Hi listers, Below is a letter my cousin sent to her Senators and Representatives. I think it is pretty good and thought I would pass it along. Kathy "Kath" (Burden) Shaffer Omaha, NE «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» I have been doing genealogical research for many years and was extremely upset to hear that the Social Security Administration has proposed to increase the fee for providing copies of SSDI files from $7.00 to $27.00.   I'm sure that the new innovations in Internet technology and the increased interest in the hobby of genealogy have increased the demand for these services but to raise the fees 283% seems extremely high.   The Freedom of Information Act was intended to allow the American public access to governmental records.   This increase seems intended to discourage the exercise of those rights.  Most people involved in genealogy research are older Americans on a fixed income and an increase of this amount would prove to be a financial burden.   As the "Baby Boomers" make the gradual transition to senior citizens, I'm sure the number of people involved with genealogy research will increase proportionately. A number of state governments have recognized the public's interest in genealogy and made many of their records available through the Internet at little or no charge to the public.   They believe that citizens have a right to access these records and feel they are providing a public service by bringing them online. Certainly there are more important issues to deal with than an increase in fees for Social Security Death Records but, to those of us involved in this wonderful hobby, this disproportionate increase will have a daunting effect. I thank you for taking the time to consider this matter and I look forward to your response.                        

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. There is no free lunch. Whatever the processing of the application, making the copy, etc., costs the SSA should be paid by those of us who order the documents. We should not expect other taxpayers to subsidize our hobby. As one who ran a single-practitioner office for 40 years I have some knowledge of the costs of such processing and mailing, and it has got to be more than the $7.00 the SSA has been charging. If I use the service, I should be willing to pay for it -- and be thanking that I live in a country where I have access to such information. When we protest against legitimate charges like this, we weaken our voices when we find it necessary to protect against important matters. Harman Clark hclark@bypass.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <KATNKEV5458@aol.com> To: <PABUCKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 12:19 PM Subject: [PABUCKS-L] SSDI is going up write to your senators and representatives > Hi listers, > > Below is a letter my cousin sent to her Senators and Representatives. I think > it is pretty good and thought I would pass it along. > > Kathy "Kath" (Burden) Shaffer > Omaha, NE > > «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» > > > I have been doing genealogical research for many years and was extremely > upset to hear that the Social Security Administration has proposed to > increase the fee for providing copies of SSDI files from $7.00 to $27.00. > I'm sure that the new innovations in Internet technology and the increased > interest in the hobby of genealogy have increased the demand for these > services but to raise the fees 283% seems extremely high. The Freedom of > Information Act was intended to allow the American public access to > governmental records. This increase seems intended to discourage the > exercise of those rights. Most people involved in genealogy research are > older Americans on a fixed income and an increase of this amount would prove > to be a financial burden. > As the "Baby Boomers" make the gradual transition to senior citizens, I'm > sure the number of people involved with genealogy research will increase > proportionately. A number of state governments have recognized the public's > interest in genealogy and made many of their records available through the > Internet at little or no charge to the public. They believe that citizens > have a right to access these records and feel they are providing a public > service by bringing them online. Certainly there are more important issues to > deal with than an increase in fees for Social Security Death Records but, to > those of us involved in this wonderful hobby, this disproportionate increase > will have a daunting effect. > I thank you for taking the time to consider this matter and I look forward to > your response. > > > > > > ==== PABUCKS Mailing List ==== > Contact Listowner ar judjack@rocketmail.com > Bucks Co Surnames http://www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/surnamepageA.html > List Rules http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~myplace/mailing.html > Bucks Co. PAGenWeb page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks > Bucks Co at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~buckscounty > Genealogy of Pa http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6508/ >