Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), representative of the largest community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the nation, introduced historic legislation designed to help restore payment of unpaid pensions to FSU immigrants now living in the U.S. The Former Soviet Union State Pension Fairness Act of 2011 would direct the State Department and Social Security Administration to prioritize working with the FSU states to encourage policies that foment payment of pensions to individuals who earned pensions in those states but since immigrated to the United States.
“For too long, thousands of FSU immigrants in my district and across the nation have been unfairly deprived of their hard-earned pensions,” said Nadler. “The principle is quite simple: if you work for decades and pay into a pension fund, you have the right to the payments that were promised you, no matter where you live. My legislation would ensure that the U.S. government plays a direct role in our longstanding efforts to obtain hard-earned pensions for Russian-speaking immigrants.”
There are tens of thousands of FSU immigrants in the U.S. who are currently not being paid pensions due them from FSU states. In 2006, at the request of community advocates from the FSU immigrant community in Brooklyn, Nadler began his efforts to restore pension payments to those immigrants, working with FSU governments and key State Department and Social Security Administration officials on the issue. Thus far, few of the 15 former Soviet republics reliably pay pensions due to retired workers living in the U.S.
The legislation would also require the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security to annually submit a detailed report to Congress on the progress that has been made toward encouraging FSU states to adopt these policies.
Text of the legislation is below:
112TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
To authorize and direct the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on __________.
A BILL
To authorize and direct the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security to continue to work with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Former Soviet Union State Pension Fairness Act of 2011.’’
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, over 1.1 million immigrants from the fifteen states of the former Soviet Union currently live in the United States.
(2) Many such immigrants worked for decades for state-run industries in their countries of origin.
(3) As a result of such years of hard work, such immigrants earned government pensions in their countries of origin.
(4) According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 37 percent of such immigrants are out of the labor force, 18 percent are aged 65 and over, and 17 percent live below the poverty line.
(5) Many such immigrants are elderly, retired, and poor, living on fixed-incomes.
(6) Many such immigrants are Jews who fled due to religious persecution.
(7) Many of such immigrants who are Jews were forced to give up their citizenship before being allowed to leave their country of origin.
(8) The United States has negotiated agreements with 24 countries, often called ‘‘totalization agreements,’’ to coordinate comprehensively public pension coverage and benefits across countries.
(9) The 24 countries with which the United States has totalization agreements are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
(10) The United States does not pay Social Security benefits to noncitizens residing outside the United States for more than six consecutive months (‘‘alien nonpayment provision’’) unless certain exceptions are met.
(11) One exception to the alien nonpayment provision, under section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, is if the alien is a citizen of a country that has a social insurance or pension system which meets certain criteria, including having a system under which benefits are paid to eligible United States citizens who reside outside that country.
(12) The United States has arrangements with 71 countries under section 202(t) of the Social Security Act, in which the United States pays a foreign country’s citizens who earned Social Security while working in the United States but have since moved abroad because that foreign country pays United States citizens who earned pensions in that foreign country but have since moved abroad.
(13) According to the Social Security Administration, these 71 countries are Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Jamaica, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Trinidad-Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
(14) Not all persons from the states of the former Soviet Union who now live in the United States are paid pensions that they worked for and earned while working in such states.
(15) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security have worked with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for all individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States.
(16) In June 2009, the House of Representatives by voice vote adopted House Amendment 185 to H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011, which stated it is the ‘‘sense of Congress that the United States should continue working with the states of the former Soviet Union to come to an agreement whereby each state of the former Soviet Union would pay the tens of thousands of beneficiaries who have immigrated to the United States the pensions for which they are eligible and entitled.’’
(17) In October 2009, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that its law barring pension payments to those who lived in Ukraine or lived in countries with which Ukraine had a pension treaty was unconstitutional.
(18) To allow Ukrainians in the United States to receive the pensions they earned pursuant to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, its decision has to be implemented through legislation.
SEC. 3. DIRECTION TO SECRETARY OF STATE AND COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY RELATING TO PENSION POLICIES OF STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security are authorized and directed to continue to work with the governments of the states of the former Soviet Union to encourage such states to adopt policies that would allow receipt of pensions for individuals who worked in any such state and earned a pension and currently reside in the United States.
(b) PRIORITY IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.—The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to continue to make the adoption of policies described in subsection (a) by the states of the former Soviet Union a priority in the conduct of United States foreign policy with such states.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this Act for the preceding year. Such report shall include a detailed description of the progress that has been made to encourage the states of the former Soviet Union to adopt policies described in section 3(a).
SEC. 5. STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ‘‘states of the former Soviet Union’’ means Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
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