Supporting H.R. the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, on November 12th the House of Representatives took an important step by passing H.R. 82 and eliminating two harmful provisions that unfairly deny workers, their spouses, and their children the Social Security benefits they deserve. These provisions--the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) penalties--unfairly target Social Security benefits earned by public service workers, including teachers, police officers, firefighters, and hundreds of thousands of federal retirees.

WEP unfairly penalizes retirees who have spent careers in public service but who have also paid into Social Security at some point. More than 6 million public employees are or would be affected by WEP and around 800,000 Americans would have benefits reduced or eliminated by the GPO. Social Security keeps millions of seniors, children, disabled individuals and their families out of poverty, which is why it is crucial that Congress act to remedy these penalties. That is why I voted for H.R. 82.

That is also why I cosponsor Rep. John Larson's Social Security 2100 Act, which would repeal WEP and GPO while providing the appropriate pay-for measures needed to strengthen and preserve Social Security. The Social Security 2100 Act would improve Social Security's Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) so it reflects the inflation experienced by seniors, cuts taxes for middle-income beneficiaries among other important measures, and do so by ensuring millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes.

Conversely, H.R. 82 would fully repeal WEP and GPO without a pay-for. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this would move up the date of insolvency for the combined Social Security Trust Funds. Given that the President-elect and House Republicans are unwilling to support commonsense solutions to strengthen Social Security, it is crucial that we work to prevent benefit cuts for Social Security recipients, especially our most vulnerable citizens.

Congress must achieve the goals of protecting American federal workers while also preserving the crucial benefits that all Americans are entitled to through Social Security. H.R. 82 would cost the Social Security Trust Fund $200 billion over 10 years, and it is imperative that Congress act to fill in this gap.

I urge the Senate to address H.R. 82's pay-for shortcomings as this bill moves forward.

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