about $253.6 billion to 36.2 million OASI beneficiaries, and payments of $28.7 billion to 4.4 million DI beneficiaries. Administrative expenses remain a small fraction of the overall trust fund operations. Maintaining the integrity of the trust funds is one of my major goals; and the budget shows steadily increasing balances in the OASI and DI trust funds, to meet our obligations to tomorrow's elderly and disabled and surviving families, to a level of $335 billion by the end of fiscal year 1992. Conclusion In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, although less than 2 percent of the overall costs for the programs we manage are for administrative expenses, these expenses are critical to the effective delivery of service to our constituents. That is why I am here today to present the President's request for $4.532 billion for the Limitation on Administrative Expenses. These funds are needed to: Fund mandatory payroll and other cost increases, which account for about 80 percent of the increase requested for 1992; Provide a modest increase in SSA's FTE level, to partially compensate for Fund costs for our partners in the State Disability Determination Services Restore limited funding to maintain and repair our facilities and provide training, supplies and other critical tools our employees need to get their jobs done; and Support our computer and telecommunications systems on which we have come to depend for efficient and reliable service, and continue investments in automation to offset future workload growth. Mr. Chairman, the Social Security Administration needs congressional approval of our full $4.532 billion request for administrative costs if we are to fulfill our mandate and serve the public with efficiency, courtesy and compassion. Payments to Social Security Trust Funds The fiscal year (FY) 1992 appropriation request for Payments to Social Security Trust Funds totals $40,968,000 and covers four general fund payments to the Social Security trust funds. Special Payments for Certain Uninsured Persons The request before this Committee includes $18,868,000 in FY 1992 to reimburse the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund for special benefits paid during FY 1990 to certain uninsured persons aged 72 years and over. The payments are made to individuals who did not have a chance to work long enough under Social Security to become insured. These beneficiaries, a declining population, were not eligible for regular monthly Social Security benefits, primarily because they retired before enactment of the Social Security Act or before their occupations were covered under Social Security. The FY 1992 request for Special Payments to Certain Uninsured Persons is $6,590,000 less than the FY 1991 appropriation. The population receiving special payments is a closed group of very aged persons which declines annually. As of September 30, 1990, 7,500 persons were receiving benefits chargeable to the general funds under this provision as compared to 10,000 a year earlier. Reimbursement for Pension Reform Administrative Costs Included in this request is a payment of $1,100,000 in FY 1992 to reimburse the OldAge and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund for the general fund share of the cost of administering pension reform responsibilities assigned to the Social Security Administration under Public Law 93-406, the Pension Reform Act. The reimbursement is for the cost of furnishing information on deferred vested pension rights to pension plan participants or their survivors. The request for FY 1992 reflects the ongoing level of activity for pension reform. It is $400,000 less than the FY 1991 appropriation, which included $400,000 for prior year adjustments. Unnegotiated Checks Also included in this request is a payment of $20,000,000 in FY 1992 to reimburse the trust funds for the value of interest on benefit checks that remain uncashed after 6 months. This payment is authorized by section 152 of the Social Security amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21). The request for 1992 is the same as the FY 1991 appropriation. This amount reflects the ongoing level of activity and represents the value of interest for unnegotiated OASDI benefit checks. Beginning October 1, 1989, Social Security checks, like other Federal government checks, are negotiable for only 12 months from their date of issue under the provisions of the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-86). The value of these checks will be credited directly to the trust funds from the general funds when the checks are cancelled. Interest on the amount of unnegotiated checks that remain uncashed after 6 months, until the check is cashed, or until the value of the checks is credited directly to the trust funds, will be funded from this appropriation activity. Social Security Card Legend The Payments to Social Security Trust Funds appropriation request for FY 1992 includes $1,000,000 for a new activity, "Social Security card legend." The purpose of this activity is to reimburse the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund for the cost of implementing a change in the Social Security Number (SSN) cards issued to alien applicants with temporary employment authorizations, by adding the following legend "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION." The new legend for the SSN card is considered a "major change" in the employment verification system established in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which added section 274A to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the provisions of section 274A, the change must be reported to the Congress at least 1 year prior to the date of its expected implementation, and implemented only when Congress specifically approves funds, other than trust funds, for this purpose. The following actions have been taken to comply with the requirements of the law: On July 25, 1989, SSA sent letters to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee to notify them of the change. SSA plans to meet the funding requirement through the addition of this new activity. These costs will be paid from SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses with reimbursement through this appropriation. This is a new activity, and actual costs for this work are not known. However, SSA will use these funds only to reimburse the trust funds for the actual costs associated with this activity. Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners The fiscal year (FY) 1992 appropriation request for Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners totals $617,336,000 and is financed from general revenues. The request is in addition to the $203,000,000 which Congress provided last year as a FY 1992 advance appropriation to fund first quarter benefit payments, which brings the total FY 1992 appropriation to $820,336,000. It includes $813,000,000 for FY 1992 benefit payments and $7,336,000 for administrative costs. The request also contains an advance appropriation of $198,000,000 for the first quarter of FY 1993. It does not include reimbursable work done for the Department of Labor, which is budgeted for by that agency. Program Authorization The black lung program is authorized by title IV of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which provides for payment of monthly cash benefits to coal miners who are totally disabled because of pneumoconiosis, commonly referred to as black lung disease, and to widows and certain other dependents of miners who were entitled to these benefits or whose deaths were due to this disease. Responsibility for Administration The Social Security Administration is responsible for processing and paying claims for miners benefits filed from December 30, 1969 through June 30, 1973 and claims for survivors benefits filed through December 31, 1973 or within 6 months after the death of a minor or widow already on the beneficiary rolls maintained by SSA. SSA pays benefits and maintains the beneficiary rolls for the lifetime of all persons who filed with SSA during its jurisdiction. Since June 30, 1973 SSA has continued to take miners' claims--but as an agent of the Department of Labor, which is responsible for adjudication and payment of these |