Definition: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Input: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Social Security Benefits Protection
and Restoration Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Initial Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) Over the last 5 decades, billions of dollars in social
security taxes have been paid by American workers but have not
been credited to their social security earnings records. When
the Social Security Administration is not able to match
information on annual earnings reports to existing workers'
earnings records, the amount of such earnings reported are
credited by the Administration in a ''suspense file'' of
uncredited earnings.
(2) Largely due to the inflexible matching policy of the
Social Security Administration and an unacceptable number of
errors made by employers on annual earnings reports submitted
to the Administration, the suspense file has accumulated
approximately 200,000,000 individual earnings reports totaling
approximately $200,000,000,000 in earnings. These numbers
continue to grow.
(3) Because earnings are used to determine an individual's
eligibility and benefit amount, uncredited earnings can affect
social security benefit payments. Current beneficiaries have
lost, and continue to lose, benefits because of the failure of
the Social Security Administration to correctly credit their
earnings. This has the practical effect of denying millions of
hard-working Americans up to hundreds of dollars on their
monthly retirement or disability benefits.
(b) Further Findings.--The Congress further finds the following:
(1) Current and future retirees should receive the full
social security benefits to which they are entitled.
(2) The impact of uncredited earnings on social security
beneficiaries has not been adequately determined. An
examination of the practical effects of uncredited earnings on
individuals' benefits should be conducted, in order that
beneficiaries who are due higher benefits or retroactive
payments can be compensated accordingly.
(c) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that the
Social Security Administration, together with the Secretary of the
Treasury, will take prompt action to--
(1) determine and implement an effective procedure to
reconcile the wage reports currently in the suspense file to
the rightful beneficiaries, and
(2) put in place a system that will prevent further
mismatches.

SEC. 3. STUDY.

(a) In General.--The Commissioner of Social Security and the
Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly undertake, as soon as
practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, a thorough
study with respect to the inability of the Social Security
Administration to provide for American workers their full social
security benefits by reason of insufficiency of information held by the
Administration necessary for correctly identifying accounts for the
earnings of such workers.
(b) Matters To Be Studied.--The Commissioner and the Secretary, in
their study under this section, shall address, analyze, and report
specifically on the following matters:
(1) the extent of, and the reasons for, the inability of
the Social Security Administration to maintain accurate and
current records of every worker's annual earnings sufficient
for determining eligibility for, and the correct amount of,
monthly insurance benefits under title II of the Social
Security Act,
(2) proposals for an effective procedure for eliminating
the current backlog of uncredited earnings in the suspense file
maintained by the Social Security Administration,
(3) proposals for an effective procedure for resolving new
discrepancies which would result in new uncredited earnings,
and
(4) any additional resources which the Social Security
Administration would require to carry out effective procedures
described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

SEC. 4. REMEDIAL MEASURES.

Pursuant to the study carried out under section 3, the Commissioner
of Social Security and the Secretary of the Treasury shall promptly--
(1) devise and implement a procedure for eliminating, in
accordance with an established time-phased schedule, the
backlog of uncredited earnings currently contained in the
suspense file maintained by the Administration, and
(2) devise and implement a procedure for resolving new
discrepancies which would prevent the addition of future
uncredited earnings in the suspense file.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

The Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of the
Treasury shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a
report of the findings of the study conducted under section 3 and the
progress made in meeting the requirements of section 4. Such report
shall include any recommendations for further legislative action the
Commissioner and the Secretary consider appropriate.
Output:
Social Security Benefits Protection and Restoration Act of 1997 - Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) study jointly and report to the Congress on the inability of the Social Security Administration to provide American workers with their full social security benefits because of insufficient information necessary to identify account earnings information correctly for such workers at the Administration; (2) take appropriate remedial measures, including devising and implementing a procedure for eliminating backlogged uncredited earnings filed with the Administration. Requires a progress report to the Congress on implementation of such measures, along with any recommendations for appropriate legislative action.