Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) stood by his commitment to protect and preserve every American's Social Security today by voting in favor of the Social Security Protection Act of 2003.  The bill was passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support today in the House, 402-19.  Since the measure passed by unanimous consent in the Senate on December 9 it only needs the President’s signature to become law.

The Social Security Administration collects $500 billion in taxes from every Americans' paycheck each year.  These funds support over 50 million Social Security and Supplemental Income beneficiaries each year, accounting for nearly one-quarter of our federal budget.  Protecting these precious funds from fraud and abuse is a top priority for Brady.

"Millions of Americans rely on Social Security to supplement their retirement income.  When these funds are threatened by fraud, waste and abuse, it is imperative that Congress intervene and protect workers' hard earned investment in Social Security" said Brady who serves on the Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee. 

The Social Security Protection Act of 2003 saves taxpayers an estimated $800 million over 10 years. This bill strengthens the Social Security program by raising the standards for persons and organizations that act as representative payees to assist seniors and individuals with disabilities who are unable to manage their own affairs, and imposes stricter penalties on those who exploit them. The bill also halts payments to fugitive felons and parole/probation violators. Additionally, the bill helps individuals with disabilities gain access to representation and encourages disabled beneficiaries' return to work.

The Social Security Protection Act also closes a loophole used by some state retirement pension beneficiaries to avoid the Government Pension Offset.  The General Accounting Office indicated that this loophole enables some participants, most often public school teachers, to pay into Social Security for one day (usually their last day of employment) contribute $3 to Social Security and qualify to receive and additional $93,000 in lifetime spouse/widower benefits. 

This practice cost taxpayers $450 million last year and would increase as use of the loophole grows, threatening the stability of the Social Security System.  Under The Social Security Protection Act of 2003 the Last Day of Employment GPO exemption (loophole) will close on July 1, 2004.

"This loophole is terribly unfair.  It's unfair to all the teachers in other states who have no other loophole.  It's unfair to all the working families in Texas and the rest of America who have no loophole, including our soldiers overseas.  It's certainly unfair to our elderly, who even if we close the loophole today will see $450 million drained from their Social Security trust fund.  Almost no one in America has this type of last day exemption," Brady said. "We can’t have two classes of families in America: those who have Social Security loopholes and those who don’t."

To help Texas teachers and others Brady favors changing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) formula.  In short, the WEP docks employees who have earned two pensions; a government one and Social Security.   

Brady also fought hard and succeeded in having a "Truth in Retirement" provision included in H.R. 743. This provision requires the Social Security Administration to fully disclose to teachers not contributing to Social Security how they could be adversely affected by the GPO, WEP, and other formulas at retirement.

H.R. 743 is a bipartisan measure, supported by several groups including the AARP, Association of Administrative Law Judges, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Social Security Administration Inspector General and the National Conference of State Social Security Administrators to name a few.

For more information about the Social Security Protection Act of 2003, visit http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/ss/743summary2.pdf for a complete summary or contact Congressman Brady’s office.

Brady is serving his fourth term in Congress and serves on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee which oversees tax reform, Social Security, Medicare, international trade, welfare and unemployment issues.