Donald Riegle: “I rise today to once again offer my support for this legislation to make the Social Security Administration an…”

“I rise today to once again offer my support for this legislation to make the Social Security Administration an independent agency. The Social Security Program has the confidence and support of the American public. In a period of increasing doubts and cynicism about government it is absolutely paramount that those of us here in Washington do everything we can to maintain the credibility of this vital program. A brief look at the work of the Social Security Administration points out how important this bill is. The Social Security Administration includes over half the staff and 60 percent of the expenditures of the Department of Health and Human Services. This program serves over 42 million people. When this administration is not unfairly targeted in budget cuts it does its job well under ever increasing work loads. I support this bill because over the next several years Social Security could become an all to convenient target for those who want to balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens and disabled Americans. If anyone questions the chance of that happening, I would only have to point to the budget actions of the early 1980's. Despite an ever increasing number of retirees, increasing numbers of people on SSI, and increasing numbers of disabled children, the programs under the Social Security Administration experienced a reduction of staffing from approximately 80,000 to 63,000 people.”