[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 4857

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT T. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 18, 2000

  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to join with Congressman 
Shaw to introduce bipartisan legislation to help restrict the use of 
individuals' Social Security Numbers by both the public sector and the 
private sector. Our legislation builds upon a number of bills 
introduced by House Democrats earlier this session. I'd like to thank 
Congressmen Ed Markey, Gerry Kleczka, and Bob Wise for their 
contributions on the privacy protection issue and for introducing 
exemplary legislation on the topic this Congress.
  The Social Security number is almost as old as the program itself. 
Created in 1936 to keep track of workers' earning records, the uses of 
the Social Security number have since extended far beyond its original 
intent, to the point where it is now commonly used as a personal 
identifier.
  Indeed, the Social Security number is increasingly used as the key to 
unlocking some of people's most vital--and most private--financial 
information. Its prevalence in today's society helps facilitate the 
host of private and public transactions in which people engage every 
day. That same prevalence, however, leaves people exceptionally 
vulnerable when their SSN's fall into the hands of those who wish to 
exploit that information for their own gain.
  While we should be aware of the contributions that the use of the SSN 
makes to program administration and to business efficiency, we must be 
careful that we do not allow some of our most fundamental rights--the 
right to privacy and the right to control our personal information--to 
be abridged in the name of expediency. Our legislation strikes the 
correct balance.
  Our bill would prohibit Federal, State, or local government entities 
from selling lists of people's SSN's and would prohibit government 
entities from displaying SSN's to the general public--for example, on 
drivers' licenses or on government checks.
  Just as importantly, our bill would restrict private businesses' use 
of the SSN. Just as the Clinton Administration proposed earlier this 
year, our bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission to ban the 
inappropriate sale or purchase of Social Security numbers.
  Our bill also prohibits businesses from requiring that you disclose 
your Social Security number in order to do business with them.
  Just as our bill enhances privacy protections, it also provides new 
protections for Social Security beneficiaries who rely on 
representative payees to manage their finances.
  Social Security beneficiaries who rely on representative payees to 
receive their benefits and to complete financial transactions on their 
behalf represent some of the most vulnerable members of our society. 
They are the very young, the very sick, and the very old. They are 
individuals who live in nursing homes and in State mental hospitals.
  Thus, when representative payees misuse the funds that have been 
entrusted to their care, they are not simply defrauding the Social 
Security Trust Funds--they are harming the very people that Social 
Security was designed to help.
  Our bill would help prevent the misuse of beneficiaries' funds and 
would make it easier for beneficiaries to be compensated in the event 
that their funds are misappropriated. Our bill would require SSA to re-
issue benefit payments to beneficiaries in all cases in which ``fee-
for-service'' representative payees have misused the funds entrusted to 
their care; strengthen the requirements fee-for-service organizations 
must meet in order to act as a representative payee; prohibit 
organizations from receiving fees for serving as a representative payee 
for any month in which that organization is found to have misused 
beneficiaries' funds; and finally, treat any misused benefits as an 
overpayment to the representative payee and, therefore, allow SSA to 
use the collection tools at its disposal to recover such overpayments.
  I want to thank my colleagues again for this bipartisan effort and I 
urge my colleagues to join us as cosponsors of this important 
legislation.

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