|
||||||||
TSCL Exec. Director interviewed on Lou Dobbs
DOBBS: In 2004, President Bush struck a deal with President Fox of Mexico that could jeopardize your Social Security. A deal would allow illegal aliens, granted amnesty to claim credit for time they worked here illegally. We might not have even known details of this deal if it weren't from our guests tonight. Shannon Benton is executive director of the TREA Senior Citizens League. Shannon, good to have you here. SHANNON BENTON, TREA SR. CITIZENS LEAGUE: Thank you, Lou. It's good to be here. DOBBS: And the TREA is the retired enlisted association and you had to file a Freedom of Information to get this. BENTON: We did. About three and a half years ago, we filed a Freedom of Information Act request through regular channels. When documents were not forthcoming, we did go forward and file a lawsuit against a Social Security Administration and the U.S. State Department to gain access to these documents. DOBBS: And the basic plan is to give, after a year and a half, full benefits -- Social Security benefits to illegal aliens? BENTON: Yes, 18 months, whereas U.S. citizens normally have to work 40 quarters or 10 years. DOBBS: And let's go to another part of this issue. I mean every citizen has to be outraged at this because particularly, as the General Accountability Office points out, they don't even know -- first of all, no one has an exact count on the number of illegal aliens, Mexican nationals in this country at all, so they can't make an intelligent estimate on the cost, can they. BENTON: No, they can't make an intelligent estimate on the cost and they also asked the Social Security actuaries to reissue a report with what would be better estimates. And to the best of our knowledge, that report has not been forthcoming. DOBBS: How do you respond to the charge that this administration would allow individuals who've broken a U.S. law to enjoy the benefits of Social Security like this? BENTON: Well, we don't want to speculate on what thoughts were behind the totalization agreement in the first place. What we are hoping is that legislation will be passed that will force all totalization agreements to go before Congress. And that they have to be approved, not simply rejected. DOBBS: And they're actually two proposals to do exactly that. This becomes law, correct? BENTON: Yes. DOBBS: All they have to do -- unless senator, it's Senator Ensign? BENTON: Senator Ensign recently introduced a bill that would require these bills be approved before Congress. DOBBS: And in the House? BENTON: And in the House, it was Congressman Cubin. DOBBS: We just want to give them credit. The idea that these -- these son of a guns -- I mean the temerity of this thing, trying to sneak this by. What do you think of a government, an administration that would try to sneak this through and resist the public's right to know on this agreement? BENTON: Well, it frustrated us and it frustrated us to the point where we did have to file a lawsuit just to get access to the documents. DOBBS: Shannon, I want to say to you that you are a much nicer person than me, because it does more than frustrate me. It is outrageous that citizens would have to file freedom of information to get this kind of information about the conduct of their government. And I think it's absolutely utterly and completely in my opinion, to be absolutely clear, it's utterly despicable. I thank you for your courage, and persistence and for getting this information for the benefit of all of us. BENTON: Well, thank you, Lou. DOBBS: Thank you very much, Shannon Benton. January 2007 | ||||||||
|
|
||||||||
