[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 22, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4707-S4709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

    By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Sessions, and Mr. 
                               Grassley):

  S. 2541. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to establish 
penalties for aggravated identity theft, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Identity Theft 
Penalty Enhancement Act of 2002 along with my colleagues Senators Kyl, 
Sessions, and Grassley.
  This bill is the culmination of efforts by the Department of Justice 
to craft legislation that will crack down on the most serious identity 
thefts in the Nation, and I am pleased to be working with the Justice 
Department on this legislation. In fact, Attorney General Ashcroft and 
I announced this bill together earlier this month.
  This legislation will make it easier for prosecutors to target those 
identity thieves who, as is so often the case, steal an identity for 
the purpose of committing one or more other crimes.
  Many serious crimes, even including terrorism, are aided by stolen 
identifies.
  For instance, According to a January article in the Baltimore Sun, 
``six of the 19 hijackers from September 11 were using Social Security 
numbers illegally. Another man linked to al-Qaida, Lofti Raissi, a 27-
year old Algerian pilot from London who is believed to have trained 
four of the suicide hijackers, was identified in British court papers 
as having used the Social Security number of Dorothy Hansen, a retired 
factory worker from Jersey City, NJ, who died in 1991.''
  Attorney General Ashcroft last week cited the example of an Algerian 
national now facing charges of identity theft who allegedly stole the 
identifies of 21 members of a health club in Cambridge, MA. The 
Algerian national then transferred those stolen identities to one of 
the individuals convicted in the failed plot to bomb Los Angeles 
International Airport in 1999.
  In another case, Michelle Brown of Los Angeles had her Social 
Security number stolen in 1999, and it was used to charge $50,000 in 
her name, including a $32,000 truck, a $5,000 liposuction operation and 
a year-long residential lease. Even worse, while assuming Michelle's 
name, the perpetrator also became the object of an arrest warrant for 
drug smuggling in Texas.
  In another case recently announced by the Justice Department, Joseph 
Kalady of Chicago was charged just last week with trying to fake his 
own death using the identity of another. Kalady, who was awaiting trial 
on charges of counterfeiting birth certificates, Social Security cards 
and driver's licenses last December, allegedly suffocated a homeless 
man and sought to have him cremated under Mr. Kalady's identity in 
order to fake his own death and avoid prosecution.

  The stories go on and on, and it is those stories that make the 
legislation we introduce today so vital.
  Let me just outline what this bill would do.
  First, the bill would create a separate crime of ``aggravated 
identity theft'' for any person who uses the identity of another person 
to commit certain serious, federal crimes.
  Specifically, the legislation would provide for an additional two-
year penalty for any individual convicted of committing one of the 
following serious Federal crimes while using the identity of another 
person: stealing another's identity in order to illegally obtain 
citizenship in the United States; stealing another's identity to obtain 
a passport or visa; using another's identity to remain in the United 
States illegally after a visa has expired or an individual has been 
ordered to depart this country; stealing an individual's identity to 
commit bank, wire or mail fraud, or to steal from employee pension 
funds; and other serious federal crimes, all of them felonies.
  Furthermore, the legislation would provide for an additional five 
year penalty for any individual that uses the stolen identity of 
another person to commit any one of the enumerated Federal terrorism 
crimes found in 18 U.S.C. 2332b(g)(5)(B). These crime include: the 
destruction of aircraft; the assassination or kidnapping of high level 
Federal officials; bombings; hostage taking; providing material support 
to terrorism organizations; and other terrorist crimes.
  Aggravated Identity Theft is a separate crime, not just a sentencing 
enhancement. And the two-year and five-year penalties for aggravated 
identity theft must be served consecutively to the sentence for the 
underlying crime.
  This bill also strengthens the ability of law enforcement to go after 
identity thieves and to provide their case.

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  First, the bill adds the word ``possesses'' to current law, in order 
to allow law enforcement to target individuals who possess the identity 
documents of another person with the intent to commit a crime. Current 
Federal law prohibits the transfer or use of false identity documents, 
but does not specifically ban the possession of hose documents with the 
intent to commit a crime. So if law enforcement discovers a stash of 
identity documents with the clear intent to use those documents to 
commit other crimes, the person who possesses those documents will now 
be subject to prosecution.
  Second, the legislation amends current law to make it clear that if a 
person uses a false identity ``in connection with'' another Federal 
crime, and the intent of the underlying Federal crime is proven, then 
the intent to use the false identity to commitment that crime need not 
be separately proved. This simply makes the job of the prosecutor 
easier when an individual is convicted of a Federal crime and use a 
false identity in collection with that Crime.
  This legislation also increases the maximum penalty for identity 
theft under current law from three years to five years.
  And finally, the legislation we introduce today will clarify that the 
current 25-year maximum sentence for identity theft in facilitation of 
international terrorism also applies to identity theft in facilitation 
of domestic terrorism as well.
  Identity theft is a crime on the rise in America, and it is a crime 
with severe consequences not only for the individual victims of the 
identity theft, but for every consumer and every financial institution 
as well.
  Fraud losses at financial institutions are running well over one 
billion dollars annually. VISA alone reported identity theft related 
fraud losses of more than $114 million in 2000, a 43 percent increase 
in just four years.
  And for victims, the losses can be staggering. The average loss from 
one identity theft now ranges about $18,000. Just imagine, somebody 
takes a credit card receipt out of a trash-can, makes a few calls, and 
before you know it you've lost $18,000.
  And even though an individual victim may not be forced to pay in the 
end, the credit card companies, financial institutions and other 
businesses absorb the loss and pass it on to all consumers, the time 
and effort required to regain your identity can be quite debilitating. 
In fact, on average it takes a full year and a half to regain one's 
identity once stolen. In many instances, it can take many more years 
than that.
  Additionally, some victims are even subject to criminal investigation 
or even arrest because a criminal has taken their identity and used it 
to commit a crime. In fact, the FTC tells us that they have received 
1,300 complaints from victims alleging that they have been subject to 
investigation, arrest or even conviction as a result of their identity 
being stolen.
  Identity theft comes in many forms and can be perpetrated in many 
ways, and that is why I have worked for many years now with Senator Kyl 
and others to put some safeguards into the law that might better 
prevent the fraud from occurring in the first place, and to crack down 
on identity thieves.
  And other legislation I have introduced would put into place certain 
procedural safeguards to protect credit card numbers, personal 
information, and other key data from potential identity thieves.
  The legislation we introduce today is meant to beef up the law in 
terms of what happens after an identity theft takes place. In seriously 
enhancing the penalties for identity thieves who commit other Federal 
crimes, we mean to send a strong signal to all those who would commit 
this increasingly popular crime that the relatively free ride they have 
experienced in recent years is over. No longer will prosecutors decline 
to take identity theft seriously. No longer will identity thieves get 
off with just a slap on the wrist, if they are prosecuted at all. Under 
this legislation, penalties will be severe, prosecution will be more 
likely, and cases against identity thieves will be easier to prove.
  Every day in this country serious criminals and criminal 
organizations are stealing and falsifying identities with the purpose 
of doing serious harm to common citizens, government officials, or even 
our Nation itself. It is time we did something about it, and this bill 
is an important step in that process.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I ask unanimous 
consent that the text of this legislation be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2541

