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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 29, 2022 09:22 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Angel Cruz |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | SSI Parity for U.S. Territories |
| The federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program provides a safety net to people who are disabled, blind, or elderly and have little income and few assets. While SSI alone is not always enough to lift someone out of poverty, it is instrumental in reducing the number of people in extreme poverty and greatly lessens the burden on other family members. For residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, these benefits could serve as a lifeline. U.S. territories experience poverty rates two to three times higher than the U.S. mainland, and extreme weather patterns and tropical storms repeatedly threaten their economic stability. However, discriminatory policies currently exclude the residents of these territories from the SSI program. Financially vulnerable residents of U.S. territories should no longer be treated as second-class citizens. Legislation ensuring residents have equal access to this supplemental income has been introduced in Congress, such as the Build Back Better Act, but have yet to be enacted. Therefore, I am introducing legislation to support my fellow citizens by urging the Congress of the United States to pass legislation that would extend SSI to the residents of all U.S. territories. Granting residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa access to SSI for the first time in 50 years is simply a matter of fairness and justice. All U.S. citizens deserve full and equal treatment under federal laws and programs, especially those eligible for SSI, who are some of the most vulnerable. |
Introduced as HR207