[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 116 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             STOP THE THEFT OF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gibbons). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents have alerted me to a 
serious attack on our personal privacy, and that is an insidious 
practice that has become known as identity theft. Amazingly enough, 
this theft is facilitated by a public agency, the Internal Revenue 
Service, which aids and abets this theft not through the Internet or 
any high-technology means but through the U.S. Postal Service.
  Yesterday I introduced a bill which I entitled the Stop the Theft of 
Our Social Security Numbers Act. This will prohibit the IRS from 
including our Social Security numbers on the mailing labels of the tax 
booklets the IRS mails us every year. It will also stop the IRS from 
printing Social Security numbers on the refund checks that millions of 
people receive annually in a way that numbers are visible when mailed.
  Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this decade. 
Identity thieves make off with billions of dollars each year and each 
day more than 1,000 people are being defrauded. With just your name and 
your Social Security number, a thief can open credit lines worth 
$10,000, rent apartments, sign up for utilities, and even earn income. 
Your credit rating is ruined, you risk being rejected for everything 
from a college loan to a mortgage, and it is up to you to fix it all. 
Law enforcement will generally not pursue these identity theft cases.
  In light of this, making it even easier for identity theft by 
allowing public view of Social Security numbers on IRS mailings and 
refund checks seems criminal. Yet that is precisely what the IRS is 
doing. Taxpayers all know that their Social Security number appears 
just above their full name and address on tax booklets. It appears the 
same way on refund checks and is clearly visible through the window on 
the envelope. What more can the IRS do to aid the theft of your 
identity? Hand mail the thieves and unscrupulous people who might 
handle your mail your mother's maiden name?
  When I brought this to the attention of the IRS, I was told that 
there is no way that IRS can change this practice before the 1999 tax 
season. I find it incomprehensible that neither this agency nor its 
contractor can change a computer program for booklets that will be 
mailed out for 1998. The IRS apparently has decided to be the conduit 
for identity theft with the Postal Service as a de facto accomplice.
  My bill will force the IRS to make this change in time to protect one 
of the most precious keys to our personal information, our Social 
Security number, before the coming tax filing season. To do any less 
would expose millions of us to devastating personal and financial 
losses and the most important loss of all, our good name.

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