Political Quotes

“yesterday, I, along with Senators Dole, Kassebaum, Domenici, Thurmond, Kohl, Lugar, Chafee, Warner, Grassley, Stevens, and Bennett, introduced legislation to stop the flow of millions of Federal dollars into the hands of illegal drug users, many of whom are simply using the money to turn around and buy either more drugs or alcohol. It is our intent to reform the Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Program so as to encourage the actual treatment of those who are addicted to either alcohol or drugs, to get tough on those who manipulate the system, and to send a very strong message that the Federal Government no longer is going to be handing out checks to drug dealers, addicts, and others who are not seriously dedicated to helping themselves through the path of rehabilitation. To explain the dimensions of the problem, currently, under Supplemental Security Income--or SSI--our and Social Security disability systems, there are roughly 250,000 known addicts and alcoholics. Of those 250,000, only 78,000 are required to seek treatment for rehabilitation from their particular addiction. Of those 78,000, only approximately 9 percent are known by the Social Security Administration to be receiving treatment. So, in essence, out of the 250,000, only about 3 percent are known to be seeking treatment for their particular addiction.”