[House Report 106-996]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Rept. 106-996
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 1
======================================================================
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER PRIVACY AND IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION ACT OF
2000
_______
October 24, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Archer, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4857]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 4857) to amend the Social Security Act to enhance
privacy protections for individuals, to prevent fraudulent
misuse of the Social Security account number, and to provide
additional safeguards for Social Security and Supplemental
Security Income beneficiaries with representative payees, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Introduction.....................................................22
A. Purpose and Summary................................... 22
B. Background and Need for Legislation................... 23
C. Legislative History................................... 24
II. Explanation of the Bill..........................................24
A. Short Title and Findings.............................. 24
B. Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account
Number in the Public Sector.......................... 24
1. Restrictions on sale and display of Social
Security Account Numbers by governmental agencies 24
2. Independent verification of birth records provided
in support of applications for Social Security
Account Numbers.................................. 26
3. Report by General Accounting Office on use by
governmental agencies as personal identification
numbers.......................................... 27
C. Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account
Number in the Private Sector......................... 28
1. Regulation of the sale and purchase of the Social
Security Account Number in the private sector.... 28
2. Refusal to do business without receipt of Social
Security Account Number considered unfair or
deceptive act or practice........................ 29
3. Confidential treatment of credit header
information...................................... 29
D. Enforcement........................................... 30
1. Criminal and civil monetary penalties and orders
of restitution................................... 30
2. Law enforcement authority for the Office of the
Inspector General of the Social Security
Administration................................... 31
E. Provisions Relating to Representative Payees.......... 32
1. Authority to reissue benefits misused by
Organizational Representative Payees............. 32
2. Oversight of Representative Payees................ 33
3. Disqualification from service as Representative
Payee upon conviction of offenses resulting in
imprisonment for more than 1 year................ 34
4. Fee forfeiture in case of benefit misuse by
Representative Payees............................ 35
5. Liability of Representative Payees for misused
benefits......................................... 35
6. Extension of Civil Monetary Penalty Authority with
respect to Representative Payees................. 36
7. Authority to redirect delivery of benefit payments
when a Representative Payee fails to provide
required accounting.............................. 36
F. Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments................ 37
1. Technical correction relating to responsible
agency head...................................... 37
2. Technical correction relating to domestic
employment....................................... 38
3. Technical correction of outdated references....... 38
4. Technical corrections relating to retirement
benefits of ministers............................ 39
5. Requirements relating to offers to provide for a
fee a product or service available without charge
from the Social Security Administration.......... 39
6. Funding of demonstration projects providing for
reductions in Disability Insurance Benefits based
on earnings...................................... 40
7. Optional Federal administration of State
recognition payments............................. 40
8. Military Wage Credits............................. 41
III.Votes of the Committee...........................................42
IV. Budget Effects of the Bill.......................................42
A. Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects............... 42
B. Statement Regarding New Budget Authority and Tax
Expenditures......................................... 42
C. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office............................................... 42
V. Other Matters to be Discussed Under the Rules of the House.......50
A. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations...... 50
B. Summary of Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee on Government Reform....................... 50
C. Constitutional Authority Statement.................... 50
D. Information Relating to Unfunded Mandates............. 50
VI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............51
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security
Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
TITLE I--PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER IN
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Sec. 101. Restrictions on the sale of social security account numbers
by governmental agencies.
Sec. 102. Prohibition of public access to social security account
numbers possessed by governmental agencies.
Sec. 103. Prohibition of display of social security account number on
checks issued for payment by governmental agencies.
Sec. 104. Prohibition of appearance of social security account numbers
on driver's licenses or motor vehicle registrations.
Sec. 105. Prohibition of display by governmental agencies of personal
identification numbers.
Sec. 106. Prohibition of inmate access to social security account
numbers.
Sec. 107. Independent verification of birth records provided in support
of applications for social security account numbers.
Sec. 108. Report by General Accounting Office on use by governmental
agencies as personal identification numbers.
TITLE II--PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER IN
THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Sec. 201. Regulation of the sale and purchase of the social security
account number in the private sector.
Sec. 202. Refusal to do business without receipt of social security
account number considered unfair or deceptive act or practice.
Sec. 203. Confidential treatment of credit header information.
TITLE III--ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 301. New criminal penalties for misuse of social security account
numbers.
Sec. 302. New criminal penalty for sale or purchase of social security
account numbers.
Sec. 303. Extension of civil monetary penalty authority.
Sec. 304. Authority for judicial orders of restitution.
Sec. 305. Law enforcement authority for the Office of the Inspector
General of the Social Security Administration.
TITLE IV--PROVISIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES
Sec. 401. Authority to reissue benefits misused by organizational
representative payees.
Sec. 402. Oversight of representative payees.
Sec. 403. Disqualification from service as representative payee upon
conviction of offenses resulting in imprisonment for more than 1 year.
Sec. 404. Fee forfeiture in case of benefit misuse by representative
payees.
Sec. 405. Liability of representative payees for misused benefits.
Sec. 406. Extension of civil monetary penalty authority with respect to
representative payees.
Sec. 407. Authority to redirect delivery of benefit payments when a
representative payee fails to provide required accounting.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS
Sec. 501. Technical correction relating to responsible agency head.
Sec. 502. Technical correction relating to domestic employment.
Sec. 503. Technical corrections of outdated references.
Sec. 504. Technical correction relating to retirement benefits of
ministers.
Sec. 505. Requirements relating to offers to provide for a fee a
product or service available without charge from the Social Security
Administration.
Sec. 506. Funding of demonstration projects providing for reductions in
disability insurance benefits based on earnings.
Sec. 507. Optional Federal administration of State recognition
payments.
Sec. 508. Military wage credits.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The inappropriate sale or purchase of social security
account numbers is a significant factor in a growing range of
illegal activities, including fraud, identity theft, and, in
some cases, stalking and other violent crimes.
(2) While financial institutions, health care providers, and
other entities have often used social security account numbers
to confirm the identity of an individual, the sale or purchase
of these numbers often facilitates the commission of criminal
activities, and also can result in serious invasions of
individual privacy.
(3) The Federal Government requires virtually every
individual in the United States to obtain and maintain a social
security account number in order to pay taxes, to qualify for
Social Security benefits, or to seek employment. An unintended
consequence of these requirements is that social security
account numbers have become tools that can be used to
facilitate crime, fraud, and invasions of the privacy of the
individuals to whom the numbers are assigned. Because the
Federal Government created and maintains this system, and
because the Federal Government does not permit persons to
exempt themselves from those requirements, it is appropriate
for the Government to take steps to stem the abuse of this
system.
(4) A social security account number is simply a sequence of
numbers. In no meaningful sense can the number itself impart
knowledge or ideas. Persons do not sell or transfer such
numbers in order to convey any particularized message, nor to
express to the purchaser any ideas, knowledge, or thoughts.
(5) A social security account number does not contain,
reflect, or convey any publicly significant information or
concern any public issue. The sale of such numbers in no way
facilitates uninhibited, robust and wide-open public debate;
and restrictions on such sale would not affect public debate.
(6) No one should seek to profit from the sale of social
security account numbers in circumstances that create a
substantial risk of physical, emotional, or financial harm to
the individuals to whom those numbers are assigned.
(7) Consequently, Congress should enact legislation that will
offer individuals assigned such numbers necessary protection
from the sale and purchase of social security account numbers
in circumstances that might facilitate unlawful conduct or that
might otherwise likely result in unfair or deceptive practices.
TITLE I--PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER IN
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
SEC. 101. RESTRICTIONS ON THE SALE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS
BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(x) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a political
subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) in possession of any individual's social security
account number may accept an item of material value in exchange for
such number, or any derivative thereof. Notwithstanding the preceding
sentence, such number (or derivative) may be made available or
disclosed in such an exchange in accordance with the following
exceptions (and for no other purpose):
``(I) Such number (or derivative) may be disclosed in such an
exchange by a State department of motor vehicles as authorized
under subsection (b) of section 2721 of title 18, United States
Code, if such disclosed number (or derivative) is to be used
solely for the purposes permitted under paragraph (1), (6) or
(9) of such subsection.
``(II) Such number (or derivative) may be made available in
such an exchange to a consumer reporting agency, as defined in
section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681a(f)), exclusively for use in accordance with such Act.
``(III) Such number (or derivative) may be disclosed in such
an exchange to the extent that is necessary or appropriate for
law enforcement or national security purposes, as determined
under regulations which shall be issued by the Attorney General
of the United States.
``(IV) Such an exchange may occur to the extent it is
otherwise specifically authorized by this Act.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations occurring after 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 102. PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC ACCESS TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT
NUMBERS POSSESSED BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as amended by section 101) is amended further by
adding at the end the following new clause:
``(xi) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a political
subdivision thereof or trustee appointed in a case under title 11,
United States Code (or person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality or trustee), may display to the general public any
individual's social security account number, or any derivative of such
number. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, such number (or
derivative) may be so displayed in accordance with the following
exceptions (and for no other purpose):
``(I) Such number (or derivative) may be so displayed to a
consumer reporting agency, as defined in section 603(f) of the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)), exclusively for
use in accordance with such Act.
``(II) Such number (or derivative) may be so displayed to the
extent that is necessary or appropriate for law enforcement or
national security purposes, as determined under regulations
which shall be issued by the Attorney General of the United
States.
