Title: Goode News from September 22, 2004
Date: 09/22/2004
Location: Unknown
Seniors in the United States need to wake up. Social Security could be jeopardized by what is known as "totalization."
As I reported in a newsletter last month, the Social Security Totalization Agreement that was signed on June 29th by U. S. Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart and her counterpart in Mexico coordinates the payment of Social Security taxes and benefits for workers who divide their careers between two countries. Non-citizens who work in Social Security-covered employment must pay Social Security payroll taxes, including those who are in the U.S. working temporarily and those who may be working illegally in the U.S. The Social Security Act does not explicitly prohibit illegal aliens from receiving Social Security benefits. However, the 1996 immigration reform legislation prohibits the payment of Social Security benefits to illegal aliens in the U.S., unless non-payment would be contrary to a totalization agreement or the alien non-payment provision of the Social Security Act. Testimony before a Congressional subcommittee showed that "totalization" could cost America as much as $345 billion over 20 years and that Social Security benefits, and especially disability benefits, could be gotten fraudulently by Mexican citizens who had worked in the U. S.
I have joined with about two dozen of my colleagues in the House of Representatives in writing the President, urging that the United States withdraw from the Totalization Agreement and noting that the Social Security Administration has not taken into consideration that the agreement creates an incentive for even more illegal immigration from the one nation that already sends the most illegals to the U. S.
The issue of the U. S. withdrawing from the Totalization Agreement came before the House for a vote in the form of an mendment, and I told my colleagues in a speech on the floor: "Totalization with Mexico will harm the Social Security Trust Fund. It will be a major drain on this fund. They talk about 20 countries that we have a totalization agreement with. None of them have 5 million illegal workers in the country like Mexico does. We are better off to stop this snake here and now, cut off its head. Some say wait, let it get bigger. Let it bite us again. I say no. Cut off its head today by stopping the funding.
"If we grant an amnesty, and there are plenty of amnesty bills floating around, those illegals will be legal, and we will have a huge drain on the Social Security fund. I want to stand with the seniors in this country. I want to protect Social Security for United States citizens, and I want to preserve it for future generations, not drain it by allowing Mexico and illegals to get in it and suck a big truckload of money out of it."
Unfortunately, the amendment failed on a vote of 178-to-225. I will continue my efforts to have our nation withdraw from this unwise agreement, which threatens the safety net for America's seniors and disabled.
Please keep in touch with me on issues that are important to you. You may write Congressman Virgil Goode, 70 East Court Street, Room 215, Rocky Mount, VA 24151; or fax to 1-540-484-1459; or call toll-free to the Danville office, 1-800-535-4008.