Statement of Social Security Administration Office of Disability Adjudication and Review

I am an attorney with the Social Security Administration Office of Disability Adjudication and Review in Kingsport, Tennessee.  I am on the current ALJ register.  I have over 22 years experience working as an attorney with this agency.  I wish to encourage the Committee to direct Mr. Michael Astrue to proceed with immediate hiring of candidates from the current register and not to wait until a new register is available.

As the Committee is aware the need to hire new judges and to get them into hearing offices is immediate.  There need be no concern regarding the qualifications and competence of candidates on the current register.  Many of us would have been hired years ago were it not for the lack of veteran’s preference points.  I believe all of us can agree that being a veteran does not address the issues of qualifications and competence but is a means of recognizing the contribution of these individuals to our country during a time of need.

I understand the reason that only 37 judges were hired in 2006 and that none have been hired in 2007 is based on lack of funding and not on the desire to await a new ALJ register.  To that end, I encourage the Congress to provide adequate funding to hire at least 100 judges in this fiscal year.  I don’t think U.S. taxpayers understand why the Congress has billions of dollars for Iraq and Afghanistan and not a few hundred million to employ judges and staff to process disability claims in the Social Security Administration.