For purposes of this clause, the term `display to the general public'
in connection with a social security account number, or a derivative
thereof, means the intentional placing of such number or derivative in
a viewable manner on an Internet site that is available to the general
public or in any other manner intended to provide access to such number
or derivative by the general public. Each such agency or
instrumentality or trustee shall ensure that access to such numbers,
and any derivative of such numbers, is restricted to persons who may
obtain them in accordance with this clause and other applicable law.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Agencies and instrumentalities and trustees (and
agents thereof) shall comply with the requirements of clause (xi) of
section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (added by this section)
as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Such clause (xi) shall apply with respect to all displays originally
occurring after 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 103. PROHIBITION OF DISPLAY OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER ON
CHECKS ISSUED FOR PAYMENT BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as amended by the preceding provisions of this
title) is amended further by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(xii) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a political
subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) may include the social security account number of any
individual on any check issued for any payment by the Federal
Government, any State or political subdivision thereof, or any agency
or instrumentality thereof or on any document attached to or
accompanying such a check.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations occurring after 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 104. PROHIBITION OF APPEARANCE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS
ON DRIVER'S LICENSES OR MOTOR VEHICLE
REGISTRATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C)(vi) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)(vi)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(I)'' after ``(vi)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subclause:
``(II) A State or political subdivision thereof (and any person
acting as an agent of such an agency or instrumentality), in the
administration of any driver's license or motor vehicle registration
law within its jurisdiction, may not disclose the social security
account numbers issued by the Commissioner of Social Security, or any
derivative of such numbers, on any driver's license or motor vehicle
registration or any other document issued by such State or political
subdivision to an individual for purposes of identification of such
individual.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
with respect to licenses, registrations, and other documents issued or
reissued after 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 105. PROHIBITION OF DISPLAY BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES OF PERSONAL
IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as amended by the preceding provisions of this
title) is amended further by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(xiii) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or political
subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) may display the social security account number, or any
derivative of such number, on any card or tag that is commonly provided
to employees for purposes of identification and that is to be
maintained for continual, open display by the employees.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations occurring after 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 106. PROHIBITION OF INMATE ACCESS TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT
NUMBERS.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as amended by the preceding provisions of this
title) is amended further by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(xiv) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or political
subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) may employ, or enter into a contract for the use or
employment of, prisoners in any capacity that would allow such
prisoners access to the social security account numbers of other
individuals. For purposes of this clause, the term `prisoner' means an
individual confined in a jail, prison, or other penal institution or
correctional facility pursuant to such individual's conviction of a
criminal offense.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
with respect to employment of prisoners, or entry into contract with
prisoners, after 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 107. INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF BIRTH RECORDS PROVIDED IN SUPPORT
OF APPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT
NUMBERS.
(a) In General.--Section 205(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new sentence: ``With respect to an application for a social
security account number for an individual other than for purposes of
enumeration at birth, the Commissioner shall require independent
verification of any birth record provided by the applicant in support
of the application.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply
with respect to applications filed after 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Report on Enumeration of Aliens at Admission.--Not later than 1
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of
Social Security and the Attorney General of the United States shall
jointly submit a report detailing the progress of the Social Security
Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service in
implementing a process, at the admission of aliens to the United
States, for enumeration of those aliens who have need of a social
security account number. Such report shall be submitted to the
Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate.
SEC. 108. REPORT BY GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE ON USE BY GOVERNMENTAL
AGENCIES AS PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.
(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
undertake a study of--
(1) the current usage, by agencies and instrumentalities in
all branches of the Federal Government and by executive,
legislative, and judicial agencies and instrumentalities of
States and political subdivisions thereof, of the social
security account numbers of individuals, and derivatives of
such numbers, for purposes of identification of such
individuals, and
(2) the most effective means by which any such usage
extending beyond the original purposes of the social security
account number may be minimized.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to the
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Finance of the Senate setting forth the results of the
study conducted pursuant to this section. Such report shall contain
such recommendations, including proposals for legislative changes, as
the Comptroller General deems appropriate.
TITLE II--PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER IN
THE PRIVATE SECTOR
SEC. 201. REGULATION OF THE SALE AND PURCHASE OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY
ACCOUNT NUMBER IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual,
partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative,
association, or any other entity.
(3) Sale.--The term ``sell'' in connection with a social
security account number means to obtain, directly or
indirectly, anything of value in exchange for such number. Such
term does not include the submission of such number as part of
the process for applying for any type of Government benefits or
programs (such as grants or loans or welfare or other public
assistance programs). Such term also does not include transfers
of such number as part of a data matching program under the
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act and the amendments
made thereby and similar computer matches involving government
entities.
(4) Purchase.--The term ``purchase'' in connection with a
social security account number means to provide, directly or
indirectly, anything of value in exchange for such number. Such
term does not include the submission of such number as part of
the process for applying for any type of Government benefit or
programs (such as grant or loan applications or welfare or
other public assistance programs). Such term also does not
include transfers of such number as part of a data matching
program under the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act
and the amendments made thereby and similar computer matches
involving government entities.
(5) Social security account number.--The term ``social
security account number'' has the meaning given such term in
section 208 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 408).
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern
Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and any territory or possession of the United
States.
(b) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or
purchase a social security account number in a manner that violates a
regulation promulgated by the Commission under subsection (c) of this
section.
(c) Regulations.--
(1) Restrictions authorized.--The Commission, after
consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, the
Department of Justice, and other agencies as the Commission
deems appropriate, shall promulgate regulations restricting the
sale and purchase of social security account numbers and any
unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with the
sale and purchase of social security account numbers.
(2) Limitations on restrictions.--In promulgating such
regulations, the Commission shall impose restrictions and
conditions on the sale and purchase of social security account
numbers that are no broader than necessary--
(A) to provide reasonable assurance that social
security account numbers will not be used to commit or
facilitate fraud, deception, or crime; and
(B) to prevent an undue risk of bodily, emotional, or
financial harm to individuals.
For purposes of subparagraph (B), the Commission shall consider
the nature, likelihood, and severity of the anticipated harm;
the nature, likelihood, and extent of any benefits that could
be realized from the sale or purchase of the numbers; and any
other relevant factors.
(3) Exceptions.--The regulations promulgated pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall include exceptions which permit the sale
and purchase of social security account numbers--
(A) to the extent necessary for law enforcement or
national security purposes;
(B) to the extent necessary for public health
purposes;
(C) to the extent necessary in emergency situations
to protect the health or safety of 1 or more
individuals;
(D) to the extent necessary for research conducted
for the purpose of advancing public knowledge, on the
condition that the researcher provides adequate
assurances that--
(i) the social security account numbers will
not be used to harass, target, or publicly
reveal information concerning any identifiable
individuals;
(ii) information about identifiable
individuals obtained from the research will not
to be used to make decisions that directly
affect the rights, benefits, or privileges of
specific individuals; and
(iii) the researcher has in place appropriate
safeguards to protect the privacy and
confidentiality of any information about
identifiable individuals;
(E) to the extent consistent with an individual's
voluntary and affirmative written consent to the sale
or purchase of a social security account number that
has been assigned to that individual; and
(F) under other appropriate circumstances as the
Commission may determine are consistent with the
findings in section 2 of this Act and the principles in
paragraph (2).
(d) Rulemaking.--
(1) Deadline for action.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate
the regulations under subsection (c) of this section, in
accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Effective dates.--Subsection (b) and the regulations
promulgated under subsection (c) shall take effect 30 days
after the date on which the final regulations issued under this
section are published in the Federal Register.
(e) Enforcement.--Any violation of a regulation promulgated under
subsection (c) of this section shall be treated as a violation of a
regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(f) Administration and Applicability of Act.--
(1) The commission.--The Commission shall prevent any person
from violating this section, and any regulation promulgated
thereunder, in the same manner, by the same means, and with the
same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable
terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of
this section. Any person who violates such regulation shall be
subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and
immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 41 et seq.) as though all applicable terms and
provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this section.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit
the authority of the Commission under any other provision of
law.
(2) Actions by states.--
(A) Civil actions.--In any case in which the attorney
general of a State has reason to believe that an
interest of the residents of that State has been or is
threatened or adversely affected by an act or practice
that violates any regulation of the Commission
promulgated under subsection (c), the State, as parens
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the
residents of the State in a district court of the
United States of appropriate jurisdiction, to--
(i) enjoin that act or practice;
(ii) enforce compliance with the regulation;
(iii) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of residents of the
State; or
(iv) obtain such other legal and equitable
relief as the district court may consider to be
appropriate.
Before filing an action under this subsection, the
attorney general of the State involved shall provide to
the Commission and to the Attorney General a written
notice of that action and a copy of the complaint for
that action. If the State attorney general determines
that it is not feasible to provide the notice described
in this subparagraph before the filing of the action,
the State attorney general shall provide the written
notice and the copy of the complaint to the Commission
and to the Attorney General as soon after the filing of
the complaint as practicable.
(B) Commission and attorney general authority.--On
receiving notice under subparagraph (A), the Commission
and the Attorney General each shall have the right--
(i) to move to stay the action, pending the
final disposition of a pending Federal matter
as described in subparagraph (C);
(ii) to intervene in an action under clause
(i);
(iii) upon so intervening, to be heard on all
matters arising therein; and
(iv) to file petitions for appeal.
(C) Pending criminal proceedings.--If the Attorney
General has instituted a criminal proceeding or the
Federal Trade Commission has instituted a civil action
for a violation of this Act or any regulations
thereunder, no State may, during the pendency of such
proceeding or action, bring an action under this
section against any defendant named in the criminal
proceeding or civil action for any violation of this
section that is alleged in that proceeding or action.
(D) Rule of construction.--For purposes of bringing
any civil action under subparagraph (A), nothing in
this Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney
general of a State from exercising the powers conferred
on the attorney general by the laws of that State to
conduct investigations, administer oaths and
affirmations, or compel the attendance of witnesses or
the production of documentary and other evidence.
(E) Venue; service of process.--Any action brought
under this section may be brought in any district court
of the United States that meets applicable requirements
relating to venue under section 1391 of title 28,
United States Code. In an action brought under this
section, process may be served in any district in which
the defendant is an inhabitant or may be found.
SEC. 202. REFUSAL TO DO BUSINESS WITHOUT RECEIPT OF SOCIAL SECURITY
ACCOUNT NUMBER CONSIDERED UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT
OR PRACTICE.
Any person who refuses to do business with an individual because the
individual will not consent to the receipt by such person of the social
security account number of such individual shall be considered to have
committed an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). Action
may be taken under such section 5 against such a person.
SEC. 203. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF CREDIT HEADER INFORMATION.
(a) In General.--Section 603(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15
U.S.C. 1681a(d)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the
following:
``The term also includes information regarding the social
security account number of the consumer or any derivative
thereof.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take
effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE III--ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 301. NEW CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR MISUSE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT
NUMBERS.
