Washington, DC — The House of Representatives today passed legislation making significant reforms to social safety net programs by cracking down on fraud in taxpayer-funded benefits.

These reforms were part of H.R. 5652, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012. The legislation replaces an automatic, across-the-board spending cut of $55 billion set to hit national defense programs on January 1, 2013 with substitute cost-saving measures amounting to $328 billion over the decade.

Investigations by news outlets and the Treasury Department revealed illegal aliens were collecting $1,000 checks from the IRS through the automatic refundable tax credit. Murphy cosponsored the Child Tax Credit Integrity Preservation Act (H.R. 3444) to stamp out this abuse by requiring filers include Social Security numbers so only American citizens could qualify for the rebate. After a national uproar stemming from the prominent case of illegal aliens in Indiana qualifying for refundable IRS tax credits, H.R. 3444 was included in today’s deficit-reduction bill.

“I am committed to protecting critical social safety net programs that help the needy, disabled and those living in poverty. The most effective way to protect the safety net and make sure these vital programs are helping those in need is for Congress to crack down on the fraudsters and keep assistance off-limits to the cheaters and non-citizens.”

In addition to rooting out abuse of the refundable child tax credit, the bill also terminates a bureaucratically-controlled $11 billion so-called “health and wellness fund.” Out of that no-strings-attached fund, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has handed out earmarks that provided no assistance or healthcare to the low-income or very poor but instead funded projects like $3 million for menu labeling in New York, $1.2 million for beverage awareness, and $63,265 to the Cascade Bicycle Club of Washington. The bill also eliminates taxpayer-backed financial assistance to insurance companies under the 2010 healthcare law and requires Members of Congress  pay an extra 8.5% of salary to their federal pension.

During floor debate Murphy secured assurances the House will take up legislation to cut farm subsidies, and pressed the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee to quickly advance a bill to terminate taxpayer subsidies for millionaire corporate agri-business industries. Click here to watch the video with transcript below:

Murphy R-PA: “I would like to ask the gentleman from Oklahoma if he could respond to the notion that all of us want to protect the social safety net for the truly needy. But we also want to stop abuses within the system that take money from those programs and hurt the poor. For example, people who hide their assets to fraudulently qualify, people who misuse food stamps for alcohol and tobacco. So I’d like to ask the gentleman if he is going to be doing anything more to close loopholes, reduce waste and abuse and reform the system while really protecting those who really qualify.

And I yield back to the gentleman for an answer.”

Frank Lucas R-OK: “The gentleman from Pennsylvania is exactly right. That is the goal of our language in this bill and it will be the additional efforts that we will undergo in the comprehensive farm bill that will follow soon.”

Murphy R-PA: “I take my time back if I have one additional question for the gentleman and ask in fairness will you be bringing forward a bill to the house and the committee that will truly reform farm subsides produce savings and result in deficit reduction. I yield back to the gentleman for an answer.”

Lucas R-OK: “I would say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania that when we come with our comprehensive farm bill things that have been identified by many people as a concern like the direct payments will not be there. We will address all spending and all portions of the farm bill we will make reductions in every part of agricultural spending as we do our part in helping to address this huge tremendous national deficit.”

Murphy R-PA: “I thank the gentleman for his responses, I yield back.”