[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4557 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4557

To amend the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and 
    Human Services to establish a program to verify employee social 
   security information, and to require employers to use the program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 1994

    Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. McCollum, Mr. 
Traficant, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Holden, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Collins of 
 Georgia, Mr. Levy, Mr. Hunter, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Archer, 
   Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Lehman, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Emerson, Mr. 
 Rohrabacher, Mr. Shays, Mr. Canady, Mr. Kim, Mr. Goss, Ms. Molinari, 
Mr. Gallo, Mrs. Vucanovich, Mr. Lewis of Florida, Mrs. Roukema, and Mr. 
  Moorhead) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and 
    Human Services to establish a program to verify employee social 
   security information, and to require employers to use the program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Account Number Anti-
Fraud Act''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to reduce the use of fraudulent social 
security documents for employment purposes.

SEC. 3. SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER ANTI-FRAUD PROGRAM.

    Section 205 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:

       ``Verification of Employee Social Security Account Numbers

    ``(u)(1)(A) Not later than 10 years after the date of the enactment 
of the Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud Act, the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization 
and the Secretary of Labor, shall establish a program under which--
            ``(i) each American employer, either by telephone through 
        use of a toll-free telephone number or by other electronic 
        device--
                    ``(I) shall transmit the social security account 
                number and name of each new employee of the employer, 
                and any other information concerning the employee that 
                the Secretary requires by regulation, to the Secretary 
                within 30 days after the commencement of employment of 
                the employee; and
                    ``(II) may transmit the social security account 
                number and name of any employee of the employer to whom 
                subclause (I) does not apply, and any other information 
                concerning the employee that the Secretary requires by 
                regulation, to the Secretary; and
            ``(ii) notwithstanding any provision of section 552a of 
        title 5, United States Code, the Secretary shall, upon 
        receiving the information transmitted under clause (i), 
        instantaneously notify the employer that there is or is not a 
        discrepancy concerning the information, by sending a 
        communication to the same electronic device through which the 
        information was transmitted to the Secretary.
    ``(B)(i) The Secretary shall give each employer a verification 
number for each employee social security account number that the 
employer transmits under the program established under this paragraph.
    ``(ii) The Secretary shall maintain, for at least the amount of 
time during which prosecution for crimes relating to fraudulent use of 
a social security account number would be allowable under applicable 
statutes of limitations, records of all contacts that occur under 
subparagraph (A) or (D) between the Secretary and an employer.
    ``(C) The Secretary shall establish guidelines to describe the 
characteristics that constitute a discrepancy concerning a social 
security account number transmitted to the Secretary under the program 
established under this paragraph. Under the guidelines, a discrepancy 
concerning a social security account number shall be indicated if any 
of the following factors is present regarding the number:
            ``(i) An invalid social security account number.
            ``(ii) A social security account number submitted for 
        verification under the program with a name that does not belong 
        to the correct holder of the social security account number.
            ``(iii) Unusually frequent use of a social security account 
        number.
            ``(iv) Use of a social security account number in 
        geographically distant locations within a relatively short 
        period of time.
            ``(v) Any other factor that the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate.
    ``(D) If a discrepancy concerning the social security account 
number of an employee is indicated under the program established under 
this paragraph--
            ``(i) the Secretary shall notify the Commissioner of 
        Immigration and Naturalization, within 24 hours after the 
        discrepancy is indicated, of--
                    ``(I) the fact that a discrepancy has been 
                indicated regarding the employee; and
                    ``(II) the nature of the discrepancy;
            ``(ii) the Secretary may not, pursuant to this subsection, 
        notify the employer of the nature of the discrepancy;
            ``(iii) an employer notified of the discrepancy under 
        subparagraph (A)(ii) shall notify the employee that a 
        discrepancy has been indicated within 14 days after the 
        employer receives the notification;
            ``(iv) the employee shall contact an office of the Social 
        Security Administration within 14 days after being notified of 
        the discrepancy under clause (iii);
            ``(v) the Secretary shall notify the employee of the nature 
        of the discrepancy, upon a written request by the employee or a 
        request made by the employee in person at an office of the 
        Social Security Administration;
            ``(vi) the Secretary shall notify the employee, the current 
        employer of the employee, and the Commissioner of Immigration 
        and Naturalization, in writing, of the resolution or 
        confirmation of the discrepancy, within 30 days after the 
        employee contacts the Social Security Administration under 
        clause (iv);
            ``(vii) the current employer of the employee shall reverify 
        the social security account number through the program 
        established under this paragraph within 10 days after the 
        Secretary notifies the employer, under clause (vi), that the 
        discrepancy has been resolved; and
            ``(viii) unless the Secretary notifies the employer, under 
        clause (vi), that the discrepancy has been confirmed, the 
        employer may not take any action to penalize the employee based 
