Archives of Social Security Legislation of the 106th Congress

The following are summaries, prepared by Social Security's Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, of legislation of the 106th Congress affecting Social Security benefits and programs. The first session of the 106th Congress convened on January 6, 1999, and adjourned on November 22, 1999. The second session convened on January 24, 2000 and adjourned on December 15, 2000.

For additional information on legislation from the 106th Congress, we suggest that you connect to THOMAS at http://thomas.loc.gov/, the source of legislative information on the Internet.

Summaries of Legislation of the 106th Congress With Provisions Affecting Social Security:

• P.L. 106-554 (H.R. 4577), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 was signed into law on December 21, 2000. The law is comprised of several appropriations measures including the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 which funds, among other activities, the operations of the Social Security Administration.

• P.L. 106-386 (H.R. 3244), the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, was signed into law on October 28, 2000. The new law provides that noncitizens regardless of their immigration status who are victims of "severe forms of trafficking in persons in the United States" shall be eligible for Federal and State benefits and services, including Supplemental Security Income.

• P.L. 106-433 (H.R. 3218), the Social Security Number Confidentiality Act of 2000, was signed into law on November 6, 2000. Under the new law the Secretary of the Treasury is to take necessary action to ensure that Social Security account numbers (including derivatives of such numbers) are not visible on or through unopened mailings of Government checks or other drafts.

• P.L. 106-395 (H.R. 2883), the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, was signed into law on October 30, 2000. Under the new law, certain blind and disabled children may become U.S. citizens sooner than under previous law and, thus, eligible for Supplemental Security Income sooner than they otherwise would as noncitizens.

• On October 24, 2000, H.R. 4857 was reported by the committee on ways and means (Report 106-996). No further action was taken.
       Previous Action: 07/20/00

• On July 27, 2000, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4865, the Social Security Benefits Tax Relief Act, by a vote of 265 yeas to 159 nays, and then referred the Senate Finance Committee where no further action was taken.
       Previous Action: 06/19/00

• On July 18, 2000 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1264, the Right-to-Know National Payroll Act by voice vote with two provisions affecting Social Security.

• P.L.106-246 (H.R. 4425), the Military Construction FY 2001 Appropriations bill, was signed into law on July 13, 2000. As enacted, the law contains three Social Security-related provisions.

• P.L. 106-245 (S. 1515), the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments Of 2000, was signed into law on July 10, 2000, which has language affecting countable income in the Supplemental Security Income program.

• P.L. 106-207 (H.R. 371), the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 was signed into law on May 26, 2000. This law removes naturalization barriers for certain Hmong by waiving the English language requirements and providing special consideration for the civics requirement. Allows up to 45,000 Hmongs to apply for naturalization under these special provisions no later than 18 months after May 26, 2000.

• P.L. 106-182 (H.R. 5)On April 7, President Clinton signed into law the Senior Citizens' Freedom To Work Act of 2000, which eliminates the Social Security retirement earnings test in and after the month in which a person attains full retirement age--currently age 65.
       Previous Actions: 03/28/00, 03/22/00, 03/01/00, 02/29/00

• P.L.106-170 (H.R. 1180), the Ticket To Work And Work Incentives Improvement Act Of 1999 was signed into law on December 17, 1999. The bill contains many provisions designed to assist Social Security and Supplemental
       Previous Actions: 11/18/99, 10/21/99, 05/19/99

• P.L. 106-169 (H.R. 3443), the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 was signed into law on December 14, 1999. The law includes provisions relating to foster care and the OASDI and SSI programs, and establishes a new title VIII of the Social Security Act for providing special cash benefits to certain World War II veterans.
       Previous Actions: 11/18/99, 06/25/99, 05/26/99, 05/20/99

• On May 26, 1999, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1259, the Social Security and Medicare Safe Deposit Box Act of 1999, commonly referred to as the "Social Security lockbox" by a vote of 416 to 12.

• On March 23, 1999, the House passed by voice vote H.R. 416, the Federal Retirement Coverage Corrections Act. The bill seeks to correct errors made between 1984 and 1987 when the federal government changed from the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) and thousands of federal employees were placed in the wrong retirement system.

• On March 2, 1999, the House of Reprentatives passed H.J.Res. 32, the Social Security Guarantee Initiative, by a vote of 416 to 1. The resolution expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Congress should join in undertaking the Social Security Guarantee Initiative.

• On February 10, 1999, the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources marked up and approved by voice vote H.R. 631, the SSI Fraud Prevention Act of 1999.