[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14275-S14276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IDENTITY THEFT ENFORCEMENT AND RESTITUTION ACT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am disappointed that some Senator is
preventing the Senate from taking an important step forward to combat
identity theft and to protect the privacy rights of all Americans by
passing the Leahy-Specter Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution
Act of 2007. This bipartisan cyber crime bill, which was requested by
the Department of Justice, will provide new tools to Federal
prosecutors to combat identity theft and other computer crimes. I know
that it is cleared for passage by all Democratic Senators.
The dangers of identity theft and other cyber crimes continue to
increase as our Nation becomes more dependent on high technology. In
fact, just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller stated that ``[c]yber
threats will continue to grow as people become more and more dependent
upon digital technology'' and ``we will be vulnerable to terrible
attacks.'' Prompt Senate action on this bill will bring us one step
closer to providing greatly needed tools to the Federal prosecutors and
investigators who are on the front lines of the battle against identity
theft and other cyber crimes. I urge those objecting to proceeding on
this bill to reconsider their actions and allow the bill to be
considered and passed.
I thank Senator Specter, who has been a valuable partner in combating
the growing problem of identity theft for many years, for joining with
me to introduce this important privacy bill. I have once again worked
in a bipartisan manner with a group of Senators on both sides of the
aisle to draft this legislation. I thank Senators Durbin, Grassley,
Schumer, Bill Nelson, Inouye, Stevens, and Feinstein for joining with
us as cosponsors of this important legislation.
I commend Senators Biden and Hatch for their contributions in this
area. I am pleased that several provisions they have suggested to
further strengthen this cyber crime legislation were included by
amendment in this bill when it was considered and reported by the
Judiciary Committee and that they, too, have now cosponsored our bill.
Senator Specter and I have worked closely with the Department of
Justice in crafting this bill, and the Leahy-Specter Identity Theft
Enforcement and Restitution Act has the strong support of the
Department of Justice and the Secret Service. This bill is also
supported by a broad coalition of business, high-tech and consumer
groups, including Microsoft, Consumers Union, the Cyber Security
Industry Alliance, the Business Software Alliance, AARP, and the
Chamber of Commerce.
The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act takes several
important and long overdue steps to protect Americans from the growing
and evolving threat of identity theft and other cyber crimes. First, to
better protect American consumers, our bill provides the victims of
identity theft with the ability to seek restitution in Federal court
for the loss of time and money
[[Page S14276]]
spent restoring their credit and remedying the harms of identity theft,
so that identity theft victims can be made whole.
Second, because identity theft schemes are much more sophisticated
and cunning in today's digital era, our bill also expands the scope of
the Federal identity theft statutes so that the law keeps up with the
ingenuity of today's identity thieves. Our bill adds three new crimes--
passing counterfeit securities, mail theft, and tax fraud--to the list
of predicate offenses for aggravated identity theft. And, in order to
better deter this kind of criminal activity, our bill also
significantly increases the criminal penalties for these crimes. To
address the increasing number of computer hacking crimes that involve
computers located within the same State, our bill also eliminates the
jurisdictional requirement that a computer's information must be stolen
through an interstate or foreign communication in order to federally
prosecute this crime.
Our bill also addresses the growing problem of the malicious use of
spyware to steal sensitive personal information, by eliminating the
requirement that the loss resulting from the damage to a victim's
computer must exceed $5,000 in order to federally prosecute this
offense. The bill also carefully balances this necessary change with
the legitimate need to protect innocent actors from frivolous
prosecutions and clarifies that the elimination of the $5,000 threshold
applies only to criminal cases. In addition, our bill addresses the
increasing number of cyber attacks on multiple computers by making it a
felony to employ spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers,
regardless of the aggregate amount of damage caused. By making this
crime a felony, the bill ensures that the most egregious identity
thieves will not escape with minimal punishment under Federal cyber
crime laws.
Lastly, our bill strengthens the protections for American businesses,
which are more and more becoming the focus of identity thieves, by
adding two new causes of action under the cyber extortion statute--
threatening to obtain or release information from a protected computer
and demanding money in relation to a protected computer--so that this
bad conduct can be federally prosecuted. In addition, because a
business as well as an individual can be a prime target for identity
theft, our bill closes several gaps in the Federal identity theft and
the aggravated identity theft statutes to ensure that identity thieves
who target a small business or a corporation can be prosecuted under
these laws. The bill also adds the remedy of civil and criminal
forfeiture to the arsenal of tools to combat cyber crime, and our bill
directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review its guidelines for
identity theft and cyber crime offenses.
The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act is a good,
bipartisan measure to help combat the growing threat of identity theft
and other cyber crimes to all Americans. This carefully balanced bill
protects the privacy rights of American consumers, the interests of
business, and the legitimate needs of law enforcement. This privacy
bill also builds upon our prior efforts to enact comprehensive data
privacy legislation. The Leahy-Specter Personal Data Privacy and
Security Act, S. 495, which Senator Specter and I reintroduced earlier
this year, would address the growing dangers of identity theft at its
source--lax data security and inadequate breach notification.
Protecting the privacy and security of American consumers should be one
of the Senate's top legislative priorities, and I urge the majority
leader to take up that measure at the earliest opportunity.
Again, I thank the bipartisan coalition of Senators who have joined
Senator Specter and me in supporting this important privacy
legislation, as well as the many consumer and business groups that
support this bill. I urge whoever is holding up this bipartisan bill to
stop delaying this measure so that the Senate can promptly pass this
important and much needed privacy bill before the Thanksgiving recess.
I ask unanimous consent that a support letter from the Chamber of
Commerce be printed in the Record following my remarks.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Chamber of Commerce of the
United States of America,
Washington, DC, November 2, 2007.
Hon. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Arlen Specter,
Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter: The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation
representing more than three million businesses and
organizations of every size, sector, and region, thanks you
for your leadership on issues related to identity theft and
other types of cyber crime. The Chamber strongly supports S.
2168, the ``Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of
2007,'' and congratulates the Committee on the Judiciary for
reporting favorably this important legislation.
The Internet today is a major engine of economic growth for
the United States. Unfortunately, accompanying this amazing
growth has been the continued rise of malicious cyber
activity by very coordinated and clever criminal networks. S.
2168 will go a long way to address this very serious issue by
giving law enforcement officials much needed tools and
resources to combat these criminals.
Once again, the Chamber appreciates your leadership on
these issues, and looks forward to working with the Committee
to assure passage of S. 2168 by the full Senate.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten,
Executive Vice President,
Government Affairs.
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