Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the We Can't Wait Act, a bipartisan bill with my colleague from New Hampshire Senator Hassan. This legislation addresses a pressing and unnecessary hardship in our Social Security Disability Insurance Program. This program, known as SSDI, provides eligible individuals with benefits if they become disabled and are unable to work. Our bill would give eligible individuals with disabilities the option of bypassing the current 5-month waiting period and allow them to access the benefits that they have earned without further delay.
As my colleagues are aware, SSDI benefits are available only to those who have worked long enough and contributed sufficiently through payroll taxes to the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
When an individual becomes disabled and meets the program's strict eligibility standards, he or she should be able to rely on the benefits that they paid for, benefits intended to provide critical support during a time of great need.
Imagine that you have worked for many years and you find that you have contracted a disease that is fatal and that you have very little time to live. Surely, you should be able to tap into what essentially is an insurance fund set up for people in exactly that situation. But because of the 5-month waiting period, there are individuals who receive no payments at all.
During those 5 months, no payments are made, even though the disability has been confirmed by the Social Security Administration. This delay prevents individuals from accessing the insurance they have earned, at a critical and difficult time in their lives.
Lack of benefits can make it more difficult to obtain timely medical treatments, cover basic living expenses, and, in some cases where it is not a terminal condition, begin the process of rehabilitation toward an eventual return to work, if possible.
The burden of this delay can be heartbreaking. I have heard from constituents whose loved ones could get no help from SSDI when they were overtaken by a sudden and terminal diagnosis. Faced with a terrible disease that demanded every ounce of their energy and their total focus, they were forced instead to worry over their finances at the very end of their lives.
This just isn't right. The broader disability determination process already imposes significant hardships. A 2020 Government Accountability Office report documented what can be severe consequences of the long wait times for applicants who appealed initial denials for a Social Security disability.
Between fiscal years 2014 and 2019, approximately 48,000 individuals were forced to file for bankruptcy while awaiting a final decision on their appeals. From 2008 through 2019, an estimated nearly 110,000 people died before receiving a final decision.
These heartbreaking outcomes occur even before many applicants reach the point of approval. Yet even once they are approved, the additional 5-month exclusion period compounds the suffering for those who have already proven their eligibility.
Congress has already acted to address this delay in certain circumstances. In 2020, we passed the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act. It eliminated the 5-month waiting period for individuals with ALS, a progressive, terminal disease where every month, every day is critical. That bipartisan reform was the right thing to do, and I was proud to cosponsor it.
The We Can't Wait Act builds directly on that precedent. Under our bill, claimants would have a choice. They could either opt to begin receiving benefits immediately after approval, rather than waiting 5 months, in exchange for a modest actuarially sound reduction in their monthly benefit amount, or they could decide to wait the 5 months and receive the full amount.
As the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration explains in a letter released today, this small reduction in benefits maintains the actuarial balance in the trust fund over the 75-year projection period.
Let me emphasize that this bill makes no other changes in the SSDI Program. It does not alter eligibility criteria, the determination process--although that should be speeded up--benefit levels for those who choose not to bypass the wait, or any other core element in the program.
It is a precise reform that honors the contributions hard-working Americans with disabilities have made while removing an arbitrary barrier to the benefits that they have earned and deserve.
While this reform is carefully targeted, its impact would be profound. It would end the tragic reality in which Americans with disabilities suffer and, in some cases, die during an unnecessary 5- month delay after their disability has been officially certified by the Social Security Administration.
This is a key point made in a letter supporting the bill by a broad coalition of organizations committed to the rights, dignity, and well- being of people with disabilities--groups that advocate every day for those who need this relief most.
The letter, which is signed by more than two dozen organizations, goes on to make the point that the 5-month exclusion period is unnecessary and harms disabled Americans who are often financially hanging on by a thread.
The We Can't Wait Act is straightforward, compassionate, and fiscally responsible. It would provide a crucial option to Americans who simply can't wait even 5 months for the benefits they have worked for and desperately need.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense and much needed legislation.
Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities are unable to access Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits when they need them most, even though they have paid into the SSDI program all their working lives. In fact, current law and policy impose obstacles to workers that unfairly delay their insurance, medical treatment, and return to work.
By design, SSDI is not a benefits program--it is a funded insurance program supported by workers' paycheck deductions, is only available to those who have contributed enough through work, and is limited based on how long one has worked. In return, SSDI ensures that if eligible workers ever become disabled, they will be able to access the insurance they need to survive.
However, hundreds of thousands of American workers who have paid into SSDI face obstacles each year as they try to access the benefits they need. Disabled workers are denied their insurance for the first five months after becoming eligible. This exclusion period is fundamentally unfair. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported, more than 100,000 American workers died while awaiting a decision on their SSDI eligibility, a process that can often take 18 months. In addition, an estimated 50,000 workers were forced to file for bankruptcy while they waited for SSDI coverage. The five-month exclusion period is unnecessary and harms disabled Americans who are often financially hanging on by a thread.
By passing the We Can't Wait Act, Congress can ensure an equitable and cost-effective system that supports all individuals with significant health challenges and does not harm the SSDI Trust Fund. The We Can't Wait Act would allow disabled Americans to elect to access their benefits during the five-month exclusionary period in exchange for a small reduction in their monthly benefits. The election would be voluntary and the Social Security Administration would be required to provide a benefits calculator and other resources to help applicants decide. The adjustment rate would be set initially at 5.75%, which is much less than the interest rates at which people often have to borrow money to meet their immediate needs. The Social Security Administration would assess and adjust the rate periodically to ensure it does not reduce the SSDI Trust Fund.
Considering these crucial factors, we, the undersigned, urge Congress to pass the We Can't Wait Act.
Alliance for Aging Research; American Association of People with Disabilities; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; American Council of the Blind; Assure Disability; Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Bender Consulting Services, Inc.; Brain Injury Association of America; Center for HIV Law & Policy; Communication First; disABILITY Law Center of Virginia; Disability Rights Maine; Disability Rights North Carolina; Disability Rights Pennsylvania; Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund; National Alliance on Mental Illness; National Association of Disability Representatives; National Association of the Deaf; National Disability Institute; National Disability Rights Network; National Federation of the Blind; National Industries for the Blind; National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives; National Organization on Disability; Paralyzed Veterans of America; Respectability; World Institute on Disability. ______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Alsobrooks, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Booker, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Blumenthal):
S. 3925. A bill to establish the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. S. 3925
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Act''. SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish a unit of the National Park System--
(A) to commemorate the life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, who--
(i) was the son of German-Jewish immigrants;
(ii) helped make Sears, Roebuck and Co. the leading retailer in the United States for many years;
(iii) used his enormous fortune to become a visionary philanthropist; and
(iv) partnered with Booker T. Washington and approximately 5,000 African American communities in the segregated South to build schools for children who had few or no educational opportunities;
(B) to recognize the impact of the Rosenwald Schools, which--
(i) were constructed between 1912 and 1932 in 15 States; and
(ii) educated more than 600,000 African American children, including a number of graduates who became leaders in the civil rights movement, such as--
(I) Representative John Lewis;
(II) Maya Angelou;
(III) Medgar Evers;
(IV) Nina Simone; and
(V) Carlotta Walls LaNier; and
(C) to honor other important parts of the legacy of Julius Rosenwald, including--
(i) the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which--
(I) between 1928 and 1948, awarded fellowships to nearly 900 talented men and women--
(aa) \2/3\ of whom were African Americans; and
(bb) including--
(AA) Marian Anderson;
(BB) Langston Hughes;
(CC) Ralph Bunche;
(DD) James Baldwin;
(EE) Dr. Charles Drew;
(FF) Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark;
(GG) Ralph Ellison; and
(HH) Woody Guthrie;
(II) supported early legal cases of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that led to the Supreme Court opinion in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); and
(III) provided support for a significant number of historically Black colleges and universities, particularly to train teachers;
