United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to express our strong opposition to any amendments to H.R. 82, the “Social Security Fairness Act of 2023”, which cut Social Security benefits, including any proposal to further raise the Social Security retirement age. Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening programs that are vitally important to older Americans.
H.R. 82 will restore the Social Security benefits earned by millions of public servants, including teachers, police and firefighters who put their lives on the line for our families every day. While we prefer that the inequities of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) be resolved as part of a comprehensive modernization of the Social Security system such as that proposed by Senator Richard Blumenthal in the Social Security 2100 Act, we strongly oppose any attempt to offset the cost of H.R. 82 by cutting benefits for millions of American workers and their families who have no connection whatsoever to the GPO or WEP.
Raising Social Security’s retirement age is a benefit cut for future retirees, pure and simple, and poll after poll has shown it is extremely unpopular with the American public across party and demographic lines. Those who suggest life expectancy has increased dramatically are citing statistics related to life expectancy at birth, which is heavily influenced by the dramatic decline in childhood mortality. The relevant metric is life expectancy at age 65, most of which was addressed in 1983 when Social Security’s retirement age was increased to the current age 67. In addition, the increase in life expectancy we have seen is not across the board – it is heavily weighted toward those with higher incomes. This is because these workers tend to have less physically demanding jobs and better health care.
According to Social Security’s Actuaries, the most significant driver of the current depletion date for Social Security’s Trust Funds is the dramatic income inequality that they could not have anticipated in 1983. Between 1983 and 2000, average earnings for the top 6 percent of earners rose 62 percent more than price inflation, while average earnings for the other 94 percent of earners rose only 17 percent more than price inflation. To strengthen Social Security’s finances and pay for essential benefit improvements, Congress should increase revenue into the program by ensuring that the wealthy pay their fair share.
The National Committee truly hopes the debate on H.R. 82 does not represent a blueprint for how Congress intends to address the broader issue of Social Security reform. Cutting benefits for a large number of beneficiaries while righting a wrong for a minority of workers is simply not acceptable to the majority of the American people. Poll after poll has shown broad, bipartisan support for increasing revenue to stabilize Social Security’s finances rather than cutting benefits.
We strongly urge all members of the Senate to support H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, without amendments which would cut earned benefits.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO