Dianne Feinstein: “I rise to support the D'Amato-Chafee resolution. I am very pleased to be a cosponsor. I want to point out that two…”

“I rise to support the D'Amato-Chafee resolution. I am very pleased to be a cosponsor. I want to point out that two cities in this Nation are impacted more than any other, and that is the city of Los Angeles and the city of New York. In California alone, there are 310,000 legal immigrants currently receiving SSI benefits. Under the present law, they all go off on August 22, regardless of need. I want to clear the air somewhat, because the administration proposal, accepted by the Budget Committee, does not cover elderly legal immigrants. In other words, if you are 85 years old and monolingual in another language, you cannot get a job, but come August 22, under the agreement, you would be out on the streets. Either you are homeless or else it is a transfer to the local government to be picked up by the counties' general assistance grant. This proposal of Senator D'Amato's essentially takes that August 22 deadline and extends it to October 1, giving us time to work with the administration, work with the Appropriations Committee and try to see if there is not a better solution.”