INTRODUCING THE SOCIAL SECURITY FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS ONLY ACT
Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional Website.
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009 Ron Paul 5:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, today I introduce
the Social Security for American Citizens
Only Act. This act forbids the federal government
from providing Social Security benefits to
noncitizens. It also ends the practice of totalization.
Totalization is where the Social Security
Administration takes into account the number
of years an individual worked abroad, and
thus was not paying payroll taxes, in determining
that individual’s eligibility for Social Security
benefits!
2009 Ron Paul 5:2
Hard as it may be to believe, the United
States Government already provides Social
Security benefits to citizens of 17 other countries.
Under current law, citizens of those
countries covered by these agreements may
have an easier time getting Social Security
benefits than public school teachers or policemen!
2009 Ron Paul 5:3
Obviously, this program provides a threat to
the already fragile Social Security system, and
the threat is looming larger. The prior administration
actually proposed a totalization agreement
that would have allowed thousands of
foreigners to qualify for U.S. Social Security
benefits even thought they came to, and
worked in, the United States illegally. Adding
insult to injury, this proposal could have allowed
the federal government to give Social
Security benefits to non-citizens who worked
here for as little as 18 months. Estimates of
what this totalization proposal would cost top
one billion dollars per year.
2009 Ron Paul 5:4
Despite a major public outcry against extending
Social Security benefits to those who
entered this country illegally, a version of this
proposal actually passed the other body in the
109th Congress. That the executive branch
would propose, and part of the legislative
branch would endorse, using social security
monies to reward to those who have willingly
and knowingly violated our own immigration
laws is an insult to the millions of Americans
who pay their entire working lives into the system
and now face the possibility that there
may be nothing left when it is their turn to retire.
2009 Ron Paul 5:5
While the new administration has yet to take
a public position on totalization, and hopefully
will be more reasonable on this issue than its
predecessor, it is still imperative that Congress
act. Even if the new administration repudiates
all proposals to allow those who entered the
county illegally to receive social security benefits,
the only way to guarantee a future administration
will not revive this scheme is for Congress
to put an end to totalization once and
for all. I therefore call upon my colleagues to
stop the use of the Social Security Trust Fund
as yet another vehicle for foreign aid by cosponsoring
the Social Security for American
Citizens Only Act.