(a) In General.--Section 208(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
408(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by adding ``or'' at the end; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following new
paragraphs:
``(9) offers, for a fee, to acquire for any individual, or to
assist in acquiring for any individual, an additional social
security account number or a number that purports to be a
social security account number; or
``(10) being an officer or employee of any executive,
legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of the
Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision
thereof (or a person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) in possession of any individual's social
security account number, or (in connection with section
205(c)(2)(C)(xi)) a trustee appointed in a case under title 11,
United States Code (or an officer or employee thereof or a
person acting as an agent thereof), willfully acts or fails to
act so as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II), (x), (xi),
(xii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C);''.
(b) Effective Dates.--Section 208(a)(9) of the Social Security Act
(added by subsection (a)(2)) shall apply with respect to violations
occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act. Section
208(a)(10) of such Act (added by subsection (a)(2)) shall apply with
respect to violations occurring on or after the effective date
applicable with respect to such violations under title I.
SEC. 302. NEW CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR SALE OR PURCHASE OF SOCIAL SECURITY
ACCOUNT NUMBERS.
(a) In General.--Section 208(a) of the Social Security Act (as
amended by section 301(a)) is amended further--
(1) in paragraph (10), by adding ``or'' at the end;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (10) the following new
paragraph:
``(11) knowingly sells or purchases (as defined in paragraphs
(2) and (3) of subsection (d)) the social security account
number of any person;'';
(3) in subsection (c), by striking the last sentence;
(4) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
(5) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsection:
``(d)(1) For purposes of subsection (a)(7), the term `social security
account number' means a number assigned by the Commissioner of Social
Security under section 205(c)(2) whether or not, in actual use, such
number is called a social security account number.
``(2) For purposes of subsection (a)(11), the term `sell' in
connection with a social security account number means to obtain,
directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange for such number.
Such term does not include the submission of such number as part of the
process for applying for any type of Government benefits or programs
(such as grants or loans or welfare or other public assistance
programs). Such term also does not include transfers of such number as
part of a matching program, as defined in section 552a(a)(8)(A) of
title 5, United States Code, or any other match referred to in section
552a(a)(8)(B) of such title.
``(3) For purposes of subsection (a)(11), the term `purchase' in
connection with a social security account number means to provide,
directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange for such number.
Such term does not include the submission of such number as part of the
process for applying for any type of Government benefits or programs
(such as grants or loans or welfare or other public assistance
programs). Such term also does not include transfers of such number as
part of a matching program, as defined in section 552a(a)(8)(A) of
title 5, United States Code, or any other match referred to in section
552a(a)(8)(B) of such title.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations occurring after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 303. EXTENSION OF CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY AUTHORITY.
(a) Treatment of Withholding of Material Facts.--
(1) Civil penalties.--Section 1129(a)(1) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8(a)(1)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``who'' in the first sentence and
inserting ``who--'';
(B) by striking ``makes'' in the first sentence and
all that follows through ``shall be subject to'' and
inserting the following:
``(A) makes, or causes to be made, a statement or
representation of a material fact, for use in determining any
initial or continuing right to or the amount of monthly
insurance benefits under title II or benefits or payments under
title VIII or XVI that the person knows or should know is false
or misleading,
``(B) makes such a statement or representation for such use
with knowing disregard for the truth, or
``(C) omits from a statement or representation for such use,
or otherwise withholds disclosure of, a fact which the
individual knows or should know is material to the
determination of any initial or continuing right to or the
amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II or benefits
or payments under title VIII or XVI, if the individual knows,
or should know, that the statement or representation with such
omission is false or misleading or that the withholding of such
disclosure is misleading,
shall be subject to'';
(C) by inserting ``or each receipt of such benefits
or payments while withholding disclosure of such fact''
after ``each such statement or representation'' in the
first sentence;
(D) by inserting ``or because of such withholding of
disclosure of a material fact'' after ``because of such
statement or representation'' in the second sentence;
and
(E) by inserting ``or such a withholding of
disclosure'' after ``such a statement or
representation'' in the second sentence.
(2) Administrative procedure for imposing penalties.--Section
1129A(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8a(a)) is amended in the
first sentence--
(A) by striking ``who'' and inserting ``who--''; and
(B) by striking ``makes'' and all that follows
through ``shall be subject to,'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) makes, or causes to be made, a statement or
representation of a material fact, for use in determining any
initial or continuing right to or the amount of monthly
insurance benefits under title II or benefits or payments under
title VIII or XVI that the person knows or should know is false
or misleading,
``(2) makes such a statement or representation for such use
with knowing disregard for the truth, or
``(3) omits from a statement or representation for such use,
or otherwise withholds disclosure of, a fact which the
individual knows or should know is material to the
determination of any initial or continuing right to or the
amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II or benefits
or payments under title VIII or XVI, if the individual knows,
or should know, that the statement or representation with such
omission is false or misleading or that the withholding of such
disclosure is misleading,
shall be subject to,''.
(b) Application of Civil Money Penalties to Elements of Criminal
Violations.--Section 1129(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8(a)) is
amended further--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4);
(2) by designating the last sentence of paragraph (1) as a
new paragraph (2), appearing after and below paragraph (1); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as designated under
paragraph (2) of this subsection) the following:
``(3) Any person (including an organization, agency, or other entity)
who--
``(A) uses a social security account number that such person
knows or should know has been assigned by the Commissioner of
Social Security (in an exercise of authority under section
205(c)(2) to establish and maintain records) on the basis of
false information furnished to the Commissioner by any person;
``(B) falsely represents a number to be the social security
account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security
to any individual, when such person knows or should know that
such number is not the social security account number assigned
by the Commissioner to such individual;
``(C) knowingly alters a social security card issued by the
Commissioner of Social Security, or possesses such a card with
intent to alter it;
``(D) knowingly buys or sells a card that is, or purports to
be, a card issued by the Commissioner of Social Security, or
possesses such a card with intent to buy or sell it;
``(E) counterfeits a social security card, or possesses a
counterfeit social security card with intent to buy or sell it;
``(F) discloses, uses, compels the disclosure of, or
knowingly sells or purchases the social security account number
of any person in violation of the laws of the United States;
``(G) with intent to deceive the Commissioner of Social
Security as to such person's true identity (or the true
identity of any other person) furnishes or causes to be
furnished false information to the Commissioner with respect to
any information required by the Commissioner in connection with
the establishment and maintenance of the records provided for
in section 205(c)(2);
``(H) offers, for a fee, to acquire for any individual, or to
assist in acquiring for any individual, an additional social
security account number or a number which purports to be a
social security account number; or
``(I) being an officer or employee of any executive,
legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of the
Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision
thereof (or a person acting as an agent of such an agency or
instrumentality) or (in connection with section
205(c)(2)(C)(xi)) a trustee appointed in a case under title 11,
United States Code (or an officer or employee thereof or a
person acting as an agent thereof), in possession of any
individual's social security account number, willfully acts or
fails to act so as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II),
(x), (xi), (xii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C);
shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that may be
prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not more than $5,000 for
each violation. Such person shall also be subject to an assessment, in
lieu of damages sustained by the United States resulting from such
violation, of not more than twice the amount of any benefits or
payments paid as a result of such violation.''.
(c) Clarification of Treatment of Recovered Amounts.--Section
1129(e)(2)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8(e)(2)(B)) is amended by
striking ``In the case of amounts recovered arising out of a
determination relating to title VIII or XVI,'' and inserting ``In the
case of any other amounts recovered under this section,''.
(d) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 1129(b)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-
8(b)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``charging fraud or false
statements''.
(2) Section 1129(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8(c)(1))
is amended by striking ``and representations'' and inserting
``, representations, or actions''.
(3) Section 1129(e)(1)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-
8(e)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``statement or
representation referred to in subsection (a) was made'' and
inserting ``violation occurred''.
(e) Effective Dates.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations committed after the date of the enactment of
this Act, except that section 1129(a)(3)(I) of the Social Security Act
(added by subsection (b)) shall apply with respect to violations
occurring on or after the effective date provided in connection with
such violations under title I.
SEC. 304. AUTHORITY FOR JUDICIAL ORDERS OF RESTITUTION.
(a) Amendments to Title II.--Section 208 of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 408) (as amended by section 302(a)) is further amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) as
subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection:
``(b)(1) Any Federal court, when sentencing a defendant convicted of
an offense under subsection (a), may order, in addition to or in lieu
of any other penalty authorized by law, that the defendant make
restitution to the Social Security Administration.
``(2) Sections 3612, 3663, and 3664 of title 18, United States Code,
shall apply with respect to the issuance and enforcement of orders of
restitution under this subsection. In so applying such sections, the
Social Security Administration shall be considered the victim.
``(3) If the court does not order restitution, or orders only partial
restitution, under this subsection, the court shall state on the record
the reasons therefor.''.
(b) Amendments to Title VIII.--Section 807(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1007(i)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``(i) Restitution.--In any case where'' and
inserting the following:
``(i) Restitution.--
``(1) In general.--In any case where''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Court order for restitution.--
``(A) In general.--Any Federal court, when sentencing
a defendant convicted of an offense under subsection
(a), may order, in addition to or in lieu of any other
penalty authorized by law, that the defendant make
restitution to the Social Security Administration.
``(B) Related provisions.--Sections 3612, 3663, and
3664 of title 18, United States Code, shall apply with
respect to the issuance and enforcement of orders of
restitution under this paragraph. In so applying such
sections, the Social Security Administration shall be
considered the victim.
``(C) Stated reasons for not ordering restitution.--
If the court does not order restitution, or orders only
partial restitution, under this paragraph, the court
shall state on the record the reasons therefor.''.
(c) Amendments to Title XVI.--Section 1632 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383a) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection:
``(b)(1) Any Federal court, when sentencing a defendant convicted of
an offense under subsection (a), may order, in addition to or in lieu
of any other penalty authorized by law, that the defendant make
restitution to the Social Security Administration.
