The current recipients receive a trophy to be kept in the chapter's possession.

But, Conway insists, "I want to make sure any changes to Medicare in the future do not diminish benefits for current recipients."

Past and current recipients by year include:

Finally, it authorizes the states to drug test current and future recipients of unemployment benefits.

New Jersey, for example, said it would take advantage of a six-month "window" before dropping any current recipients.

City and state officials said a Federal waiver allowed them to defer the eligibility determination for some current recipients for up to eight months.

The plan would phase out the subsidies by 2003 except for those to the poor and lower-middle-income tenants, about 25 percent of current recipients.

To date, with enrollment having dropped 30,000, city officials have fingerprinted about half of current recipients.

In an October debate, he supported benefits for current recipients, without offering specifics.

He will leave existing aid programs virtually unchanged so that current recipients won't be threatened by new conditions.