Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

July/August 2001

Congressional Social Security Disability Hearings On Program Challenges And Opportunities

The first in a series of hearings was held on June 28th by the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security. The hearing was chaired by Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., of Florida. Stanford G. Ross, Chairman of the Social Security Advisory board, made an opening statement in which he called for a strengthening of the federal-state relationship by issuing Federal regulations, imposing education and salary guidelines for state employees involved in disability adjudication, as well as making quality assurance more uniform across the country. Then several panelists representing various organizations of federal and state employees who administer the disability program made statements.

The panelists were:

Witold Skwierczynski, President, National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Baltimore, Maryland

Steven Korn, President, National Council of Social Security Management Associations, Inc.

Sue Heflin, President, National Association of Disability Examiners, Jackson, Mississippi

Douglas Willman, Past President, National Council of Disability Determinations Directors, Lincoln, Nebraska

James A. Hill, President, Chapter 224, National Treasury Employees Union, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

The Honorable Ronald G. Bernoski, President, Association of Administrative Law Judges, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

To view transcripts of oral testimony, comments submitted to the subcommittee in writing, announcements of future hearings, etc., go to http://waysandmeans.house.gov

NADE’s testimony is posted on the website at www.nade.org and is also in this issue on pages 22 to 24.