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Guest Column

Social Security belongs to working Americans

By GINNY BROWN-WAITE
Published January 8, 2007

For years, the trustees of Social Security have warned Congress and the president about the fiscal crisis that the Social Security program faces in the not-too-distant future. As the representative with the largest number of Social Security beneficiaries in Congress, it is my goal to listen to all ideas and seek solutions that ensure the long-term stability of the program.

Over the years, modifications have been made to Social Security that protect a worker's right to a safe and secure retirement. One of these modifications, called a totalization agreement between two nations, allows people who spend significant portions of their career working in multiple countries to avoid paying into more than one retirement system.

For example, these agreements are designed so that American citizens who work in England for three years will still accrue credits toward their Social Security benefit plans and retirement in the United States.

While this might seem to be a common sense agreement to reconcile retirement plan benefits across international borders, it does not work for countries that routinely flout the established immigration laws of sovereign nations. Imagine my surprise then when I read that a Social Security totalization agreement between the United States and Mexico was signed in June 2004 and that details of the agreement were not released publicly until last week.

And it took a Freedom of Information Act request and more than 11/2 years of foot-dragging for the Social Security Administration to release details of the proposal to the public.

While the United States has totalization agreements with 21 countries, most all of these agreements are with countries that have similar retirement systems and whose workers are in the United States legally. That is clearly not the case with Mexico.

In the United States, 96 percent of nongovernment workers contribute to Social Security. In Mexico, only 40 percent of nongovernment employees contribute to its retirement system. Also, the U.S. Social Security program is progressive, allowing lower-income workers to retire with more benefits than what they put in to help them into retirement. Mexico's system is not progressive, meaning its workers and family members receive only what they put in.

If they are able to take advantage of the U.S. retirement system, then they will receive an unfair proportion in return for their initial contributions.

Under the current Social Security plan, workers who turn 62 generally need 40 quarters (10 years) of coverage to receive retirement benefits. Under totalization agreements, workers are allowed to combine earnings from both countries to qualify for benefits. The agreement with Mexico would allow workers to qualify with six quarters, or 18 months, of U.S. coverage.

This agreement will only exacerbate the shrinking pool of funds in the Social Security Trust Fund and potentially impact your retirement benefits.

It is ludicrous that with an overburdened Social Security system and an estimated 12-million illegal immigrants residing in the United States that the Social Security Administration and the president would make agreements giving Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants and their families.

Family members of illegal immigrants, those who never worked a single day in the United States, might get Social Security benefits if this agreement proceeds. Perhaps the president and the Social Security Administration think that throwing open the doors to the Treasury is a good idea, but I can tell you that I will fight to protect your hard-earned tax dollars.

The good news is that before the U.S.-Mexico totalization agreement can take effect, it will come before the U.S. House of Representatives for review. I co-sponsored several bills that were introduced in the 109th Congress to stop this agreement, including House Resolution 858, HR 1438 and HR 5211. One amendment to the Fiscal Year 2006 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill regarding the issue passed the House but not the Senate. These bills and votes show that there are enough enlightened and outraged members of the House that by banding together, we can defeat this agreement and stop it in its tracks.

I do not think it is fair that such an agreement will jeopardize hardworking Americans' future benefits, while at the same time giving billions to Mexican citizens who have minimally or never contributed to the U.S. retirement system. I will work with my colleagues in the 110th Congress to ensure this totalization agreement is defeated and that illegal immigrants do not receive the benefits of hardworking American seniors.

Ginny Brown-Waite is the U.S. representative for 5th Congressional District, which includes all or parts of Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. Guest columnists write their views on subjects that they choose, which do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.

[Last modified January 8, 2007, 07:03:50]