[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           FIGHTING IDENTITY THEFT AND DEFENDING THE HOMELAND

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                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2009

  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, according to a 2005 GAO study, employers 
reported the use of 1.4 million Social Security numbers that did not 
exist. Nearly 1.7 million numbers had been used by multiple 
individuals, sometimes as many as 500 times for the same Social 
Security number. In my district, the Waukegan police find that at least 
20 fake Social Security cards are found by law enforcement every week.
  Now, upgrading the Social Security card should be common sense. It's 
about seniors. It's about identity theft. It's about illegal 
immigration. And it's about keeping Americans safe.
  When we look at today's Social Security card, we find a 1930s design. 
It lacks a picture. It lacks a bar code. It lacks a magnetic strip. It 
poses almost no barrier to the thousands of counterfeiters that make 
false Social Security cards.
  Today, along with my colleague from Illinois Peter Roskam, I have 
introduced legislation to finally give Americans the choice between the 
old 1930s design Social Security card and the new secure Social 
Security card. This card offers enhanced protections across the board. 
It would replace that flimsy and easily counterfeitable Social Security 
card with a 21st century identity document that gives seniors real 
protection. Our legislation and this design is based on the 
Government's common access card. Already the U.S. Government has issued 
10 million of these cards, and its protections, in our judgment, we 
believe, should be offered to people in the 21st century against Social 
Security card counterfeiters.
  We think this legislation is important to propose a significant 
barrier to those who would counterfeit Social Security cards, to help 
seniors in fighting identity theft, and to make sure that a person who 
has that number and this card is really who they say it is.
  We saw on September 11 that 18 of 19 hijackers had valid U.S. IDs 
during their crime of the century. I think it's time to make sure that 
at least the Social Security card has the 21st century protections that 
we can offer to make sure that we protect seniors, to make sure that we 
protect all Americans, and to protect the Social Security system. 
That's why we think that this legislation to create these secure Social 
Security cards is an idea whose time has come.

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