Pages 958 and 959 of the 1,603-page omnibus spending bill from House Speaker John Boehner include a provision that gives Social Security benefits to illegal aliens under President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty.
The seemingly wonky legislative language in that relevant section reads:
None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be expended or obligated by the Commissioner of Social Security, for purposes of administering Social Security benefit payments under title II of the Social Security Act, to process any claim for credit for a quarter of coverage based on work performed under a social security account number that is not the claimant’s number and the performance of such work under such number has formed the basis for a conviction of the claimant of a violation of section 208(a)(6) or (7) of the Social Security Act.
Right after Obama’s executive amnesty announcement, the White House confirmed to the Washington Post that illegal aliens who get amnesty from Obama—paid for by Boehner, and any Republican who votes for this omnibus bill—will have access to Social Security benefits.
By not including language saying that Social Security benefits can’t go to illegal aliens under the executive amnesty—just as they didn’t include language going after funding for the implementation of the executive amnesty itself—Republicans are completely surrendering, ensuring that millions of illegal aliens will get Social Security.
“Absent from this conversation is the reality that the Obama amnesty program requires departments and agencies throughout the whole government to implement,” a congressional GOP aide familiar with the legislation said in an email to Breitbart News. “By doing a long-term omnibus with Reid, instead of a short-term Continuing Resolution until January, Republicans are giving up all kinds of avenues for undoing the amnesty. A big one of those is the Social Security element. Appropriators made a decision not to include language in this section denying social security cards to those receiving SSN’s under the Obama amnesty regime, thereby allowing them to be sent out.”
Despite omitting language that would prohibit any funding for any part of Obama’s executive amnesty, congressional leaders did include 451 other times where they prohibited funding from being used for a given purpose. According to Roll Call’s White House correspondent Steven Dennis, the phrase “None of the funds” appears that many times throughout the bill.
Despite a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that shows he was not being truthful, House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) has told Republican members and the American people multiple times that Congress couldn’t block funding for Obama’s executive amnesty because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency is primarily fee-funded.
But Rogers actually blocked—in this bill—another department’s fee-funded program from being implemented, proof that he’s not being truthful with Republican members he’s hoping will vote for this legislation.
On pages 82 and 83, for instance, Rogers blocks funds for a fee-based program.
That fee-based program funding blocking reads:
“None of the funds provided by this Act, or provided by previous Appropriations Acts to the agencies funded by this Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in the current fiscal year, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming, transfer of funds, or reimbursements as authorized by the Economy Act, or in the case of the Department of Agriculture, through use of the authority provided by section 702(b) of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2257) or section 8 of Public Law 89–106 (7 U.S.C. 2263), that
(1) creates new programs;
(2) eliminates a program, project, or activity;
(3) increases funds or personnel by any means for any project or activity for which funds have been denied or restricted;
(4) relocates an office or employees;
(5) reorganizes offices, programs, or activities; or
(6) contracts out or privatizes any functions or activities presently performed by Federal employees;
unless the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of Health and Human Services (as the case may be) notifies in writing and receives approval from the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress at least 30 days in advance of the reprogramming of such funds or the use of such authority.”
Another GOP aide said he’s not surprised Boehner caved to Obama’s amnesty.
“I can’t say I’m surprised by this, given the apparent lack of will to protect the American people against Obama’s illegal actions,” the aide said.
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