(ii) the founding, and service as the first president of, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago;
(iii) service as a member of the board of Jane Addams' Hull House for 20 years;
(iv) being the founding donor of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry; and
(v) otherwise embodying social justice;
(2) to preserve a small number of representative sites of the Rosenwald Schools (including the San Domingo School in Sharptown, Maryland, a 3-teacher restored school built during the Tuskegee phase of the Rosenwald School program, the Saint George Rosenwald School in Saint George, South Carolina, a 6- teacher restored school built during the Julius Rosenwald Fund phase of the Rosenwald School program, and the Woodville Rosenwald School in Gloucester County, Virginia, a restored 2-teacher school built during the Julius Rosenwald Fund phase of the Rosenwald School program) and to establish a headquarters and visitor center for the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park within or near the former Sears Merchandising Complex in North Lawndale in the city of Chicago, Illinois, to enlighten visitors on--
(A) the overall life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald; and
(B) the ways in which the Rosenwald Schools--
(i) significantly improved African American education in the South; and
(ii) helped to make the United States a more democratic society; and
(3) to establish a network in the National Park Service to connect the remaining Rosenwald Schools to disseminate more fully the story of the Rosenwald Schools throughout the United States. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map prepared under section 4(b)(2)(A).
(2) Network.--The term ``Network'' means the Rosenwald Schools National Network established under section 5(a)(1).
(3) Park.--The term ``Park'' means the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park established by section 4(a)(1).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 4. JULIUS ROSENWALD AND ROSENWALD SCHOOLS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), there is established as a unit of the National Park System the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park.
(2) Determination by the secretary.--
(A) Date of establishment.--The Park shall not be established until the date on which the Secretary determines that a sufficient quantity of land or interests in land within the boundary of the Park has been acquired to constitute a manageable unit.
(B) Federal register notice.--The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register notice of a determination under subparagraph (A).
(b) Boundary; Map.--
(1) Boundary.--The Park shall consist of the following:
(A) The 40-acre site selected for the Sears merchandising complex constructed in 1905-1906, which includes the original Sears Administration Building, the catalog building, the power plant, and the Nichols Tower, which now comprise the Sears Roebuck and Company Complex National Historic Landmark, and the Sears Sunken Garden directly across the street from the Sears Administration Building.
(B) The San Domingo Rosenwald School in Sharptown, Maryland, as generally depicted on the Map.
(C) The Saint George Rosenwald School in Saint George, South Carolina, as generally depicted on the Map.
(D) The Woodville Rosenwald School in Gloucester County, Virginia, as generally depicted on the Map.
(E) Any Rosenwald School or other area designated by Congress to be included in the Park after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Map.--
(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare a map of the boundary of the Park.
(B) Availability.--The Map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.
(c) Administration.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall administer land within the boundary of the Park in accordance with--
(A) this section; and
(B) the laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including--
(i) sections 100101(a), 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, United States Code; and
(ii) chapters 1003 and 3201 of title 54, United States Code.
(2) Contributing resources.--For the purposes of establishing the Park, the following properties shall be associated with the Park but shall not be transferred to, or directly managed by, the National Park Service:
(A) The Saint George Rosenwald School in Saint George, South Carolina.
(B) The Woodville Rosenwald School in Gloucester County, Virginia.
(3) Cooperative agreements.--
(A) In general.--To further the purposes of this section and notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the State of Illinois, the city of Chicago, the States of Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia, other appropriate State and local government officials, and public and nonpublic entities, subject to subparagraph (B)--
(i) to support collaborative interpretive and educational programs at non-Federal historic properties within the boundary of the Park; and
(ii) to identify, interpret, and provide assistance for the preservation of non- Federal land within the boundary of the Park and at sites related to the Park but located outside the boundaries of the Park, including providing for--
(I) the placement of directional and interpretive signage;
(II) exhibits; and
(III) technology-based and other interpretive devices.
(B) Public access.--A cooperative agreement entered into under this paragraph shall provide for reasonable public access to any property subject to the cooperative agreement.