``(2) Sections 3612, 3663, and 3664 of title 18, United States Code,
shall apply with respect to the issuance and enforcement of orders of
restitution under this subsection. In so applying such sections, the
Social Security Administration shall be considered the victim.
``(3) If the court does not order restitution, or orders only partial
restitution, under this subsection, the court shall state on the record
the reasons therefor.''.
(d) Special Account for Receipt of Restitution Payments.--Section
704(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)) is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), amounts received by
the Social Security Administration pursuant to an order of restitution
under section 208(b), 807(i), or 1632(b) shall be credited to a special
fund established in the Treasury of the United States for amounts so
received or recovered. The amounts so credited, to the extent and in
the amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, shall be
available to defray expenses incurred in carrying out title II, title
VIII, and title XVI.
``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to amounts
received in connection with misuse by a representative payee (within
the meaning of sections 205(j), 807, and 1631(a)(2)) of funds paid as
benefits under title II, VIII, or XVI. Such amounts received in
connection with misuse of funds paid as benefits under title II shall
be transferred to the Managing Trustee of the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance
Trust Fund, as determined appropriate by the Commissioner of Social
Security, and such amounts shall be deposited by the Managing Trustee
into such Trust Fund. All other such amounts shall be deposited by the
Commissioner into the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous
receipts.''.
(e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b)
shall apply with respect to violations occurring on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 305. LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
Section 702(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902(e)) is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1) In General.--'' after ``(e)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Law Enforcement Authority.--
``(A) Specific designations.--The Inspector General may
designate one or more special agents in the Office of the
Inspector General to exercise the authorities specified in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Authorities.--A special agent in the Office of the
Inspector General who is designated under subparagraph (A)
may--
``(i) carry firearms, while engaged in the special
agent's official duties conducted pursuant to the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) or any
other statute, or as expressly authorized by the
Attorney General of the United States,
``(ii) seek and execute warrants for arrest, search
of premises, or seizure of evidence issued under the
authority of the United States, upon probable cause to
believe that a violation of law has been committed, and
``(iii) make an arrest without a warrant, while
engaged in the special agent's official duties
conducted pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978
(5 U.S.C. App.) or any other statute, or as expressly
authorized by the Attorney General, for--
``(I) any offense against the United States
committed in the presence of the special agent,
or
``(II) any felony cognizable under the laws
of the United States, if the special agent has
reasonable grounds to believe that the person
to be arrested has committed or is committing
such felony.
``(C) Special agent.--For purposes of this paragraph, the
term `special agent' means an employee in the Office of the
Inspector General whose duties include conducting, supervising,
and coordinating investigations of criminal activity in the
programs and operations of the Social Security Administration.
``(D) Use of state or local law enforcement officers.--
``(i) In general.--Any State or local law enforcement
officer designated by the Inspector General, while
assisting a special agent designated under subparagraph
(A), may exercise the authorities provided under
subparagraph (B).
``(ii) Applicability of provisions governing federal
employees.--
``(I) In general.--Any such officer shall not
be deemed a Federal employee, and, subject to
subclause (II), shall not be subject to
provisions of law relating to Federal
employees, solely by reason of the exercise by
such officer of any such authority.
``(II) Applicability of certain provisions.--
While exercising such authority, such officer
shall be subject to subsection (c) of section
3374 of title 5, United States Code, as if such
officer were assigned and appointed as
described in such section, except that nothing
in this clause shall be construed to authorize
Federal pay or other compensation for such
officer.
``(E) Guidelines on exercise of authorities.--The authorities
provided under subparagraph (B) shall be exercised in
accordance with guidelines prescribed by the Inspector General
and approved by the Attorney General of the United States. Such
guidelines shall be issued within 1 year after the date of the
enactment of the Social Security Number Privacy and Identity
Theft Prevention Act of 2000.''.
TITLE IV--PROVISIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES
SEC. 401. AUTHORITY TO REISSUE BENEFITS MISUSED BY ORGANIZATIONAL
REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.
(a) OASDI Amendments.--
(1) Reissuance of benefits.--Section 205(j)(5) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(5)) is amended by inserting
after the first sentence the following new sentence: ``In any
case in which a representative payee--
``(i) that is not an individual (regardless of whether it is
a `qualified organization' within the meaning of paragraph
(4)(B)); or
``(ii) is an individual who, for any month during a period
when misuse occurs, serves 15 or more individuals who are
beneficiaries under title II, title VIII, title XVI, or any
combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall certify
for payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's alternative
representative payee an amount equal to the amount of such benefit so
misused. The provisions of this paragraph are subject to the
limitations of paragraph (6)(B).''.
(2) Misuse of benefits defined.--Section 205(j) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 405(j)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(8) For purposes of this subsection, misuse of benefits by a
representative payee occurs in any case in which the representative
payee receives payment under this title for the use and benefit of
another person and converts such payment, or any part thereof, to a use
other than for the use and benefit of such other person. The
Commissioner of Social Security may prescribe by regulation the meaning
of the term `use and benefit' for purposes of this paragraph.''.
(b) SVB Amendments.--
(1) Reissuance of benefits.--Section 807(i) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1007(i)) is amended by inserting after
the first sentence the following new sentence: ``In any case in
which a representative payee--
``(A) that is not an individual; or
``(B) is an individual who, for any month during a
period when misuse occurs, serves 15 or more
individuals who are beneficiaries under this title,
title II, title XVI, or any combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
pay to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's alternative
representative payee an amount equal to the amount of such
benefit so misused. The provisions of this paragraph are
subject to the limitations of subsection (j)(2).''.
(2) Misuse of benefits defined.--Section 807 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1007) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(j) Misuse of Benefits.--For purposes of this title, misuse of
benefits by a representative payee occurs in any case in which the
representative payee receives payment under this title for the use and
benefit of another person and converts such payment, or any part
thereof, to a use other than for the use and benefit of such other
person. The Commissioner of Social Security may prescribe by regulation
the meaning of the term `use and benefit' for purposes of this
paragraph.''.
(c) SSI Amendments.--
(1) Reissuance of benefits.--Section 1631(a)(2)(E) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(E)) is amended by inserting after the
first sentence the following new sentence: ``In any case in
which a representative payee--
``(i) that is not an individual (regardless of whether it is
a `qualified organization' within the meaning of subparagraph
(D)(ii)); or
``(ii) is an individual who, for any month during a period
when misuse occurs, serves 15 or more individuals who are
beneficiaries under title II, title VIII, title XVI, or any
combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall make
payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's alternative
representative payee of an amount equal to the amount of such benefit
so misused. The provisions of this subparagraph are subject to the
limitations of subparagraph (F)(ii).''.
(2) Exclusion of reissued benefits from resources.--Section
1613(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382b(a)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (13), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (13) the following
new paragraph:
``(14) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in
which received, any amount received by such individual (or
spouse) or any other person whose income is deemed to be
included in such individual's (or spouse's) income for purposes
of this title as restitution for benefits under this title,
title II, or title VIII misused by the representative payee.''.
(3) Misuse of benefits defined.--Section 1631(a)(2)(A) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(A)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new clause:
``(iv) For purposes of this subsection, misuse of benefits by a
representative payee occurs in any case in which the representative
payee receives payment under this title for the use and benefit of
another person and converts such payment, or any part thereof, to a use
other than for the use and benefit of such other person. The
Commissioner of Social Security may prescribe by regulation the meaning
of the term `use and benefit' for purposes of this clause.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The preceding amendments made by this section
shall apply to any case of benefit misuse by a representative payee
with respect to which the Commissioner makes the determination of
misuse on or after January 1, 1995.
(e) Technical Amendments.--
(1) Section 205(j) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
405(j)) is amended by striking paragraph (6).
(2) Section 1631(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)) is
amended by striking subparagraph (G).
SEC. 402. OVERSIGHT OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.
(a) Certification of Bonding and Licensing Requirements for
Nongovernmental Organizational Representative Payees.--
(1) OASDI amendment.--Section 205(j) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (2)(C)(v)--
(i) by striking ``a community-based nonprofit
social service agency licensed or bonded by the
State'' in subclause (I) and inserting ``a
certified community-based nonprofit social
service agency''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``For purposes of subclause (I), the term
`certified community-based nonprofit social
service agency' means a community based
nonprofit social service agency which is in
compliance with requirements, under regulations
which shall be prescribed by the Commissioner,
for annual certification to the Commissioner
that it is bonded in accordance with
requirements specified by the Commissioner and
that it is licensed in each State in which it
serves as a representative payee (if licensing
is available in such State) in accordance with
requirements specified by the Commissioner. Any
such annual certification shall include a copy
of any independent audit on such agency which
may have been performed since the previous
certification.''; and
(B) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ``any community-
based nonprofit social service agency which is bonded
or licensed in each State in which it serves as a
representative payee'' and inserting ``any certified
community-based nonprofit social service agency (as
defined in paragraph (2)(C)(v))''.
(2) SSI amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (B)(vii)--
(i) by striking ``a community-based nonprofit
social service agency licensed or bonded by the
State'' in subclause (I) and inserting ``a
certified community-based nonprofit social
service agency''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``For purposes of subclause (I), the term
`certified community-based nonprofit social
service agency' means a community based
nonprofit social service agency which is in
compliance with requirements, under regulations
which shall be prescribed by the Commissioner,
for annual certification to the Commissioner
that it is bonded in accordance with
requirements specified by the Commissioner and
that it is licensed in each State in which it
serves as a representative payee (if licensing
is available in such State) in accordance with
requirements specified by the Commissioner. Any
such annual certification shall include a copy
of any independent audit on such agency which
may have been performed since the previous
certification.''; and
(B) in subparagraph (D)(ii)--
(i) by striking ``or any community-based''
and all that follows down through ``in
accordance'' in subclause (II) and inserting
``or any certified community-based nonprofit
social service agency (as defined in
subparagraph (B)(vii)), if such agency, in
accordance'';
(ii) by redesignating items (aa) and (bb) as
subclauses (I) and (II), respectively (and
adjusting the margination accordingly); and
(iii) by striking ``subclause (II)(bb)'' and
inserting ``subclause (II)''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall take effect on the first day of the thirteenth month
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Periodic Onsite Review.--
(1) OASDI amendment.--Section 205(j) of such Act (as amended
by section 401(a)(2)) is amended further by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(9) The Commissioner of Social Security shall provide for the
periodic onsite inspection of any person or agency that receives the
benefits payable under this title, title VIII, or title XVI to another
individual pursuant to the appointment of such person or agency as a
representative payee under this subsection, section 807, or section
1631(a)(2) in any case in which--
``(A) the representative payee is a person who serves in that
capacity with respect to 15 or more such individuals;
``(B) the representative payee is a certified community-based
nonprofit social service agency (as defined in paragraph
(2)(C)(v) or section 1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
``(C) the representative payee is an agency (other than an
agency described in subparagraph (B)) that serves in that
capacity with respect to 50 or more such individuals.''.
