FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-9263
September 17, 1997
No. SS-11
Congressman Jim Bunning (R-KY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) progress in conducting continuing disability reviews (CDRs). The hearing will take place on Thursday, September 25, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth Office Building, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
SSA is required to review the continuing eligibility of individuals with non-permanent disabilities at least once every three years. Congress enacted this statutory requirement to ensure that individuals remain on the disability rolls only if they continue to be disabled. SSA's difficulties in conducting the required number of CDRs in recent years have resulted in extraordinary backlogs. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), 4.3 million recipients were due or overdue for a CDR in fiscal year 1996.
The extraordinary growth in the Social Security disability rolls over the last decade and the increased length of time disabled recipients remain on the rolls, demonstrates the importance of conducting CDRs. Last year, Congress authorized an additional $3 billion for fiscal years 1996 through 2002 to help SSA eliminate the CDR backlog.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Bunning stated: "Individuals who work and pay into Social Security must be able to count on disability benefits to support their families if severe disability strikes. However, the public should also be able to count on SSA managing the program well, and that means stopping payments to people who have recovered and are no longer disabled."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
During the hearing, the Subcommittee will: (1) review the current status of the CDR workload, (2) examine SSA's use of the additional funds made available last year to SSA for CDRs, and (3) consider the findings of the GAO regarding SSA's management of the CDR process.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, October 9, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Social Security office, room B-316 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.