May 30, 2023
President Roach Urges House Subcommittee to Expand Social Security, Oppose Cuts
On Wednesday, Alliance President Robert Roach, Jr. testified during a U.S. House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee hearing entitled “Social Security Administration’s Role in Combating Identity Fraud.” During his testimony, President Roach mentioned the Alliance’s retiree town hall with Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, MSW, Ph.D., Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), and how she discussed what SSA is doing to raise awareness of and combat fraud.
He also made it clear that Republican proposals to cut Social Security benefits and to slash the SSA’s budget would hamstring efforts to address fraud, saying “if the already short staffed Social Security Administration was forced to cut the budget by 22 percent, as prescribed in House Bill 2811, the agency’s work to protect Americans from identity theft would be hampered. In fact, the drastic spending cuts in the bill would dramatically reduce the services beneficiaries depend on.”
He also touched on the steps Congress can take to strengthen and expand Social Security, and warned the subcommittee that the current failure to increase the debt limit without preconditions will hurt seniors the most, adding “if there’s a default, retirees will take the first brunt of it.”
The hearing occurred on the same day that Rep. John Larson (CT) introduced the Social Security 2100 Act. The Alliance-endorsed bill would strengthen Social Security by:
- Boosting benefits across the board;
- Extending Social Security’s solvency until 2044;
- Removing the payroll tax cap for individuals with income above $400,000; and
- Repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
“We hope that Congress will pass a bill, the Social Security 2100 Act or something similar, and work together to fix this problem for all Americans,” said President Roach.