(2) SVB amendment.--Section 807 of such Act (as amended by
section 401(b)(2)) is amended further by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(k) Periodic Onsite Inspection.--The Commissioner of Social
Security shall provide for the periodic onsite inspection of any person
or agency that receives the benefits payable under this title, title
II, or title XVI to another individual pursuant to the appointment of
such person or agency as a representative payee under this section,
section 205(j), or section 1631(a)(2) in any case in which--
``(1) the representative payee is a person who serves in that
capacity with respect to 15 or more such individuals;
``(2) the representative payee is a certified community-based
nonprofit social service agency (as defined in section
205(j)(2)(C)(v) or section 1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
``(3) the representative payee is an agency (other than an
agency described in paragraph (2)) that serves in that capacity
with respect to 50 or more such individuals.''.
(3) SSI amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(I) The Commissioner of Social Security shall provide for the
periodic onsite inspection of any person or agency that receives the
benefits payable under this title, title II, or title VIII to another
individual pursuant to the appointment of such person or agency as a
representative payee under this paragraph, section 205(j), or section
807 in any case in which--
``(i) the representative payee is a person who serves in that
capacity with respect to 15 or more such individuals;
``(ii) the representative payee is a certified community-
based nonprofit social service agency (as defined in section
205(j)(2)(C)(v) or section 1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
``(iii) the representative payee is an agency (other than an
agency described in clause (ii)) that serves in that capacity
with respect to 50 or more such individuals.''.
SEC. 403. DISQUALIFICATION FROM SERVICE AS REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE UPON
CONVICTION OF OFFENSES RESULTING IN IMPRISONMENT
FOR MORE THAN 1 YEAR.
(a) OASDI Amendment.--Section 205(j)(2) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 405(j)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)(i)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subclause
(III);
(B) by redesignating subclause (IV) as subclause (V);
and
(C) by inserting after subclause (III) the following
new subclause:
``(IV) obtain information concerning whether such person has
been convicted of any other offense under Federal or State law
which resulted in imprisonment for more than 1 year, and'';
(2) in subparagraph (C)(i)(II), by striking ``subparagraph
(B)(i)(IV),'' and inserting ``subparagraph (B)(i)(V)'' and
striking ``section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV)'' and inserting
``section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(V)''; and
(3) in subparagraph (C)(i), by adding after and below
subclause (III) the following new sentence:
``Benefits of an individual may not be certified for payment to any
other person pursuant to this subsection if such person has previously
been convicted as described in subparagraph (B)(i)(IV), unless the
Commissioner determines that such certification would be appropriate
notwithstanding such conviction.''.
(b) SVB Amendment.--Section 807(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1007(b)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph
(C);
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph
(E); and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following
new subparagraph:
``(D) obtain information concerning whether such
person has been convicted of any other offense under
Federal or State law which resulted in imprisonment for
more than 1 year; and''; and
(2) in subsection (d)(1), by adding after and below
subparagraph (C) the following new sentence:
``Benefits of an individual may not be paid to any other person
pursuant to this subsection if such person has previously been
convicted as described in subsection (b)(2)(D), unless the
Commissioner determines that such payment would be appropriate
notwithstanding such conviction.''.
(c) SSI Amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (ii)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subclause
(III);
(B) by redesignating subclause (IV) as subclause (V);
and
(C) by inserting after subclause (III) the following
new subclause:
``(IV) obtain information concerning whether such person has
been convicted of any other offense under Federal or State law
which resulted in imprisonment for more than 1 year; and''; and
(2) in clause (iii), by adding after and below subclause
(III) the following new sentence:
``Benefits of an individual may not be paid to any other person
pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) if such person has previously been
convicted as described in clause (ii)(IV), unless the Commissioner
determines that such payment would be appropriate notwithstanding such
conviction.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by the preceding provisions
of this section shall take effect on the first day of the thirteenth
month beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Technical Amendments.--Section 1631(a)(2)(B)(iii)(II) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(B)(iii)(II)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``clause (ii)(IV)'' and inserting ``clause
(ii)(V)''; and
(2) by striking ``section 205(j)(2)(B)(i)(IV)'' and inserting
``section 205(j)(2)(B)(i)(V)''.
SEC. 404. FEE FORFEITURE IN CASE OF BENEFIT MISUSE BY REPRESENTATIVE
PAYEES.
(a) OASDI Amendment.--Section 205(j)(4)(A)(i) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(4)(A)(i)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``A'' and inserting
``Except as provided in the next sentence, a''; and
(2) by inserting before the second sentence the following new
sentence: ``A qualified organization may not collect a fee from
an individual for any month with respect to which the
Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent
jurisdiction has determined that the organization misused all
or part of the individual's benefit, and any amount so
collected by the qualified organization for such month shall be
treated as a misused part of the individual's benefit for
purposes of paragraphs (5) and (6).''.
(b) SSI Amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2)(D)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)(D)(i)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``A'' and inserting
``Except as provided in the next sentence, a''; and
(2) by inserting before the second sentence the following new
sentence: ``A qualified organization may not collect a fee from
an individual for any month with respect to which the
Commissioner of Social Security or a court of competent
jurisdiction has determined that the organization misused all
or part of the individual's benefit, and any amount so
collected by the qualified organization for such month shall be
treated as a misused part of the individual's benefit for
purposes of subparagraphs (E) and (F).''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
to any month involving benefit misuse by a representative payee in any
case with respect to which the Commissioner makes the determination of
misuse after December 31, 1999.
SEC. 405. LIABILITY OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES FOR MISUSED BENEFITS.
(a) OASDI Amendment.--Section 205(j) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(j)) (as amended by section 401(e)(1)) is amended further by
inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:
``(6)(A) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of
competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee that is
not a Federal, State, or local government agency has misused all or
part of an individual's benefit that was paid to such representative
payee under this subsection, the representative payee shall be liable
for the amount misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by
the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of
benefits under this title to the representative payee for all purposes
of this Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such
overpayments. Subject to subparagraph (B), upon recovering all or any
part of such amount, the Commissioner shall certify an amount equal to
the recovered amount for payment to such individual or the individual's
alternative representative payee.
``(B) The total of the amount certified for payment to such
individual or the individual's alternative representative payee under
subparagraph (A) and the amount certified for payment under paragraph
(5) may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the
representative payee with respect to such individual.''.
(b) SVB Amendment.--Section 807 of such Act (as amended by section
402(b)(2)) is amended further by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(l) Liability for Misused Amounts.--
``(1) In general.--If the Commissioner of Social Security or
a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a
representative payee that is not a Federal, State, or local
government agency has misused all or part of an individual's
benefit that was paid to such representative payee under this
section, the representative payee shall be liable for the
amount misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by
the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of
benefits under this title to the representative payee for all
purposes of this Act and related laws pertaining to the
recovery of such overpayments. Subject to paragraph (2), upon
recovering all or any part of such amount, the Commissioner
shall make payment of an amount equal to the recovered amount
to such individual or the individual's alternative
representative payee.
``(2) Limitation.--The total of the amount paid to such
individual or the individual's alternative representative payee
under paragraph (1) and the amount paid under subsection (i)
may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the
representative payee with respect to such individual.''.
(c) SSI Amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)) (as amended by section 401(e)(2)) is amended by inserting
after subparagraph (F) the following new subparagraph:
``(G)(i) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of
competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee that is
not a Federal, State, or local government agency has misused all or
part of an individual's benefit that was paid to such representative
payee under this paragraph, the representative payee shall be liable
for the amount misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by
the representative payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of
benefits under this title to the representative payee for all purposes
of this Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such
overpayments. Subject to clause (ii), upon recovering all or any part
of such amount, the Commissioner shall make payment of an amount equal
to the recovered amount to such individual or the individual's
alternative representative payee.
``(ii) The total of the amount paid to such individual or the
individual's alternative representative payee under clause (i) of this
subparagraph and the amount paid under subparagraph (E) may not exceed
the total benefit amount misused by the representative payee with
respect to such individual.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
to benefit misuse by a representative payee in any case with respect to
which the Commissioner makes the determination of misuse after December
31, 1999.
SEC. 406. EXTENSION OF CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO
REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.
(a) In General.--Section 1129(a) of the Social Security Act (as
amended by section 303(b)) is amended further--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new
paragraph:
``(4) Any person (including an organization, agency, or other entity)
who, having received, while acting in the capacity of a representative
payee pursuant to section 205(j), 807, or 1631(a)(2), a payment under
title II, VIII, or XVI for the use and benefit of another individual,
converts such payment, or any part thereof, to a use that such person
knows or should know is other than for the use and benefit of such
other individual shall be subject to, in addition to any other
penalties that may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not
more than $5,000 for each conversion. Such person shall also be subject
to an assessment, in lieu of damages sustained by the United States
resulting from such conversion, of not more than twice the amount of
any payments so converted.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
with respect to violations committed after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 407. AUTHORITY TO REDIRECT DELIVERY OF BENEFIT PAYMENTS WHEN A
REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE FAILS TO PROVIDE REQUIRED
ACCOUNTING.
