May 30, 2023
Chairman Roach urges House subcommittee to expand Social Security and oppose cuts
On Wednesday, Alliance President Robert Roach, Jr. testified during a hearing of the US House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security titled “The Role of the Social Security Administration in Fighting Identity Fraud.” During his testimony, President Roach mentioned the commitment of the Alliance retirees town hall with Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, MSW, Ph.D., Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), and how he discussed what the SSA is doing to raise awareness of and combat fraud.
He also made it clear that Republican proposals to cut Social Security benefits and slash the SSA budget would hamper efforts to tackle fraud, saying that “if the Social Security Administration, which is already short-staffed, were forced to to cut the budget by 22 percent, as prescribed by 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 drastically reduce the services that beneficiaries depend on.”
He also addressed steps Congress can take to strengthen and expand Social Security, advising the subcommittee that the current failure to raise the debt limit with no strings attached will hurt seniors the most, adding that “if there is a default, retirees will take the first part. of that.”
The hearing took place the same day as Rep. John Larson (CT) presented the Social Security Law 2100. The Alliance-backed bill would do strengthen Social Security through:
- Drive profits across the board;
- Extend the solvency of Social Security until 2044;
- Eliminate the payroll tax cap for individuals with incomes greater than $400,000; and
- Repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
“We hope that Congress will pass a bill, Social Security Act 2100 or something similar, and work together to fix this problem for all Americans,” Chairman Roach said.