Press Releases

ICYMI: Congresswoman Gwen Moore Holds Press Conference to Tell Administration and DOGE to Keep Their Hands off Social Security

Today, Congresswoman Moore was joined by her constituents who depend on Social Security along Jessica Lapointe, President of AFGE SSA Council 220 to highlight the attacks on Social Security and its workers.

Below are some of the words they shared at the press conference. Full video is available here.

Congresswoman Moore: Good morning, everybody. My name is Gwen Moore. I'm the congresswoman here for the 4th congressional district. And I'm so happy to be joined by my friends on, um, this Social Security day of Action. Here we are on a day where the stock market looks like it looked in 1932.

Let me remind you, that was the day the stock market crashed. And that was when we had the Great Depression. And yet, for 90 years, Social Security has been there for us when the stock market has failed, and it is failing now.

I just want to thank, on, day of action, my constituents, for joining me today. Eunice Spearman. Bessie Christopher. And Minnie Harmon, who depend on Social Security to survive. There are so many others here, but we're going to have the three of them actually speak to us in their situations.

I also want to thank Jessica Lapointe, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 220, which represents 35 affiliate locals in a collective of 20,000 Social Security employees. Jessica, thank you for being here with you today.

We're here today to tell President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to take their hands off of our Social Security. We do not care about your sovereign wealth funds, your cryptocurrency with your raising and lower tariffs and investing therein. We are concerned about our Social Security!

These three ladies represent more than 118,000 constituents who depend on Social Security, serving children, disabled workers, retirees, and widows in my district. And right now, it is under direct threat from our own President of the United States of America.

Right now, the attacks are coming from all angles. This administration and its Doge workers have tried to make it harder to access benefits or to Receive assistance because of their efforts. Phone lines are long and the websites keep crashing. They have worked to close field offices and cut 7,000 staff at a time when staffing is at a 50 year low.

While this administration is trying to take a chainsaw to Social Security. I'm going to protect it. So we got to keep the pressure up. We know that the president responds to pressure. We are going to. The pressure is on in the suites at the stock market, but we are putting the pressure on in the streets right here and right now.

And I want my constituents to know that I will do everything, everything that I can to stand up for Social Security. And rather than undermining it, I want to make Social Security better. I have a bill, the Social Security Enhancement and Protection act, that will strengthen the Social Security provisions and allow it to better serve women, people of color, low-income workers, students.

Jessica Lapointe: We're proud Union members and proud union advocates, and we're here to stand up right now for the workers across this country in our 1200 field offices. We have 25,000 workers who are fed up. They've had enough. They're tired. They're tired of the attacks. They're tired of the abuse. They're tired of the understaffing.

They're tired of the systems crashes. They just want to come and do their job to serve the American people. And they deserve the resources, after a decade and a half of underfunding, of this beloved, coveted, sacred agency, to have the resources to do their job adequately and well, because that's what the American people deserve.

So we're here today, as the congresswoman said, to say, keep your hands off Social Security. Social Security is an earned benefit. It is our benefit. It is for us to be able to retire with dignity and respect. It's not a Ponzi scheme. It's not riddled with fraud. It is a sacred trust to ensure that those who have paid in can retire.

So we're also here to demand that all hands are on deck right now. To save Social Security. We're demanding a, uh, fully funded and staffed Social Security Administration. We're demanding that Congress restore full services and systems maintenance. And the agency ends the chaos and confusion demoralizing our workforce. They stop the dismantling of our federal unions, protect our pay and benefits, and reinstate stakeholder consultation before cutting any more services to the American people.

And for God's sake, stop using SSA's private data to harm working families. Immigrants are the backbone of this nation. It is time we rise up and demand that every American be treated with dignity and respect, because we are not backing down. We won't be silent, and we won't let them dismantle our Social Security Administration.

Eunice Spearman: My name is Eunice Spearman. Good morning, everyone. My name is Eunice Spearman. I am a longtime resident. I am not big in public speaking, but I had to be here today. Social Security mean everything to me. I was a hard working person, and I paid into my Social Security every paycheck.