(4) Use of funds.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary may use appropriated funds to carry out a project to mark, interpret, improve, restore, or provide technical assistance with respect to the preservation and interpretation of any property that is subject to a cooperative agreement under paragraph (3).
(B) Inconsistent purposes.--Any payment made by the Secretary under this section shall be subject to an agreement that the conversion, use, or disposal of a project carried out under subparagraph (A) for purposes that are inconsistent with the purposes of this section, as determined by the Secretary, shall result in a right of the United States to reimbursement in an amount that is the greater of--
(i) the amount provided by the Secretary to the project; and
(ii) an amount equal to the increase in the value of the project that is attributable to the funds, as determined by the Secretary as of the date of the conversion, use, or disposal.
(5) Acquisition of land.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary may, within the National Historic Landmark District in Chicago, Illinois--
(i) acquire a facade or other easement interest on the Nichols Tower; and
(ii) enter into a lease or other agreement for purposes of providing for administration of the Park and appropriate visitor services.
(B) Outside of park boundary.--If the Secretary is unable to identify appropriate space for administration and visitor services in accordance with subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary may acquire the appropriate land or interests in land, or enter into other appropriate agreements, in the vicinity of, but outside the boundary of the Park, for administration and visitor services.
(C) Limitation.--The San Domingo School in Sharptown, Maryland, may only be acquired by the Secretary under this section by--
(i) donation;
(ii) purchase with donated funds; or
(iii) exchange.
(6) Interpretation.--To further the dissemination of information about the life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, with an emphasis on the partnership of Julius Rosenwald with Booker T. Washington and the approximately 5,000 communities in the South that led to the establishment and success of the Rosenwald Schools, the Secretary shall include interpretation of the story of Julius Rosenwald at--
(A) the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in the State of Illinois, within the boundary of which is located the childhood home of Julius Rosenwald; and
(B) the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site in the State of Alabama, which was founded by Booker T. Washington for the education of African Americans and at which architects designed the early Rosenwald Schools.
(7) Management plan.--Not later than 3 fiscal years after the date on which funds are first made available to carry out this section, the Secretary shall complete a general management plan for the Park in accordance with--
(A) section 100502 of title 54, United States Code; and
(B) any other applicable laws. SEC. 5. ROSENWALD SCHOOLS NATIONAL NETWORK.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall--
(1) establish, within the National Park Service, a program to be known as the ``Rosenwald Schools National Network'';
(2) as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, solicit proposals from sites, facilities, and programs interested in being a part of the Network; and
(3) administer the Network.
(b) Duties of the Secretary.--In carrying out the Network, the Secretary shall--
(1) review studies and reports to complement and not duplicate studies of the historical importance of the Rosenwald Schools;
(2) produce and disseminate appropriate educational and promotional materials relating to the life and work of Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools that are part of the Network, such as handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic information;
(3) enter into appropriate cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding to provide assistance, as appropriate;
(4)(A) create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device for the Network; and
(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol or device adopted under this paragraph;
(5) conduct research relating to the Rosenwald Schools;
(6) make recommendations for any additional Rosenwald School sites that should be considered for inclusion within the Park due to the significance, integrity, and need for management by the National Park Service of the sites; and
(7) have the authority to provide grants to Network elements described in subsection (c).
(c) Elements.--The Network shall encompass the following elements:
(1) All units and programs of the National Park Service that are determined by the Secretary to relate to the story of Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools.
(2) Other Federal, State, local, and privately owned properties that the Secretary determines--
(A) relate to Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools; and
(B) are included, or determined by the Secretary to be eligible for inclusion, in the National Register of Historic Places.
(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental sites, facilities, and programs of an educational, research, or interpretive nature that are directly related to Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools.
(d) Cooperative Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding.--To achieve the purposes of this section and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal and non- Federal elements of the Network and units and programs of the National Park Service, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding with, and provide technical assistance to, the heads of other Federal agencies, States, units of local government, regional governmental bodies, and private entities.
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