(a) OASDI Amendment.--Section 205(j)(3) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 405(j)(3)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as
subparagraphs (F) and (G), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new
subparagraph:
``(E) In any case in which the person described in subparagraph (A)
or (D) receiving payments on behalf of another fails to submit a report
required by the Commissioner of Social Security under subparagraph (A)
or (D), the Commissioner may, after furnishing notice and opportunity
for a hearing to such person and the individual entitled to such
payment, require that the person collect such payments in person at a
field office of the Social Security Administration serving the area in
which the individual resides.''.
(b) SVB Amendment.--Section 807(h) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1007(h)) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (4)
and (5), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new
paragraph:
``(3) Authority to restrict collection of payments by persons
failing to report.--In any case in which the person described
in paragraph (1) or (2) receiving payments on behalf of a
qualified individual fails to submit a report required by the
Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (1) or (2), the
Commissioner may, after furnishing notice and opportunity for a
hearing to such person and the qualified individual, require
that the person collect such payments in person at a field
office of the Social Security Administration serving the area
in which the qualified individual resides.''.
(c) SSI Amendment.--Section 1631(a)(2)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1383(a)(2)(C)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(v) In any case in which the person described in clause (i) or (iv)
receiving payments on behalf of another fails to submit a report
required by the Commissioner of Social Security under clause (i) or
(iv), the Commissioner may, after furnishing notice and opportunity for
a hearing to such person and the individual entitled to such payment,
require that the person collect such payments in person at a field
office of the Social Security Administration serving the area in which
the individual resides.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS
SEC. 501. TECHNICAL CORRECTION RELATING TO RESPONSIBLE AGENCY HEAD.
Section 1143 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-13) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``Secretary'' the first place it appears and
inserting ``Commissioner of Social Security''; and
(2) by striking ``Secretary'' each subsequent place it
appears and inserting ``Commissioner''.
SEC. 502. TECHNICAL CORRECTION RELATING TO DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT.
(a) Amendment to Internal Revenue Code.--Section 3121(a)(7)(B) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``described in
subsection (g)(5)'' and inserting ``on a farm operated for profit''.
(b) Amendment to Social Security Act.--Section 209(a)(6)(B) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 409(a)(6)(B)) is amended by striking
``described in section 210(f)(5)'' and inserting ``on a farm operated
for profit''.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3121(g)(5) of such Code and
section 210(f)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 410(f)(5)) are amended by
striking ``or is domestic service in a private home of the employer''.
SEC. 503. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS OF OUTDATED REFERENCES.
(a) Correction of Terminology and Citations Respecting Removal From
the United States.--Section 202(n) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 402(n)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``deportation'' each place it appears and
inserting ``removal'';
(2) by striking ``deported'' each place it appears and
inserting ``removed'';
(3) in paragraph (1) (in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A)), by striking ``under section 241(a) (other than under
paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)'' and inserting ``under
section 237(a) (other than paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)
or 212(a)(6)(A)'';
(4) in paragraph (2), by striking ``under any of the
paragraphs of section 241(a) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (other than under paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)'' and
inserting ``under any of the paragraphs of section 237(a) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (other than paragraph
(1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof) or under section 212(a)(6)(A) of such
Act'';
(5) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by striking ``paragraph (19) of section 241(a)''
and inserting ``subparagraph (D) of section
237(a)(4)''; and
(B) by striking ``paragraph (19)'' and inserting
``subparagraph (D)''; and
(6) in the heading, by striking ``Deportation'' and inserting
``Removal''.
(b) Correction of Citation Respecting the Tax Deduction Relating to
Health Insurance Costs of Self-Employed Individuals.--Section
211(a)(15) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 411(a)(15)) is amended by striking
``section 162(m)'' and inserting ``section 162(l)''.
(c) Elimination of Reference to Obsolete 20-Day Agricultural Work
Test.--Section 3102(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended
by striking ``and the employee has not performed agricultural labor for
the employer on 20 days or more in the calendar year for cash
remuneration computed on a time basis''.
SEC. 504. TECHNICAL CORRECTION RELATING TO RETIREMENT BENEFITS OF
MINISTERS.
(a) In General.--Section 211(a)(7) of the Social Security Act
(defining net earnings from self-employment) is amended by inserting
``, but shall not include in any such net earnings from self-employment
the rental value of any parsonage or any parsonage allowance (whether
or not excluded under section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)
provided after the individual retires, or any other retirement benefit
received by such individual from a church plan (as defined in section
414(e) of such Code) after the individual retires'' before the
semicolon at the end.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to years beginning before, on, or after December 31, 1994.
SEC. 505. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO OFFERS TO PROVIDE FOR A FEE A
PRODUCT OR SERVICE AVAILABLE WITHOUT CHARGE FROM
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--Section 1140 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1320b-10) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(4)(A) No person shall offer, for a fee, to assist an individual to
obtain a product or service that the person knows or should know is
provided free of charge by the Social Security Administration unless,
at the time the offer is made, the person provides to the individual to
whom the offer is tendered a notice that--
``(i) explains that the product or service is available free
of charge from the Social Security Administration, and
``(ii) complies with standards prescribed by the Commissioner
of Social Security respecting content, placement, visibility,
and legibility.
``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any offer--
``(i) to serve as a claimant representative in connection
with a claim arising under title II, title VIII, or title XVI;
or
``(ii) to prepare, or assist in the preparation of, an
individual's plan for achieving self-support under title
XVI.''; and
(2) in the heading, by striking ``prohibition of misuse of
symbols, emblems, or names in reference'' and inserting
``prohibitions relating to references''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
to offers of assistance made after the sixth month ending after the
Commissioner of Social Security promulgates final regulations
prescribing the standards applicable to the notice required to be
provided in connection with such offer.
SEC. 506. FUNDING OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS PROVIDING FOR REDUCTIONS IN
DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS BASED ON EARNINGS.
Section 302(f) of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement
Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-170; 42 U.S.C. 434 note) is amended to read
as follows:
``(f) Expenditures.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
expenditures made for the demonstration projects under this
section shall be made from the Federal Disability Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund, as determined appropriate by the Commissioner of
Social Security, and from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust
Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust
Fund, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of Health and
Human Services.
``(2) Administrative expenditures.--Administrative
expenditures for the demonstration projects under this section
incurred by the Commissioner of Social Security shall be made
from funds available pursuant to section 201(g) of the Social
Security Act, to the extent or in the amounts provided in
advance in appropriation Acts.''.
SEC. 507. OPTIONAL FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION OF STATE RECOGNITION
PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--Title VIII of the Social Security Act is amended by
inserting after section 810 (42 U.S.C. 1010) the following new section:
``SEC. 810A. OPTIONAL FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION OF STATE RECOGNITION
PAYMENTS.
``(a) In General.--The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into
an agreement with any State (or political subdivision thereof) that
provides cash payments on a regular basis to individuals entitled to
benefits under this title under which the Commissioner shall make such
payments on behalf of such State (or political subdivision).
``(b) Agreement Terms.--
``(1) In general.--Such agreement shall include such terms as
the Commissioner finds necessary to achieve efficient and
effective administration of both this title and the State
program which provides the cash payments referred to in
subsection (a).
``(2) Financial terms.--Such agreement shall provide for the
State to pay the Commissioner, at such times and in such
installments as the parties may specify--
``(A) an amount equal to the expenditures made by the
Commissioner pursuant to such agreement as payments to
individuals on behalf of such State; and
``(B) an administrative fee equal to the
administrative expenses incurred by the Commissioner in
making such payments.
``(c) Special Disposition of Administrative Fees.--Administrative
fees, upon collection, shall be credited to a special fund established
in the Treasury of the United States for State recognition payments for
certain World War II veterans. The amounts so credited, to the extent
and in the amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, shall be
available to defray expenses incurred in carrying out this title.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) The table of contents for title VIII of the Social
Security Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 810 the following new item:
``Sec. 810A. Optional Federal administration of State recognition
payments.''.
(2) Section 1129A(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1320a-8a(e)) is amended by inserting ``810A or'' after
``agreement under section''.
SEC. 508. MILITARY WAGE CREDITS.
(a) Termination of Automatic, Across-the-Board Wage Credits.--
(1) Termination of wage credit.--Section 229(a)(2) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 429(a)(2)) is amended by
inserting ``and before 2002'' after ``after 1977''.
(2) Termination of annual funding authority.--Section 229(b)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 429(b)) is amended in the first sentence
by inserting ``before 2002'' after ``each calendar year''.
(3) Requirement for final accounting.--Section 229(b) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 429(b)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``No later than June 1, 2004, the Commissioner of
Social Security shall determine whether and the extent, if any,
to which amounts transferred to the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability
Insurance Trust Fund under this subsection for calendar years
ending prior to January 1, 2002, were in excess of or less than
the amounts required to be so transferred. No later than 30
days following the Commissioner's determination, the Secretary
of the Treasury shall transfer from the general fund of the
Treasury to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust
Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, or from
such Trust Fund to the general fund of the Treasury, such
amount or amounts (if any) that the Commissioner determines to
be appropriate.''.
(b) Military Wage Credit for Short-Term Enlisted Service Members Who
Die or Become Disabled Before Age 47.--Section 229 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 429) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c)(1) For purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount of
any benefit for any month, or entitlement to any lump-sum death
payment, payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self-
employment income of any individual--
``(A) who has died or is under a disability (as defined in
section 223(d)),
``(B) whose death or date of onset of such disability
occurred prior to the individual's attainment of age 47, and
``(C) who, prior to the date of death or onset of such
disability, performed fewer than 6 years service as a member of
a uniformed service (as defined in section 210(m)) that was
included in the term `employment' as defined in section 210(a)
as a result of the provisions of section 210(l)(1)(A),
there shall be deemed to have been paid to such individual in each
calendar year occurring after 2001 in which such individual was paid
wages for the service described in subparagraph (C) at the rate of
basic pay for a pay grade below E-6, additional wages of $100 for each
$300 of wages paid for the service described in subparagraph (C), up to
a maximum of $1,200 of additional wages for any calendar year.
