March 27, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 53 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages H2839-H2840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SOCIAL SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS

  (Ms. WILD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to advocate for an 
appropriation request I have put forward to provide adequate funding to 
the Social Security Administration.

[[Page H2840]]

  Social Security enables millions of Americans to make ends meet, 
including retired and disabled workers, and the families of deceased 
workers. It is a program that working folks have been paying into their 
entire working lives.
  Despite the agency's effectiveness, funding cuts have created a 
massive, and in some cases life-threatening, backlog.
  The national average wait time for a Social Security Disability 
Insurance benefits hearing is 535 days. And last year, Philadelphia, in 
my State, had the longest average wait time in the country: 26 months. 
One West Philadelphia woman with multiple sclerosis waited 878 days 
before getting a favorable ruling.
  Given this reality, I am truly alarmed that, rather than fully 
funding Social Security, the President's budget is consistently 
hundreds of millions of dollars less than what Congress enacted the 
previous year.
  This sums up why people are fed up with Washington: powerful 
politicians keeping everyday Americans from the benefits they have 
earned. The injustice needs to stop. We must stand with working 
families and help them obtain their benefits.

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