[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E222-E223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 INTRODUCING THE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 1998

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Privacy 
Protection Act of 1998, which forbids the use of the Social Security 
number for any purpose not directly related to the administration of 
the Social Security system. The Social Security number was created 
solely for use in administering the Social Security system. However, 
today the Social Security number is used as an identifier for numerous 
federal programs. Unless the use of the Social Security number is 
restricted, it will soon become a national identification number by 
which the federal government can easily keep track of all vital 
information regarding American citizens.
  Anyone who doubts that we are well on the way to using the Social 
Security number as an universal identifier need only consult 1996's 
welfare reform bill, which forces business to report the Social 
Security number of every new employee to the federal government so it 
may be recorded in a national data base.

[[Page E223]]

  Another example of the abuse of the Social Security number is a 
provision in tax law requiring a spouse paying alimony furnish the IRS 
with the Social Security number of the spouse receiving alimony.
  There are not isolated incidents; in fact, since the creation of the 
Social Security number in 1934 there have been almost 40 
congressionally-authorized uses of the Social Security number as an 
identification number for non-Social Security programs! Abuse of the 
Social Security system also occurs at the state level. Mr. Speaker, in 
many states. One cannot get a driver's license, apply for a job, or 
even receive a birth certificate for one's child, without presenting 
their Social Security number to a government official, and just X weeks 
ago 210 of my colleagues voted to allow States to require citizens to 
show their Social Security number in order to vote. Since the Social 
Security number is part of a federal program created by Congress, it is 
Congress' responsibility to ensure it is not used to violate the 
privacy of America's citizens.
  Perhaps the most disturbing abuses of the Social Security number is 
the Congressionally-authorized rule forcing parents to get a Social 
Security number for their newborn children in order to claim them as a 
dependent. Mr. Speaker, forcing parents to register their newborn 
children with the state is more like something out of the nightmare of 
George Orwell than the dreams of a free Republic that inspired the 
nation's founders.
  Unless the abuses of the Social Security number is stopped, Americans 
will soon have a de facto national identification number, which would 
provide the federal government the ability to track all citizens from 
cradle to grave. The drafters of the Constitution would be horrified if 
they knew that the federal government would have the ability to set up 
a universal identifier and every newborn baby had to be assigned a 
number by the federal government. I therefore urge my colleagues to 
protect America's freedom by cosponsoring the Privacy Protection Act of 
1998.

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