       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 Penalty 
     Enhancement Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding after section 1028, the following:

     ``Sec. 1028A. Aggravated identity theft

       ``(a) Offenses.--
       ``(1) In general.--Whoever, during and in relation to any 
     felony violation enumerated in subsection (c), knowingly 
     transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a 
     means of identification of another person shall, in addition 
     to the punishment provided for such felony, be sentenced to a 
     term of imprisonment of 2 years.
       ``(2) Terrorism offense.--Whoever, during and in relation 
     to any felony violation enumerated in section 2332b(g)(5)(B), 
     knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful 
     authority, a means of identification of another person shall, 
     in addition to the punishment provided for such felony, be 
     sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 5 years.
       ``(b) Consecutive Sentence.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law--
       ``(1) a court shall not place on probation any person 
     convicted of a violation of this section;
       ``(2) except as provided in paragraph (4), no term of 
     imprisonment imposed on a person under this section shall run 
     concurrently with any other term of imprisonment imposed on 
     the person under any other provision of law, including any 
     term of imprisonment imposed for the felony during which the 
     means of identification was transferred, possessed, or used;
       ``(3) in determining any term of imprisonment to be imposed 
     for the felony during which the means of identification was 
     transferred, possessed, or used, a court shall not in any way 
     reduce the term to be imposed for such crime so as to 
     compensate for, or otherwise take into account, any separate 
     term of imprisonment imposed or to be imposed for a violation 
     of this section; and
       ``(4) a term of imprisonment imposed on a person for a 
     violation of this section may, in the discretion of the 
     court, run concurrently, in whole or in part, only with 
     another term of imprisonment that is imposed by the court at 
     the same time on that person for an additional violation of 
     this section, provided that such discretion shall be 
     exercised in accordance with any applicable guidelines and 
     policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission 
     pursuant to section 994 of title 28.
       ``(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
     `felony violation enumerated in subsection (c)' means any 
     offense that is a felony violation of--
       ``(1) section 664 (relating to theft from employee benefit 
     plans);
       ``(2) section 911 (relating to false personation of 
     citizenship);
       ``(3) section 922(a)(6) (relating to false statements in 
     connection with the acquisition of a firearm);
       ``(4) any provision contained in this chapter (relating to 
     fraud and false statements), other than this section or 
     section 1028(a)(7);
       ``(5) any provision contained in chapter 63 (relating to 
     mail, bank, and wire fraud);
       ``(6) any provision contained in chapter 69 (relating to 
     nationality and citizenship);
       ``(7) any provision contained in chapter 75 (relating to 
     passports and visas);
       ``(8) section 523 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 
     6823) (relating to obtaining customer information by false 
     pretenses);
       ``(9) section 243 or 266 of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act (8 U.S.C. 1253 and 1306) (relating to willfully failing 
     to leave the United States after deportation and creating a 
     counterfeit alien registration card);
       ``(10) any provision contained in chapter 8 of title II of 
     the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1321 et seq.) 
     (relating to various immigration offenses); or
       ``(11) section 208, 1107(b), or 1128B(a) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 408, 1307(b), and 1320a-7b(a)) 
     (relating to false statements relating to programs under the 
     Act).''.
       (b) Amendment to Chapter Analysis.--The table of sections 
     for chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     inserting after the item relating to section 1028 the 
     following new item:

``1028A. Aggravated identity theft.''.

     SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING IDENTITY THEFT PROHIBITION.

       Section 1028 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(7)--
       (A) by striking ``transfers'' and inserting ``transfers, 
     possesses,''; and
       (B) by striking ``abet,'' and inserting ``abet, or in 
     connection with,'';

[[Page S4709]]

       (2) in subsection (b)(1)(D), by striking ``transfer'' and 
     inserting ``transfer, possession,'';
       (3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``three years'' and 
     inserting ``5 years''; and
       (4) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting after ``facilitate'' 
     the following: ``an act of domestic terrorism (as defined 
     under section 2331(5) of this title) or''.
                                 ______