        on the discrepancy.
    ``(E)(i) The Secretary may not charge a fee to any employer or 
employee in connection with the utilization of the program established 
under this paragraph.
    ``(ii) No employer may charge a fee to--
            ``(I) an employee of the employer in connection with the 
        utilization of the program; or
            ``(II) a job applicant in connection with, or anticipation 
        of, utilization of the program.
    ``(2) The Secretary may by regulation exempt any employer from the 
obligation to use the program established under paragraph (1) regarding 
any employee whose employment with the employer includes only the 
performance of services described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 
209(a)(6) for remuneration described in such subparagraph.
    ``(3)(A) Failure by an employer to comply with paragraph (1) of 
this subsection shall be considered to be a violation of section 
274A(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a(a)(1)(A)), for purposes of section 274A(e) of such Act, as 
modified by subparagraph (B).
    ``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), section 274A(e) of the 
Immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(e)) shall be applied 
by substituting the term `employee' for the term `unauthorized alien' 
in clause (i) of section 274A(e)(4)(A) of such Act, and for the term 
`alien' in clauses (ii) and (iii) of such section.
    ``(4)(A) Any person or business who knowingly and willfully 
requests or obtains any record, or information, from or under the 
program established under paragraph (1) under false pretenses shall be 
guilty of an infraction and shall be subject to a fine as provided in 
title 18, United States Code.
    ``(B) The penalties described in section 552a(i) of title 5, United 
States Code, shall not apply to an activity that is subject to a 
penalty under subparagraph (A).
    ``(5) For purposes of this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `American employer' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 210(e), as such section may from time to 
        time be amended, except that the terms `State' and `United 
        States' within such section shall have the meaning given the 
        term `United States' in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph.
            ``(B) The term `employee' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 210(j), as such section may from time to time be 
        amended, and does not include a job applicant.
            ``(C) The term `new employee' means an employee who 
        commences an employment more than 10 years after the date of 
        the enactment of the Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud 
        Act.
            ``(D) The term `United States' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(38) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
        as such section may from time to time be amended.''.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER ANTI-FRAUD 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment of Program.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall implement the 
Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud Program on a partial and 
interim basis, as provided in this section.
    (b) Initial Period.--The Secretary shall make the Social Security 
Account Number Anti-Fraud Program available for the 18-month period 
beginning 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act to each 
employer that participates in Phase II of the Telephone Verification 
System administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. If 
fewer than 200 of the employers agree to participate in the program, 
the Secretary may make the program available to additional employers in 
the States of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas until 
the program is available to 200 employers.
    (c) Report on Initial Implementation.--Not later than 15 months 
after the beginning of the 18-month period described in subsection (b), 
the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report that contains--
            (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Social 
        Security Account Number Anti-Fraud Program as the program is 
        implemented under subsections (a) and (b) of this section; and
            (2) a description of any cooperation between the Social 
        Security Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization 
        Service regarding the program.
    (d) 5-Year Expansion.--
            (1) Requirement regarding new employees.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
                expiration of the 18-month period described in 
                subsection (b), each employer in the States of 
                California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas 
                shall use the Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud 
                Program to verify, within 30 days after the 
                commencement of the employment of the employee, the 
                social security account number of each new employee of 
                the employer.
                    (B) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not be 
                construed to require an employer to verify the social 
                security account number of an employee if, under 
                regulations issued under section 205(u)(2) of the 
                Social Security Act (as added by this Act), the 
                employer is not required to verify the social security 
                account number of the employee.
            (2) Availability regarding other employees.--Not later than 
        5 years after the expiration of the 18-month period described 
        in subsection (b), the Secretary shall make the Social Security 
        Account Number Anti-Fraud Program available to each employer in 
        the States of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and 
        Texas.
    (e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``employee'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 210(j) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(j)), 
        as such section may from time to time be amended, and does not 
        include a job applicant.
            (2) The term ``new employee'' means an employee who 
        commences an employment more than 5 years after the expiration 
        of the 18-month period described in subsection (b).
            (3) The term ``Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud 
        Program'' means the program established under subsection (u) of 
        section 205 of the Social Security Act (as added by this Act), 
        but does not include paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I) or (3) of such 
        subsection.

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