Political Quotes

“on February 8, I introduced House Joint Resolution 319, which now has over 16 cosponsors and which requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the impending insolvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. The Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund was created to provide financial support for those who are physically unable to work, but over the years, the purpose of the disability fund has been distorted and its good intentions have been abused. This abuse has not only caused the money in the disability fund to run out, but it now threatens the solvency of this Nation's Social Security Old Age and Survivors Trust Fund which provides financial security to all senior citizens. The Clinton administration has proposed shifting billions of dollars out of Social Security's old age fund and into the disability fund. I say that's no solution. We need a complete re-evaluation of the criteria used to determine whether a person is truly disabled, and we need a clearly defined method of re-examination that will allow us to remove people who are no longer disabled from the Social Security rolls and get them back to work. We also ought to be able to take advantage of medical advances and rehabilitation in order to increase the opportunities for disabled citizens to re-enter the work force and at the same time reduce the number of disability insurance payments.”