In a final effort to defeat the Social Security Fraud bill, Congressman Green (D-TX) offered a motion to recommit the bill for further committee consideration with instructions to remove a requirement that retirees pay into the Social Security system for a minimum of five years before they are eligible to receive benefits. In general, a successful motion to recommit is usually a death blow to a piece of legislation. The most contentious provision in the bill would revoke Social Security benefits for retired public employees in Texas and Georgia. Some of those retirees become eligible to receive federal Social Security benefits when their spouse dies, even if they did not pay Social Security taxes while in the workforce (Texas and Georgia have their own state plans and do not require public employees to pay federal Social Security taxes). Progressives supported the effort to preserve Social Security benefits for retired public employees in Texas and Georgia-many of whom were teachers, firefighters, and police-because revoking the benefits might cause serious financial hardship for those retirees. Green's motion to recommit gained unanimous support from Democrats but a united front of Republicans were able to defeat the motion on a 203-220 vote.