Control Unlawful Fugitive Felons Act of 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, my mother used to say: Right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong if everybody is wrong. H.R. 2792 is wrong. It is cruel. It is discriminatory.
I strongly oppose this Republican effort to strip low-income seniors and those with severe disabilities of Supplemental Security Income benefits, or SSI. I join in opposition with over 110 civil rights, disability, and aging advocates who have warned that H.R. 2792's harsh cuts will discriminate based on age, race, ethnicity, ability, income, and will further criminalize poverty.
I also strongly oppose the majority's decision to condition the reauthorization of our successful home visiting program on this bill's harm to the elderly and infirm.
SSI is only available to people who are elderly, who are severely disabled, and who have little or no assets. The typical SSI recipient lives on less than $750 a month. So, by design, H.R. 2792, will only harm very poor, elderly, and disabled people. Within the population of adult recipients of SSI, approximately 83 percent are disabled, one- third are age 65 and older, and two-thirds are age 50 and older.
I reject proponents' claims that this bill will only target fugitive felons. In reality, current law terminates benefits for fugitive felons. This bill strikes the current restriction against fugitive felons and, instead, expands the benefit cutoff beyond those who are actually fleeing and encompasses everybody who had some unresolved run- in with the justice system based on allegation, not conviction.
I reject proponents' claim that only individuals charged with violent crimes or costly financial theft are affected by this bill. By undermining the constitutional presumption of innocence and depriving individuals of due process adjudication in a court of law, H.R. 2792 magnifies the deep inequities in our criminal justice system based on race, ethnicity, and income.
As an African-American man, I am very familiar with the decades of research documenting the racial-ethnic discrimination in our justice system. As an advocate for criminal justice reform, I know the dozens of studies documenting the faulty criminal justice data system on which benefit terminations will pivot solely because this bill removes due process by adjudication.
I reject proponents' claim that no one who has a misdemeanor or minor offense will be harmed. No uniform threshold for a felony exists. Indeed, four States--Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey-- have the lowest thresholds in the country, defining felonies as losses of $300 or less, which is vastly different than the $2,500 threshold set in Texas and Wisconsin. This bill cuts off an elderly or disabled person's lifeline benefits for a decades-old offense of $300.
Also, we know that courts across the country are criminalizing poverty and raising revenue with fines and fees. Individuals on probation for misdemeanor offenses like vagrancy, shoplifting, and traffic violations get probation and fines or fees. When poor people can't pay these fees, arrest warrants are issued for a violation of their probation. As in the past, H.R. 2792 clearly terminates SSI benefits for such alleged violations without any due process.
I urge my colleagues to do what they know is right: stand up for our most vulnerable citizens, honor their most fundamental rights, and oppose H.R. 2792.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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