I worked my whole life, mostly in transportation and childcare. It is in my earning and, uh, my only income. I cannot afford to miss a check. If I lose my Social Security, I won't be able to pay my bills or my rent. I could be homeless and forced to move in with a relative. That's why I am worried to see what happens to Social Security, how the administration is making it hard for people that assess their benefits. It's scary, especially the cost of everything has gone up. I can't afford to lose my only income. Rent is high, food is high. Inflation is squeezing everyone, including me.

And they may get even worse. Even though it's changing in Washington D.C. I'm terrified. My Social Security is up for grabs. I earned it. I need it. I so do the millions of Americans who rely on it every month. I stand with everyone who work and protect it, including Congresswoman Gwen Moore and the advocates who joined us today.

Bessie Christopher: My name is Bessie Christopher. I'm a resident of Wisconsin for a long, long time. I am here to say a few words, regarding the President’s plan for Social Security.

First of all, I don’t like it. Trump and Elon need to take their hands off our Social Security. It gets me all fired up just thinking about the President and his failure to remember. He doesn't remember that they didn't give, the government did not give us Social Security. Every paycheck, not one, but every paycheck, the funds were deducted from our paycheck to pay for our Social Security. It is a benefit we earned as a life of hard working. I would like someone from the White House staff to tell me how many people are supposed to eat, pay their bills, or, keep a roof over their heads. I don't know how he thinks people supposed to do. But anyway, if Social Security is cut, there could be a lot of homeless people in this city or in this world.

You can't live on just savings alone, especially in this day. No one should be forced to do that because of their Social Security, if Social Security is cut. Instead of serving himself, the president need to think about other people. It's all about him. The President needs to think about all of us, people that are trying to live at a decent life and not go after Social Security. Thank you. God bless you.

Minnie Harmon: In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, passed the Social Security act into law. The purpose of this law was to provide a safety net for those in need that they may have economic security and dignity. Hello, everyone. My name is Minnie Harmon. I worked for 42 years in the banking industry. Prior to that, I was a waitress. I am retired and I'm 77 years old. For me, Social Security is my savings account. Now, for 42 plus years, I have had Social Security taken out of my earnings and deposited into what I consider my savings account so that when I do reach the age of Social Security, I can get money that's going to help me to live so that I can live with economic security and dignity.

Now I'm still living independently. Praise the Lord. Each month I have bills that are going up, but my Social Security income is fixed. The grocery store is going up. I just had a friend of mine called, called me last night and she said, I just left the grocery store. Every time I go to the grocery store, it's another 10 or $15. Another 10 or $15. Where's that money going to come from? Out of fixed income I get, every year I get a tax bill. I got to pay that tax bill that comes out of my Social Security check.

I got to maintain my home. So how, um, am I supposed to do that if my funds are cut? How am I supposed to do that if my funds are cut? You know, there are many people, low income, that don't have 401ks. They don't have any additional savings outside of Social Security. Social Security is their livelihood. And that's why this law was passed, so that low income people would be able to maintain their livelihood and their economic independence. Now, a lot of the things I wanted to say that I had on this paper, our congressman has already said it, so I'm not going to be repetitious. But we have the responsibility to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We can't go to the Social Security office anymore. We got to call on the phone, you know, and try to get the information that we need in order to even just speak, file for benefits or do whatever we need to do. The congressman already said that we have 10,000 people a day that's turning 65 and those people are looking for Social Security now. I worked hard and I played by the rules all of my life. So this is something that I expect that check every month so that I can take care of myself. And I expect that for all the remaining golden years that God is going to give me that I get that check.

And I just want to be able to live in peace, to not worry about Social Security, to just thank God that I am alive each and every day. And I have something coming that President Roosevelt passed. As the Congressman said, Over 90 years ago, it's going to help, help me live and to live independently. So we have to say it very loud and very publicly every opportunity that we have to our current administration to keep your hands off our Social Security. And we will keep saying it not only for just for me, but for everybody who's expecting their check every month. Again, loud, proud, and publicly give your hands on, uh, Social Security. Thank you. God bless you.