[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 502 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 502

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

                            January 13, 1995

 Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Hastert, Ms. Molinari, Mr. Rohrabacher, 
 Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Castle, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Saxton, Mr. 
 Canady of Florida, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Holden, Mr. Bono, Mr. 
  McKeon, and Mr. Laughlin) 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 purposes of this Act are--
    (1) to require the Social Security Administration and the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service to establish a system that 
allows employers to verify social security account numbers of 
employees; and
    (2) 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 2 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 
                not later than 72 hours 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 specifies 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) With respect to each employee social security account 
number that an employer transmits under the program established under 
this paragraph, the Secretary shall give the employer--
            (I) a verification number; and
            (II) a number indicating whether there is or is not a 
        discrepancy concerning the employee social security account 
        number.
    ``(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.
    ``(iii) Each employer shall maintain, for at least the amount of 
time referred to in clause (ii), records of all information (including 
numbers referred to in clause (i)) provided to the employer under this 
subsection with respect to any employee social security account number, 
or any other employee-related information, submitted pursuant to 
subparagraph (A)(i). The employer shall make such records available, 
upon request, for inspection by the Secretary or the designee of the 
Secretary for purposes of evaluating the compliance of the employer 
with this subsection.
    ``(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 3 days after the employer 
        receives the notification;
            ``(iv) the employee shall contact an office of the Social 
        Security Administration within 3 days after being notified of 
        the discrepancy under clause (iii);
            ``(v) the Secretary shall notify the employee of the nature 
        of the discrepancy, upon request by the employee to the 
        Secretary (including a request made to 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) of this paragraph.
    ``(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) The Secretary shall establish by regulation a mechanism (such 
as the use of a personal identification number or taxpayer 
identification number) by which the Secretary may verify the identity 
of each employer transmitting and receiving information under this 
subsection and may ensure that each person who transmits or receives 
information under this subsection as if such person were an employer is 
an employer who is legitimately entitled to use the program established 
under this subsection.
    ``(6) The Secretary shall establish a toll-free number through 
which an employee may contact an office of the Social Security 
Administration as required by paragraph (1)(D)(iv).
    ``(7) 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 2 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.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall implement the Social Security Account Number Anti-Fraud 
Program on a partial and interim basis, as provided in this section, 
for a period beginning not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and ending on the nationwide implementation date.
    (b) Availability to Employers.--The Secretary shall make the Social 
Security Account Number Anti-Fraud Program, as implemented under 
subsection (a), available to all employers in the States of California, 
Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
    (c) Report on Initial Implementation.--Not later than 45 days after 
the expiration of the first 12-month period in which the Social 
Security Account Number Anti-Fraud Program is implemented under 
subsection (a), 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) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``nationwide implementation date'' means the 
        date on which the Secretary establishes the program required by 
        subsection (u)(1)(A) of section 205 of the Social Security Act 
        (as added by this Act).
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
            (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.
                                 <all>