May 18, 2006

Senate votes to award illegal aliens Social Security benefits

Posted by D.A. King at 11:32 pm - Email the author   Print This Post Print This Post  

This from Townhall.com

Senate votes to award illegal aliens Social Security benefits

By TimChapman
May 18, 2006

The Senate today defeated an amendment offered by Senator John Ensign that would have prohibited illegal aliens from using fraudulent work history to obtain Social Security benefits. I wrote about Ensign’s amendment last week. Here is a refresher:

To qualify for full Social Security benefits, a worker must register 10 years of work. Under current law, illegal immigrants who obtain legal status can use their previous illegal work history to apply for Social Security benefits.
A compromise immigration bill pending right now in the U.S. Senate (sponsored by Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Mel Martinez (R-FL)) comes at a time when our nation is facing an enormous crisis on the entitlements front. A recent report moved the year in which Social Security will go broke from 2041 to 2040. Congress cannot afford to keep the promise of Social Security to its own citizens, let alone illegal workers.
To remedy the situation, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) has offered an amendment to the pending Senate immigration bill that would reverse this law to ensure that law-breakers are not rewarded for their past work at the expense of immigrants who have waited in line and American citizens. Ensign’s amendment may be considered when the Senate takes up the immigration issue yet again — possibly as soon as next week

NOTE FROM D.A. It lost by one vote

As a reference point, look to see how Kennedy and McCain voted.

See here for voting information.