FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-9263
March 23, 2000
No. SS-13
Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced a hearing on Social Security Administration (SSA) program integrity activities designed to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in Social Security programs. The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 30, 2000, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include the Deputy Commissioner of Social Security and the Social Security Inspector General. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
In 1999, SSA paid benefits to about 45 million retired and disabled workers and their families and to more than 6 million Supplemental Security Income recipients, totaling almost $400 billion dollars and making it the largest expenditure in the Federal budget. Any spending of this magnitude is a ripe target for fraud and abuse. As America enters the 21st Century, SSA will also face rapidly increasing workloads within the next decade as the huge Baby Boom generation begins to qualify for benefits.
Accordingly, one of SSA's goals is to bring program management up to the highest standards, with zero tolerance for fraud and abuse. Agency objectives to support this goal include making accurate benefit payments, reducing the backlog of continuing disability reviews, improving accuracy and timeliness in posting earnings, aggressively deterring, identifying, and resolving fraud, and increasing debt collection.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "No time is more important than now to ensure Social Security is insulated against waste, fraud and abuse. We need to be certain Social Security is doing everything it can to protect taxpayer funds - especially before massive numbers of Baby Boomers start to qualify for benefits. This hearing is part of our ongoing oversight effort to ensure Social Security has smart, aggressive efforts in place to prevent fraud and abuse and is efficiently managing critical Social Security programs."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The Subcommittee will review the adequacy of the Social Security Administration's and Social Security Inspector General's current policies to combat fraud and abuse and prevent wasteful spending in Social Security programs.
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 six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, April 13, 2000, 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, by close of business the day before the hearing.
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 submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or MS Word format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. 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, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. 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.