Yesterday, a Congressional committee passed an amendment by John Culberson to protect Social Security and prevent a totalization agreement with Mexico from going into effect. For those of you not familiar with “totalization” (the type of word that only a government bureaucrat could love), it is an agreement that allows two countries to coordinate their Social Security programs. Generally these deals are good for Americans, but in 2004, the Social Security Administration signed an agreement with Mexico that was so bad, they didn’t release its details until they were forced to do so by a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this year.

Though it is unbelievable that any U.S. agency would actually sign this one sided agreement, if amnesty is ever passed – and don’t believe for a second that Democrats and the President won’t keep trying – totalization would allow illegal immigrants and their entire extended family to receive benefits for the time they worked here illegally, costing taxpayers billions of dollars and further depleting Social Security. Thankfully, Culberson’s amendment was accepted by the committee and is now is an appropriations bill, but it could be a few months until we find out if it will pass into law.

In the meantime, we will keep you up to date on totalization and the bill’s status. If you like, you can check out copies of Culberson’s amendment, the totalization agreement, and a Congressional Research Report on the agreement.

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