``(2)(A) Whenever the Commissioner computes the primary insurance
amount of an individual described in paragraph (1) for the purpose of
determining the amount of a monthly benefit payable on the basis of
such individual's wages and self-employment income, the Commissioner
shall additionally calculate, with respect to each calendar year (not
previously subject to a calculation under this subparagraph) in which
additional wages are deemed to have been paid to such individual (under
paragraph (1)) and which is also a benefit computation year (as defined
in section 215(b)(2)(B)) used in the computation of such primary
insurance amount, the total of--
``(i) the amounts that would have been appropriated to the
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund under section 201 if
such deemed additional wages had constituted wages (as defined
in section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for
purposes of the taxes imposed by sections 3101 and 3111 of such
Code in such calendar year, and
``(ii) such additional amounts as are necessary to place such
Trust Funds in the position, as of the last day of the calendar
year in which the Commissioner so computes such individual's
primary insurance amount, that they would have been in on such
day had the amounts described in clause (i) been appropriated
to such Trust Funds under section 201 in a timely manner.
``(B) No later than July 1 of the year 2003 and each year thereafter,
the Commissioner shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of the
total, with respect to each such Trust Fund, of all amounts calculated
by the Commissioner under subparagraph (A) during the preceding
calendar year. Within 30 days following notification by the
Commissioner, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer the amount
so calculated with respect to each such Trust Fund to such Trust Fund
from amounts in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated. Proper adjustment shall be made in amounts required to be
transferred with respect to any calendar year to the extent that the
Commissioner determines, on the basis of appropriate data, that amounts
calculated and transferred with respect to any earlier year were less
than, or in excess of, the amount required to be so calculated and
transferred.
``(3) The head of each uniformed service described in section 210(m)
shall report to the Commissioner, in such form and within such time
frame as the Commissioner may specify, such information as the
Commissioner may require for the purpose of carrying out this
subsection.''.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Purpose and Summary
Purpose
The purpose of H.R. 4857, as amended (the ``Social Security
Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000'') is
to protect the privacy of the Social Security Account Number
(SSN), to combat SSN fraud and misuse (including identity
theft), and to strengthen protections for beneficiaries whose
benefits are managed by representative payees.
Summary
Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account Number
in the Public Sector.--The bill would limit the sale and public
display of Sans by Federal, State and local governments. In
addition, the bill would prohibit the SSN from appearing on
government checks issued for payment, employee identification
cards or tags, and State Department of Motor Vehicle
identification documents, including drivers' licenses and motor
vehicle registrations.
Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account Number
in the Private Sector.--The bill would restrict the sale and
purchase of SSNs and would prohibit businesses from denying
services to individuals who refuse to disclose their SSNs. In
addition, the bill would amend the definition of ``consumer
report'' in the Fair Credit Reporting Act to include the SSN as
part of the information protected under the Act.
Enforcement.--The bill would provide new civil and criminal
penalties for violations of the law and would provide enhanced
law enforcement authority for the Social Security
Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA/OIG).
Provisions Relating to Representative Payees.--The bill
would impose more stringent requirements on certain individuals
and organizations who apply to be representative payees. It
would also establish civil and criminal penalties for
representative payees who abuse their duties by misusing the
funds of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
beneficiaries, and would require the Commissioner of Social
Security to reimburse certain beneficiaries whose funds have
been misused.
Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments.--The bill includes
miscellaneous and technical amendments to the Social Security
Act and Internal Revenue Code. The bill would also eliminate
deemed military wage credits for certain active duty military
service, allowing the funds to be applied to other military
compensation packages.
B. Background and Need for Legislation
The SSN was created in 1935 for the sole purpose of
tracking workers' earnings so that Social Security benefits
could be calculated upon retirement or disability. Over 290
million people have SSNs today.
Because a unique SSN is assigned to each individual, the
number is commonly used as a personal identifier, although it
was never intended for this purpose. Consequently, use of the
SSN has increased dramatically since its creation.
Expanded Federal use of the SSN was first mandated by
President Roosevelt in 1943 with Executive Order 9397. This
Executive Order required that any Federal department
establishing a new system of permanent account numbers
pertaining to an individual must utilize the SSN exclusively,
and that such personal information must be kept confidential.
Today the SSN is required by Federal law for the administration
of a number of government programs, such as Food Stamps,
Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, among
many others.
The SSN is also widely used in the public and private
sectors for purposes that are neither required nor prohibited
by law. As a result, the SSN is generally regarded as the
single-most widely used record identifier by both government
and private sectors within the United States.
The prevalence of SSN use and the ease by which individuals
can obtain another person's SSN have raised serious concerns
over privacy and opportunities for fraud. For instance, in the
public sector, SSN cards may be counterfeited for illegal
aliens, and false SSN information may be provided to obtain
federal benefits illegally. In the private sector, SSN misuse
is a central component of identity theft, which is considered
the fastest growing financial crime in the country, affecting
approximately 500,000 to 700,000 people annually. In fiscal
year 1999, SSA/OIG received 62,000 allegations of SSN misuse
and the average number of monthly allegations has been
increasing.
SSN misuse imposes significant costs for the government,
the private sector, and individuals who are victims of identity
theft. For example, reported monetary losses associated with
identity theft rose from $442 million in 1995 to $745 million
in 1997--a 169 percent increase in two years.
Growing concerns over fraud and privacy and the absence of
a comprehensive Federal law regulating the use of SSNs have
prompted a need to better protect SSNs in the law. Titles I, II
and III of H.R. 4857 address this need.
Title IV of H.R. 4857 is needed to protect approximately
6.5 million Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who have
representative payees manage their monthly benefits. Qualified
organizations, known as ``fee-for-service'' organizations, may
charge a fee for their services, which is collected from the
beneficiary's payments. Since Fiscal Year 1998, SSA/OIG has
opened over 1,350 representative payee investigations, which
have led to over 300 convictions and identified over $7,500,000
in fraud losses. This misuse by representative payees of their
clients' benefits has created a need to improve protections for
beneficiaries.
C. Legislative History
On September 28, 2000, the Committee on Ways and Means
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives H.R.
4857, the ``Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft
Prevention Act of 2000,'' as amended, by voice vote, with a
quorum present.
On July 20, 2000, the Subcommittee on Social Security
ordered favorably reported to the full Committee H.R. 4857, the
``Privacy and Identity Protection Act of 2000,'' as amended, by
a voice vote, with a quorum present.
The Subcommittee held hearings on May 9 and 11 and July 17,
2000, and received testimony on the use and misuse of the SSN.
The hearings included testimony from the Administration, the
U.S. General Accounting Office, identity theft victims, privacy
advocates, and representatives from State governments and the
private sector.
II. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL
A. Short Title and Findings
1. Short Title (Sec. 1 of the bill)
The short title of the bill is the ``Social Security Number
Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000''.
2. Findings (Sec. 2 of the bill)
Congress finds that SSN misuse gives rise to many illegal
activities. The sale and purchase of SSNs often facilitates
such activities by making SSNs easily accessible to the general
public. Because the Federal government requires individuals to
maintain SSNs for a variety of purposes, the Federal government
should take steps to stem the abuse of SSNs. Congress finds
that legislation should be enacted to restrict the sale and
purchase of SSNs in circumstances that might facilitate
unlawful conduct or result in unfair or deceptive practices.
B. Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account Number in the
Public Sector
1. Restrictions on the sale and display of Social Security Account
Numbers by governmental agencies (Secs. 101-106 of the bill and Sec.
205 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Generally Federal, State and local governments that collect
SSNs for the administration of government programs and
government-funded activities are often permitted to display
and/or sell the numbers to third parties and to the general
public. Government agencies may also purchase SSNs from third
parties.
Explanation of provision
Section 101 of the bill would prohibit Federal, State, and
local government agencies (or third-party administrators) from
selling SSNs or SSN derivatives. Exceptions are made for
disclosures: (1) authorized by certain provisions of the
Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994, (2) authorized by the
Fair Credit Reporting Act, (3) made for law enforcement or
national security purposes in accordance with regulations
issued by the Attorney General of the United States, and (4)
authorized by the Social Security Act.
Section 102 of the bill would prohibit Federal, State, and
local government agencies (or third-party administrators) from
publicly displaying SSNs or SSN derivatives on Internet sites
or on other material which is intended to be accessed by the
general public. Exceptions are made for disclosures: (1)
authorized by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and (2) made for
law enforcement or national security purposes in accordance
with regulations issued by the Attorney General of the United
States.
Section 103 of the bill would prohibit Federal, State, and
local government agencies (or third-party administrators) from
displaying SSNs on checks issued for payments or on any
documents attached to or accompanying the check. The bill does
not prohibit the appearance of SSN derivatives on checks.
Section 104 of the bill would prohibit the display of SSNs
or SSN derivatives on drivers' licenses, motor vehicle
registrations, or other identification documents issued by
State Departments of Motor Vehicles.
Section 105 of the bill would prohibit Federal, State, and
local governments agencies (or third-party administrators) from
displaying SSNs or SSN derivatives on employee identification
cards or military tags. The provision applies to identification
cards which are continually and openly displayed by the
individual.
Section 106 of the bill would prohibit Federal, State, and
local government agencies (or third-party administrators) from
employing prisoners in any capacity which provides them with
access to SSNs.
Reasons for change
SSNs are widely available and easily accessible to the
public. For example, SSNs are displayed on many government
documents, such as marriage licenses, tax liens, bankruptcy
files, and personal property records. All of these documents
are available in the public domain, and many are available on
the Internet. In addition, the SSN is often displayed on
employee identification cards, checks, drivers' licenses and
other documents which are not available to the general public,
but are easily accessible by other individuals. Moreover, some
government agencies sell the SSN to third parties who can
subsequently sell or display the information to others.
The wide availability of SSNs has raised serious concerns
over privacy. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Social
Security highlights the relative ease by which an individual
can obtain another person's SSN and use the information to
engage in SSN-related crimes, such as identity theft.
Restricting the display and sale of SSNs will help to curb
fraudulent activity by making it more difficult for criminals
to access this personal information.
