Social Security Disability Insurance

Floor Speech

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Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his work on this important issue. I have had numerous ALS sufferers and family members of those who suffer from ALS approach me about this bill early in my time in the Senate, and I have been grateful for the opportunity to work with the Senator from Rhode Island to try to address this very sad problem.

ALS is a progressive and disabling disease for which there is no cure. It is fatal in all cases. Unfortunately, like almost every other condition, ALS sufferers are required to wait for 5 months before they receive the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits they have earned; that they earned through a lifetime of paying taxes into Social Security.

I understand the purpose of this 5-month waiting period is to weed out temporary conditions, but ALS is not a temporary condition--or to prevent fraudulent claims, but it is hard to imagine anyone making a fraudulent claim on disability based on an ALS diagnosis. The average disability beneficiaries expect to receive benefits for about 20 years, but, unfortunately, those who have been diagnosed with ALS only have a life expectancy of approximately 3 years. Therefore, the disability waiting period of 5 months means that those on ALS will lose, on average, nearly one-seventh of the benefits they have paid a lifetime for. Of course, some will lose a lot more because of ALS's particularly degenerative nature. They will lose their fight to the disease before they ever become eligible for their disability benefits.

This legislation will simply ensure that those patients and their families can access the benefits they paid into as soon as possible by waiving that 5-month waiting period for disability benefits in this one exceptional case.

I understand there is objection about singling out the particular disease or condition. I would, however, say ALS is itself a singularly exceptional condition, and any sufferer of ALS deserves our sympathy, our prayers but also our action on the Senate floor.

I also understand there is objection to the cost of the legislation, which would be $270 million over 10 years--no doubt a lot of money to all Americans--but frankly a small rounding error in the Federal budget. For that matter, it is less than the amount of money for the piece of legislation that is pending on the floor today--a criminal leniency bill that would cost $352 million over 10 years.

If we are prepared to allow legislation to go forward that slashes sentences for serious drug traffickers and let sex offenders out of prison early, even though it costs $350 million, I would suggest it is a misplaced priority to object to legislation because it costs $270 million. So I hope, along with the Senator from Rhode Island, that we can pass this legislation in this week before Christmas and give some small measure of solace to those who are suffering from ALS and their families.

I yield back to the Senator from Rhode Island.

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