[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 231 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 231

To improve the integrity of the Social Security card and to provide for 
   criminal penalties for fraud and related activity involving work 
authorization documents for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality 
                                  Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

  Mr. McCollum (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. Horn, Mr. 
       Gallegly, Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Frank of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Bryant, Mr. 
 Campbell, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. 
  Kim, Mr. LaFalce, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Packard, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
    Shays, Mr. Stark, Mr. Traficant, and Mr. Waxman) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the integrity of the Social Security card and to provide for 
   criminal penalties for fraud and related activity involving work 
authorization documents for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality 
                                  Act.

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

SECTION 1. PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT 
              NUMBER CARD.

    (a) Improvements to Card.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of carrying out section 274A 
        of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Commissioner of 
        Social Security (in this section referred to as the 
        ``Commissioner'') shall make such improvements to the physical 
        design, technical specifications, and materials of the social 
        security account number card as are necessary to ensure that it 
        is a genuine official document and that it offers the best 
        possible security against counterfeiting, forgery, alteration, 
        and misuse.
            (2) Performance standards.--In making the improvements 
        required in paragraph (1), the Commissioner shall--
                    (A) make the card as secure against counterfeiting 
                as the 100 dollar Federal Reserve note, with a rate of 
                counterfeit detection comparable to the 100 dollar 
                Federal Reserve note, and
                    (B) make the card as secure against fraudulent use 
                as a United States passport.
            (3) Reference.--In this section, the term ``secured social 
        security account number card'' means a social security account 
        number card issued in accordance with the requirements of this 
        subsection.
            (4) Effective date.--All social security account number 
        cards issued after January 1, 2000, whether new or replacement, 
        shall be secured social security account number cards.
    (b) Use for Employment Verification.--Beginning on January 1, 2006, 
a document described in section 274A(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act is a secured social security account number card (other 
than such a card which specifies on the face that the issuance of the 
card does not authorize employment in the United States).
    (c) Not a National Identification Card.--Cards issued pursuant to 
this section shall not be required to be carried upon one's person, and 
nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the 
establishment of a national identification card.
    (d) No New Databases.--Nothing in this section shall be construed 
as authorizing the establishment of any new databases.
    (e) Education Campaign.--The Commissioner of Immigration and 
Naturalization, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social 
Security, shall conduct a comprehensive campaign to educate employers 
about the security features of the secured social security card and how 
to detect counterfeit or fraudulently used social security account 
number cards.
    (f) Annual Reports.--The Commissioner of Social Security shall 
submit to Congress by July 1 of each year a report on--
            (1) the progress and status of developing a secured social 
        security account number card under this section,
            (2) the incidence of counterfeit production and fraudulent 
        use of social security account number cards, and
            (3) the steps being taken to detect and prevent such 
        counterfeiting and fraud.
    (g) GAO Annual Audits.--The Comptroller General shall perform an 
annual audit, the results of which are to be presented to the Congress 
by January 1 of each year, on the performance of the Social Security 
Administration in meeting the requirements in subsection (a).
    (h) Expenses.--No costs incurred in developing and issuing cards 
under this section that are above the costs that would have been 
incurred for cards issued in the absence of this section shall be paid 
for out of any Trust Fund established under the Social Security Act. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this section.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY WITH WORK 
              AUTHORIZATION DOCUMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1028 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraphs (1) and (2) by striking ``an 
                identification document or a false identification 
                document'' each place it appears and inserting ``an 
                identification document, false identification document, 
                work authorization document, or false work 
                authorization document'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ``identification 
                documents (other than those issued lawfully for the use 
                of the possessor) or false identification documents'' 
                and inserting ``identification or work authorization 
                documents (other than those issued lawfully for the use 
                of the possessor) or false identification or work 
                authorization documents'';
                    (C) in paragraph (4) by striking ``an 
                identification document (other than one issued lawfully 
                for the use of the possessor) or a false identification 
                document'' and inserting ``an identification or work 
                authorization document (other than one issued lawfully 
                for the use of the possessor) or a false identification 
                or work authorization document'';
                    (D) in paragraph (5) by inserting ``or in the 
                production of a false work authorization document'' 
                after ``false identification document''; and
                    (E) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``or work 
                authorization document'' after ``identification 
                document'' each place it appears;
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``an identification document or 
                false identification document'' in subparagraph (A) and 
                inserting ``an identification document, false 
                identification document, work authorization document, 
                or false work authorization document'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause 
                        (i);
                            (ii) by inserting ``or'' at the end of 
                        clause (ii); and
                            (iii) by inserting the following new clause 
                        after clause (ii):
                            ``(iii) a work authorization document;''; 
                        and
                    (C) by striking ``identification documents or false 
                identification documents'' in subparagraph (B) and 
                inserting ``identification documents, false 
                identification documents, work authorization documents, 
                or false work authorization documents'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(2)(A) by striking ``an identification 
        document or false identification document'' and inserting ``an 
        identification document, false identification document, work 
        authorization document, or false work authorization document'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``identification document or false 
                identification document'' each place it appears in 
                paragraph (1) and inserting ``identification document, 
                false identification document, work authorization 
                document, or false work authorization document''; and
                    (B) by adding ``work authorization document, false 
                work authorization document,'' after ``false 
                identification document,'' in paragraph (3); and
            (5) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (4);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (5) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following 
                new paragraph:
            ``(6) the term `work authorization document' means any 
        document described in section 274A(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading for section 1028 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1028. Fraud and related activity in connection with 
              identification and work authorization documents''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 1028 in the 
table of sections at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``1028. Fraud and related activity in connection with identification 
                            and work authorization documents.''.
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