mr. chairman , many americans seeking disability benefits under the social security disability insurance program , more commonly know as ssdi , face intolerable delays in the processing of their claims . 
ssdi is a true insurance program . 
all american workers pay into the program , and any working american who becomes disabled is eligible for assistance . 
the social security disability system has a backlog of more than a half-million cases on appeal . 
social security commissioner jo anne barnhart testified last year that , on average , it took more than 3 years to complete processing of a disability claim on appeal , from the day it 's filed to the day it 's finally adjudicated . 
these delays come with a high cost for the men and women forced to wait . 
for some , it means exhausting their life savings . 
others lose their health insurance coverage , the family car , and even their homes . 
and as once-proud workers unable to pay their bills are reduced to borrowing from friends and family , some americans lose even their dignity . 
these delays have hit home in my ohio district . 
one constituent , bobbi from sheffield , ohio -- a single mom injured in an auto accident in 2001 -- exhausted her life savings and was forced onto welfare while she waited . 
she finally received the support she had earned just last month , after waiting 4 years . 
another constituent , ronald from elyria , ohio has a heart condition that left him disabled in 2001 , but he had to wait 3 years for benefits . 
the appropriations bill before us today offers a chance to improve the system , for these ohioans and every american . 
this bill provides a badly-needed increase in administrative funding for the social security administration . 
a lot of these resources will go to funding administration of the new medicare prescription drug benefit . 
but significant funding will be used to help ssa improve disability processing and reduce the claims backlog -- with new technology and staffing . 
i support the ssa administrative funding provision in this bill . 
but we can do better . 
the bill falls more than $ 100 million short of president bush 's request for social security administrative funding . 
advocates for disabled americans agree with the president that ssa needs every dollar of the president 's request to attack the disability backlog . 
i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the ssa administrative funding level in this bill . 
but i urge you then to work with me as this bill advances , to seek full funding of president bush 's ssa administrative budget request . 
there has been a lot of talk lately about the future of social security . 
but our first obligation should be to make social security work as well as it can right now . 
