WASHINGTON – The Seniors Coalition (TSC), the nation's leading free-market senior advocacy group with more than four million supporters, presented over 124,000 petitions to Congress in support of legislation that would prohibit attempts to force the Social Security Administration to pay out benefits to illegal aliens. Twenty-one members of Congress and a number of concerned senior citizens attended the Capitol Hill event.

Congressman Thomas Petri (R-WI) proudly accepted several hundred petitions signed by concerned senior citizens from his 6th Congressional district. Scores of Congressman Petri’s constituents have taken a firm stand against granting Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants.

The event also featured remarks highlighting the dangers of the proposal by TSC spokesperson Flora “Grandma” Green.

Rep. Tom Petri accepts hundreds of petitions from his constituents. The petitions were delivered by Flora "Grandma" Green of the Seniors Coaliton.

“Protecting the Social Security benefits of senior Americans has always been a priority of The Seniors Coalition. We consider any proposal that would pay out Social Security benefits--our benefits--to people who have violated federal law and entered our country illegally, and who may have never paid into the Social Security program, as an attack on seniors' interests that must be defeated,” said the eighty-one year-old Green, dwarfed by a six- foot tall mountain of petitions piled behind her.

Members of Congress who joined Congressman Petri in calling for legislation to prevent benefit payments to illegal aliens included, among others, Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Steve Buyer (R-IN), Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Sam Graves (R-MO), and Ginny Browne-Waite (R-FL). "I want to thank the twenty-one members of Congress who came out today in support of our fight against this unjust and un-American proposal," said Ms. Green. "You've sent a signal to seniors across the country that you'll stand with them in fighting to preserve the Social Security benefits we've earned through a lifetime of hard work. With the support of The Seniors Coalition and America's seniors, you can continue your efforts to pass legislation that will keep Social Security benefits in the hands of those who have earned them."