom we have welcomed to our country. As many of you may know. Congress modified the Supplemental Security IncomeSSIprogram to include a 7year time limit on the receipt of benefits for refugees and asylees. To allow adequate time for asylees and refugees to become naturalized citizens. Congress provided the 7year time limit before the expiration of SSI benefits. Unfortunately. the naturalization process often takes longer than 7 years. Applicants are required to live in the United States for a minimum of 5 years prior to applying for citizenship. In addition to that time period. their application process often can take 3 or more years before there is resolution. Because of this time delay. many individuals are trapped in the system and faced with the loss of their SSI benefits. In fact. by the end of 2008 more than 30.000 elderly and disabled refugees will have lost their benefits and more than 19.000 are projected to lose their benefits In the coming years. Many of these individuals are elderly refugees who fled persecution or torture in their home countries. They Include Jewish refugees fleeing religious persecution In the former Soviet Union. Iraqi Kurds fleeing the Saddam Hussein regime. Cubans and Hmong people from the highlands of Laos who served on the side of the United States military during the Vietnam War. They are elderly and unable to work. and have become reliant on their SSI benefits as their primary income. To penalize them because of delays encountered through the bureaucratic process seems unjust and inappropriate. The administration. in its fiscal year 2009 budget. acknowledged the necessity of correcting this problem by dedicating funding to extend refugee eligibility for SSI beyond the 7year limit. This legislation builds upon those efforts by allowing an additional 2 years of benefits for elderly and disabled refugees. asylees. and other qualified humanitarian immigrants. including those whose benefits have expired in the recent past. The Senate version requires that eligible individuals demonstrate that they are moving toward citizenship in order to gain the additional 2year extension of benefits. While the Act provides flexibility to the Social Security AdministrationSSAand the Department of Homeland SecurityDHSin developing a procedure whereby they can verify an applicants eligibility for the extension of benefits. it is our intent that whatever procedure SSA and DHS establish. it does not impose any undue burdens or barriers on the benefactors of this Act. Additionally. the bill allows benefits to be extended for a third year for those refugees who are awaiting a decision on a pending naturalization application. These policies are limited to 2011 and are completely offset in cost by a provision that will allow the Department of Labor to recapture federal funds that are the result of unemployment insurance fraud. I again thank my colleagues for their support of this bill and for its passage.