[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 512 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 512

   To amend chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, relating to 
                identity fraud, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 1997

    Mr. Kyl introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, relating to 
                identity fraud, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Identity Theft and Assumption 
Deterrence Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. IDENTITY FRAUD.

    (a) Establishment of Offense.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1036. Identity fraud
    ``(a) Prohibition.--Whoever in interstate or foreign commerce--
            ``(1) knowingly and with intent to deceive or defraud, 
        obtains, possesses, transfers, uses, or attempts to obtain, 
        transfer, or use, one or more means of identification other 
        than that issued lawfully for the use of the possessor;
            ``(2) attempts to commit an offense under paragraph (1); or
            ``(3) is a party to a conspiracy of two or more persons to 
        commit an offense under paragraph (1),
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Punishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be 
        fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or 
        both.
            ``(2) Restitution.--In sentencing a defendant convicted of 
        an offense under this section, the court may order that the 
        defendant make restitution in accordance with section 3663.
    ``(c) Investigation Authority.--In addition to any other agency 
having such authority, the United States Secret Service of the 
Department of the Treasury may investigate any offense under this 
section.
    ``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `means of 
identification' means any name or number that may be used, alone or in 
conjunction with any other information, to assume the identity of an 
individual, including any--
            ``(1) personal identification card (as that term is defined 
        in section 1028); or
            ``(2) access device, counterfeit access device, or 
        unauthorized access device (as those terms are defined in 
        section 1029).''.
            (2) Sentencing enhancement.--Pursuant to its authority 
        under section 994(p) of title 28, United States Code, the 
        United States Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal 
        sentencing guidelines to provide for sentencing enhancements 
        under chapter 2 of the Federal sentencing guidelines for a 
        defendant who is convicted of an offense under section 1036 of 
        title 18, United States Code, in connection with an offense 
        under section 513, 514, 1028, or 1029 of title 18, United 
        States Code, as follows:
                    (A) A sentencing enhancement of 1 level, if the 
                offense involves not more than 1 victim.
                    (B) A sentencing enhancement of 2 levels, if the 
                offense involves not less than 2 and not more than 4 
                victims.
                    (C) A sentencing enhancement of 3 levels, if the 
                offense involves 5 or more victims.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The chapter analysis for chapter 
        47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following:

``1036. Identity fraud.''.
    (b) Forfeiture of Contraband.--Section 80302(a) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) an identification document, false identification 
        document, or a document-making implement (as those terms are 
        defined in section 1029 of title 18) involved in a violation of 
        section 1029 of title 18;
            ``(8) a counterfeit access device, device-making equipment, 
        or scanning receiver (as those terms are defined in section 
        1029 of title 18); or
            ``(9) a means of identification (as that term is defined in 
        section 1036 of title 18) involved in a violation of section 
        1036 of title 18.''.
    (c) Restitution.--Section 3663 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Identity Fraud.--
            ``(1) In general.--In sentencing a defendant convicted of 
        an offense under section 1028, 1029, or 1036, the court may 
        order, in addition to or in lieu of any other penalty 
        authorized by law, that the defendant make restitution to any 
        victim of the offense.
            ``(2) Costs included.--Making restitution to a victim under 
        this subsection may include payment for any costs, including 
        attorney fees, incurred by the victim--
                    ``(A) in clearing the credit history or credit 
                rating of the victim; or
                    ``(B) in connection with any civil or 
                administrative proceeding to satisfy any debt, lien, or 
                other obligation of the victim arising as a result of 
                the actions of the defendant.''.
    (d) Identity Fraud Information and Study.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``financial institution'' has the same 
                meaning as in section 20 of title 18, United States 
                Code; and
                    (B) the term ``identity fraud'' means an offense 
                described in section 1036 of title 18, United States 
                Code (as added by subsection (a) of this section).
            (2) Identity fraud information.--Beginning not later than 
        60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the United 
        States Secret Service of the Department of the Treasury shall 
        collect and maintain information and statistical data relating 
        to--
                    (A) the number of identity fraud offenses 
                investigated;
                    (B) the number of prosecutions and convictions for 
                identity fraud;
                    (C) any information provided to the United States 
                Secret Service by State and local law enforcement 
                agencies relating to the investigation of identity 
                fraud; and
                    (D) any information provided to the United States 
                Secret Service by financial institutions relating to 
                the financial consequences of identity fraud.
            (3) Identity fraud study.--Not later than 18 months after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
        Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, 
        shall--
                    (A) conduct a comprehensive study of--
                            (i) the nature, extent, and causes of 
                        identity fraud; and
                            (ii) the threat posed by identity fraud 
                        to--
                                    (I) financial institutions and 
                                payment systems; and
                                    (II) consumer safety and privacy; 
                                and
                    (B) based on the results of that study, submit to 
                Congress specific recommendations for legislation to 
                address the problem of identity fraud.
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