[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           THE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION FOR THE DECEASED ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2006

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a 
horrible form of identity theft.
  We have heard plenty lately about the need to take swift action to 
prevent this serious crime. Just this month, one of the largest data 
security breaches in history occurred when the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) lost the names, Social Security Numbers, and the dates of 
birth of over 26 million Americans. We hear a lot about security 
breaches and the identity theft of living Americans. One aspect of the 
crime you do not always hear about is the misuse of personal 
information of deceased Americans.
  This is a serious issue for many reasons. For one, it is their loved 
ones who pay the price. Months or even years after a family member 
passes away, surviving spouses or other relatives will begin to receive 
credit card bills or even phone calls from bill collectors. A predator 
can go onto certain websites and purchase Social Security Numbers that 
are sold for purposes of tracking family histories and genealogy. The 
predator then uses the Social Security Number to apply for credit 
cards, loans, and other forms of consumer credit.
  There were even reports that a predator was misusing the personal 
information of a New York resident who died in the September 11, 2001 
terrorist attacks. In another case, a woman began to receive bills 
addressed to her daughter who had passed away 17 years before.
  In my hometown of San Diego just recently, the local news media shed 
light on another unfortunate case. A predator took information on a 
woman published in an obituary and used it for identity theft crimes. 
It was up to her son to repair the damage and put an end to the abuse. 
I cannot imagine the emotional toll these cases must take on surviving 
relatives, and I rise today to take action to prevent further cases of 
this crime.
  It is time Congress acted to block this form of identity theft from 
continuing. Predators can collect this information with relative ease 
giving them a steady supply of Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, 
and the information they need to commit these horrible crimes. 
Furthermore, this form of identity theft can ruin the good names and 
pristine credit histories of those who are deceased. Unless we take 
action, family members will continue to suffer from the misuse of their 
loved one's personal information.
  My legislation, the Identity Theft Protection for the Deceased Act, 
requires that the federal government inform each national credit bureau 
when an individual passes away. In turn, the credit bureaus will flag 
the histories of those who have deceased and potential creditors will 
know not to issue lines of credit or new loans to those attempting to 
misuse their personal information.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge that we act to stop this vicious form of identity 
theft and protect the relatives of America's deceased.

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