Congress passed a continuing resolution Friday to keep the government funded until December 16th. It contains additional money for the beleaguered Social Security Administration, which services the 66 million Americans receiving Social Security and people applying for benefits.  NCPSSM president and CEO Max Richtman issued the following statement today in response to the Congressional action::: "Congress is handing the Social Security Administration a modest financial lifeline, but the extra money may only help the agency to tread water. The Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government temporarily funded boosts spending for the Social Security Administration (SSA), an agency that has been chronically under-funded while striving to improve customer service to the public.  Under the CR, SSA will receive an additional $400 million for FY 2023. We applaud Congressional Democrats for inserting this funding increase into the bill when spending for most other agencies remains temporarily frozen.    The increased funding should help SSA cope with its long-standing customer service backlog, which was greatly exacerbated by the pandemic. Customers have been subjected to long hold times on the SSA toll-free phone line, extensive delays awaiting disability claims hearings, and – since the re-opening of field offices last summer – waiting in line