[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING NATIONAL I.D. THEFT PREVENTION WEEK, MARCH 3-7, 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HARRY E. MITCHELL

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 4, 2008

  Mr. MITCHELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate National 
Identity Theft Prevention Week in Arizona and in several other states, 
as well as Consumer Protection Week around the Nation, and to bring 
attention to this growing and troubling trend in crime. Identity theft 
is a serious offense that occurs when someone uses your personal 
information without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.
  Unfortunately, Arizona is one of the states hardest hit by identity 
theft, which continues to impact millions of victims and remains the 
fastest-growing white-collar crime in the United States. Identity theft 
costs businesses and consumers billions of dollars each year. 
Additionally, victims must take valuable time and often endure 
tremendous stress as they work to repair the damage to their credit and 
accounts.
  However, Arizona is also the site of some of the Nation's most 
innovative efforts to combat this crime. The Arizona Attorney General's 
Office regularly hosts ``shred-a-thons'' where residents can safely 
destroy documents containing personal information. And private 
companies like Lifelock, which is headquartered in my hometown of 
Tempe, has become a nationwide industry leader in helping consumers to 
proactively protect their personal information and render it useless to 
criminals.
  Madam Speaker, I wish to applaud these efforts and encourage my 
colleagues to join me in doing all that I can to turn the tide against 
identity thieves across the Nation.

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