[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S6129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BUNNING (for himself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 1014. A bill to amend the Social Security Act to enhance privacy 
protections for individuals, to prevent fraudulent misuse of the Social 
Security account number, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to re-introduce legislation 
that is designed to protect the privacy of all Americans from identity 
theft caused by theft or abuse of an individual's Social Security 
number, SSN.
  Identity theft is the fastest growing financial crime in the Nation, 
affecting an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 people annually. Allegations 
of fraudulent Social Security number use for identity theft increased 
from 62,000 in 1999 to over 90,000 in 2000--this is a 50 percent 
increase in just one year.
  It's no wonder why, in Wall Street Journal poll last year, 
respondents ranked privacy as their number one concern in the 21st 
century, ahead of wars, terrorism, and environmental disasters.
  All to often, the first clue someone has that their identity has been 
stolen comes when retail stores, banks, or credit card companies send 
letters wanting payment on bad checks or overdue bills that the 
individual hadn't written or knew nothing about.
  More than 75 percent of the time identity theft cases that take place 
are ``true name'' fraud. That is when someone uses your social security 
number to open new accounts in your name. The common criminal can apply 
for credit cards, buy a car, obtain personal, business, auto, or real 
estate loans, do just about anything in your name and you may not even 
know about it for months or even years. Across the country there are 
people who can tell you about losing their life savings or having their 
credit history damaged, simply because someone had obtained their 
Social Security number and fraudulently assumed their identity.
  This bill prohibits the sale of Social Security numbers by the 
private sector, Federal, State and local government agencies. This bill 
strengthens existing criminal penalties for enforcement of Social 
Security number violations to include those by government employees. It 
amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to include Social Security number 
as part of the information protected under the law, enhances law 
enforcement authority of the Office of Inspector General, and allows 
Federal courts to order defendants to make restitution to the Social 
Security trust funds.
  This bill would also prohibit the display of Social Security numbers 
on drivers licenses, motor vehicles registration, and other related 
identification records, like the official Senate ID Card.
  This new legislation reflects a small number of fair and appropriate 
modifications, including the following: Since the Federal Trade 
Commission does not have jurisdiction over financial institutions, our 
bill would now authorize the U.S. Attorney General to issue regulations 
restricting the sale and purchase of Social Security numbers in the 
private sector; similar to our provisions affecting the public sector, 
we make explicit our intent that the prohibition of sale, purchase, or 
display of Social Security numbers in the private sector would not 
apply if Social Security numbers are needed to enforce child support 
obligations; to help prevent other individuals from suffering the same 
tragic fate as Amy Boyer, we include a new provision that prohibits a 
person from obtaining or using another person's Social Security number 
in order to locate that individual with the intent to physically injure 
or harm the individual or use their identity for an illegal purpose; 
and we have clarified the provision that would prohibit businesses from 
denying services to individuals an exception for those businesses that 
are required by Federal law to submit the individual's Social Security 
number to the Federal Government.
  I think that it is high time that we get back to the original purpose 
of the social security number. Social Security numbers were designed to 
be used to track workers and their earnings so that their benefits 
could be accurately calculated when a worker retires--nothing else.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this very important piece of 
legislation.
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