Here is the response I got from the Social Security Administration in response to my letter.

                            [Letterhead]
                           October 6, 1997

Mr. Neil McIver
210 River Way Court, #102
Owings Mills, Maryland  21117

Dear Mr. McIver,

This is in response to your correspondence about the Social Security 
program.  People cannot voluntarily end their participation in the 
program.  The payment of Social Security taxes is mandatory, 
regardless of the citizenship or place of residence of either the 
employer or the employee.  Unless specifically exempt by law, everyone
working in the United States is required to pay Social Security taxes.

Similarly, people cannot withdraw the Social Security taxes that they
have already paid.  Social Security taxes paid by employees and 
employers are not placed in individual accounts, but are pooled to pay
benefits to eligible workers and their families.  Benefits are paid
only on the basis of a voluntary application.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is required by law (at 
section 205 of the Social Security Act) to maintain records of 
workers' earnings and to establish any other records necessary to 
carry out our responsibilities under the Social Security Act.  Because
many people have the same name, or change their name, a reliable and
permanent system was needed to distinguish one individual from another
in our records.  The Social Security account number system was 
established to meet that need.

The constitutionality of the Social Security system, as established by
the Social Security Act, and mandatory individual participation have
already been decided by the Supreme Court.  We will not respond 
further to your correspondence about voluntary participation in the
Social Security program or the withdrawal of Social Security taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service has jurisdiction over the issue of 
liability for Social Security taxes; the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service has jurisdiction over the issue of citizenship.
If you have questions about either of these subjects, you should
contact one of those Agencies.

                                  Sincerely,

                                  [signed]

                                  Charles H. Mullen
                                  Associate Commissioner
                                  Office of Public Inquiries

I was quite disapointed in this response. It did not even address any of the three questions I had. Well, in that case, I thought I needed to be a little more assertive.