During a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) spoke of current social security issues and his hopes for Frank Bisignano, President Trump's nominee to be Commissioner of Social Security Administration.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today, we will consider the nomination of Frank Bisignano to be the Commissioner of
00:07the Social Security Administration.
00:10Mr. Bisignano, congratulations on your nomination and welcome to you and your family.
00:17Thank you for your willingness to serve and for your cooperation with this committee throughout
00:20our rigorous vetting process.
00:24Both sides have generally agreed the Social Security Administration needs a confirmed
00:28Commissioner to address the ongoing challenges at the agency.
00:32I commend President Trump for putting forward a Commissioner nominee so early in this administration.
00:39Mr. Bisignano has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience at leading financial
00:44institutions.
00:45He has brought a focus on innovation and operational excellence to his current role as Chief Executive
00:52Officer of FISERP, a leader in payments and financial technology that is responsible for
00:57processing more than $2.5 trillion in payments daily.
01:02Mr. Bisignano, if confirmed, you will be responsible for leading an agency with a critical mission
01:08and numerous operational and customer service challenges, as you will hear this morning.
01:16Based on your background, I'm confident you're up to the task.
01:20It's hard to overstate the importance of Social Security, which provides monthly benefits
01:24to millions of seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families.
01:29The Social Security Administration has the responsibility of overseeing this important
01:33program as well as the Supplemental Security Income Program, assigning Social Security
01:39numbers and issuing Social Security cards, among other workloads.
01:45In carrying out these significant responsibilities, the Social Security Administration interacts
01:50with millions of customers each year, whether in person, by phone, or online.
01:56The public expects the agency to provide responsive service and timely decisions on their claims.
02:02However, the SSA faces many challenges in meeting these expectations.
02:08After years of implementation delays and the ultimate failure of its Next Generation Telephony
02:16SSA has made some progress with its National 800 number, including introducing a callback
02:22option.
02:23However, much more is needed.
02:26Callers to National 800 number who want to wait for a representative are still spending
02:32too long on hold, and many still struggle to actually get through to a representative
02:37when they call.
02:40Americans also continue to wait too long for an initial disability decision, particularly
02:45in certain parts of the country.
02:46SSA's shift to an appointment-focused approach for field office visits underscores the need
02:53for SSA to make it easier for customers to schedule appointments online.
02:59The Trump Administration has been clear that it is focused on addressing waste, fraud,
03:04and abuse across government agencies, and I applaud its efforts to maximize government
03:09productivity.
03:10A Senate-confirmed Commissioner should be leading these efficiency efforts.
03:15Mr. Bisognano, if confirmed to serve as the next Commissioner of Social Security, this
03:19responsibility will be falling to you.
03:24I urge you to take a thoughtful, measured, and data-driven approach to evaluating policy
03:29and operational changes aimed at improving SSA's efficiency and productivity.
03:36If you need additional tools that require statutory changes, I urge you to bring those
03:41changes to this Committee and our House counterparts.
03:44Today's hearing will provide an opportunity to hear more about your vision for Social
03:48Security and how we can work together to help ensure that the SSA fulfills its critical
03:54mission.
03:56Thank you again for your willingness to serve, and congratulations on your nomination, which
04:01I intend to support.
04:03With that, I recognize Ranking Member