Exceptions from some provisions of the bill are made for
legitimate disclosures which benefit the public. For example,
disclosure of the SSN is authorized by the Social Security Act
for the administration of several programs, such as SSI,
Medicare, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,
child support enforcement, unemployment insurance, and tax
reporting. These uses help ensure the effective administration
of programs under the Social Security Act. The bill would not
preclude the Commissioner of Social Security from being
reimbursed for the expense of data matches pursuant to such
authorized programs. Disclosures in accordance with these uses
will continue to be permissible. Limited exceptions are also
made for certain commercial disclosures. In such cases, the SSN
is used for legitimate purposes that benefit the public, and
the information may not be subsequently sold or displayed to
the general public.
Effective date
Sections 101 through 105 are effective for sales and
displays occurring after 3 years after enactment. Section 106
is effective for prisoners hired after 1 year after enactment.
2. Independent Verification of Birth Records Provided in Support of
Applications for Social Security Account Numbers (Sec. 107 of the bill
and Sec. 205 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Title II of the Social Security Act requires SSA to
establish the age, citizenship, alien status, and true identity
of individuals applying for SSNs. Such verification is required
only to the extent that the Commissioner of Social Security
determines necessary. In addition, SSA must establish whether
the applicant was previously assigned a SSN. Verification of
documents provided in support of SSN applications is not
required under present law.
Explanation of provision
The provision would provide that the Commissioner of Social
Security shall require independent verification of birth
records provided in support of SSN applications, except for
purposes of enumeration at birth.
The provision also would require the Commissioner of Social
Security and the Attorney General of the United States to
jointly submit a report to Congress detailing the progress of
SSA and the Immigration and Naturalization Service in
implementing a process for enumeration of aliens at admission
who have a need for SSNs.
Reason for change
SSA is not required to verify the birth certificates
presented by SSN applicants. Requiring such verification will
make it more difficult for individuals to obtain fraudulent
SSNs and to use such SSNs to commit crimes.
Effective date
The provision applies to applications filed after 1 year
after the date of enactment. The report must be submitted not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment.
3. Report by General Accounting Office on Use by Governmental Agencies
as Personal Identification Numbers (Sec. 108 of the bill)
Present law
The SSN is required, by law, for the administration of
several programs and Federally funded activities. For example,
Federal law requires or permits the use of the SSN for Federal
income tax purposes, the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families program, applications for drivers' licenses or motor
vehicle registrations, Medicaid eligibility, loan applications,
child support enforcement, and boxing licenses. In addition,
the SSN is used by government agencies for many other purposes
that are neither required nor prohibited by law.
The Privacy Act of 1974 applies to personal information
maintained in a system of records by agencies in the executive
branch of the Federal Government. It provides safeguards
against an invasion of privacy through the misuse of records by
agencies and provides that no Federal, State or local
government agency may withhold a benefit from a person simply
because the individual refuses to furnish his or her SSN
(unless the disclosure is required by Federal statute or the
disclosure was required by statute or regulation for a system
of records, if both were adopted prior to January 1, 1975). It
also requires that when Federal, State and local agencies
request the individual's SSN, they must inform the individual
if disclosure is mandatory or voluntary.
Explanation of provision
The provision would require the Comptroller General of the
United States to conduct a comprehensive study regarding the
use of SSNs and SSN derivatives as personal identifiers by all
levels and branches of Federal, State and local governments.
The study shall include recommendations regarding the most
effective means of minimizing such use beyond its original
purpose.
Reason for change
The use of the SSN has expanded far beyond its original
purpose and far beyond purposes authorized by statute. The
prevalent use of the SSN as a personal identifier makes the
number a key component of many financial crimes, such as
identity theft. Limiting the prevalent use of SSNs as a
personal identifier would, therefore, reduce the opportunities
for such crimes.
The committee intends that this study shall include an
assessment of the current uses that may result or have resulted
in fraud; identification of effective privacy protection
practices; review of the cost factors associated with
transitioning to new systems of identification; review of the
use of SSNs by third-party administrators providing services
for public and private agencies; review of liability issues
relative to the misuse of SSNs; a summary as to how SSNs are
displayed in public view; and, a comparison of public and
private sector utilization of SSNs for identification purposes.
The study shall also include recommendations regarding the most
effective means of minimizing such use beyond its original
purpose.
Effective date
The report is due not later than 1 year after enactment.
C. Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account Number in the
Private Sector
1. Regulation of the Sale and Purchase of the Social Security Account
Number in the Private Sector (Sec. 201 of the bill) 1
Present law
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681
et seq.), administered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
codifies the rules regarding how credit information is
gathered, disclosed, and used. The FCRA is intended to protect
the privacy and to promote the accuracy of information
contained in credit reports. Under the law, credit reports may
be disclosed and used only for certain legitimate purposes,
which are outlined in the Act. However, personal identifying
information found at the top of the credit report (which
includes the SSN) is not considered part of the credit report
and, therefore, is exempt from FCRA regulations.
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The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (P.L. 106-102) prohibits
financial institutions' from disclosing nonpublic personal
information about consumers to non-affiliated third parties,
unless the institution satisfies various disclosure and opt-out
requirements.
Explanation of provision
The provision would require the FTC to promulgate
regulations restricting the sale or purchase of SSNs in the
private sector. The definitions of ``sale'' and ``purchase''
would not include submitting the number to apply for government
benefits, or transferring the number as part of a computer
matching program defined in the law. Exceptions would be made
for several purposes, including law enforcement, national
security, public health, and in those circumstances where the
individual has voluntarily provided written consent. Violations
would be enforced criminally by the Department of Justice or
civilly under the Federal Trade Commission Act regarding unfair
or deceptive acts or practices. In addition, the attorney
general of a State may bring a civil action on behalf of its
residents under the FTC regulations.
Reason for change
The SSN is used in the private sector to facilitate a wide
variety of legitimate business transactions. For example,
private-sector SSN use helps improve access to financial and
credit services, reduces administrative costs, and improves
record-keeping so consumers can be identified and contacted
accurately. However, the pervasive sale and purchase of SSNs in
the private sector facilitates SSN fraud by making SSNs easily
accessible to the general public. In addition, Americans are
increasingly concerned that the SSNs, which they disclose for
one purpose, are subsequently sold to third parties and used
for other purposes without their knowledge or consent.
Consequently, the law should restrict the sale and purchase of
SSNs in the private sector in order to protect privacy and stem
abuse. However, such restrictions should focus to the greatest
extent possible on ensuring that the SSN will not be used to
commit or facilitate fraud, deception, or crime and on
preventing undue risk of bodily, emotional, or financial harm
to individuals, without interfering with legitimate uses of the
SSN.
Effective date
Regulations are due one year after the date of enactment
and take effect 30 days after final issuance.
2. Refusal to do Business Without Receipt of Social Security Account
Number Considered Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice (Sec. 202 of the
bill) 2
Present law
No provision.
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Explanation of provision
The provision would provide that the denial of service to
an individual who refuses to provide his or her SSN will be
considered an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the
Federal Trade Commission Act.
Reason for change
According to the General Accounting Office (Social
Security: Government and Commercial Use of the Social Security
Number is Widespread, Report #HEHS-99-28), there is no law
prohibiting the denial of services or goods by the private
sector if an individual declines to provide his or her SSN,
even if there appears to be no rational basis for requiring the
SSN. Individuals are warned that they should not carry their
SSN cards, yet businesses routinely request the number in order
to complete transactions. Because of the considerable potential
for SSN misuse and the consequences of such misuse, individuals
should not be required to disclose their SSN to conduct routine
business transactions. However, it is not the intent of the
provision to prohibit businesses from requesting the SSN for
purposes specifically required by law.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
3. Confidential Treatment of Credit Header Information (Sec. 203 of the
bill and Sec. 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act) 3
Present law
In general, consumer reports contain two kinds of
information. The ``credit header,'' which is listed at the top
of the consumer report contains identifying information, such
as the individual's, name, address, date of birth, marital
status, mother's maiden name, and SSN among other things. The
``credit report'' lists the individual's credit information and
the timeliness of payments. Credit reports may also contain
public record information, such as tax liens, court judgements
and bankruptcies.
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The FCRA regulates the disclosure and use of an
individual's credit report. This information may be disclosed
only for certain legitimate purposes, which are outlined in the
FCRA. According to FTC rulings, the definition of ``credit
report'' contained in the FCRA does not include credit header
information. As a result, this identifying information is
exempt from FCRA regulations.
Explanation of provision
The provision would amend the definition of ``consumer
report'' under the FCRA to include the SSN, thus subjecting the
SSN to FCRA regulations.
Reason for change
Credit header information contains an individual's SSN and
other unique identifying information. This information does not
receive the same privacy protections as the rest of the credit
report. Consequently, organizations who collect this personal
information may make it available to the public or sell it
without an individual's knowledge or consent. The information
may subsequently be used for inappropriate purposes. The SSN
should receive the same protections as other information in the
credit report which is regulated by the FCRA. The provision is
not intended to expand the scope of the FCRA's definition of
consumer reporting agency relative to current law.
Effective date
90 days after the date of enactment.
D. Enforcement
1. Criminal and Civil Monetary Penalties and Orders of Restitution
(Secs. 301-304 of the bill and Secs. 208, 1129, 1129A, 807, and 1632 of
the Social Security Act)
Present law
The Social Security Act provides criminal penalties for:
(1) providing false information to obtain a SSN, (2) providing
false information to obtain benefits, (3) using a SSN obtained
through false information, (4) falsely represents a SSN to be
theirs with intent to deceive, (5) altering a SSN card, (6)
counterfeiting a SSN card, (7) buying or selling a SSN card,
(8) possessing a SSN card with intent to sell or alter it, and
(9) disclosing, using, or compelling the disclosure of the SSN
of any person in violation of any Federal law. Present law does
not permit trial judges to order restitution if an individual
is convicted of a violation.
The Social Security Act also authorizes SSA to impose civil
monetary penalties for any person who makes a false statement
of a material fact, or omits a material fact while providing a
statement, for use in determining eligibility for, or the
amount of, Social Security or Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) benefits.
Explanation of provision
Sections 301 and 302 of the bill would provide for criminal
penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of up to
$250,000 for the: (1) offer to acquire, for a fee, an
additional SSN for an individual, (2) violation of sections 101
through 106 of Title I of this legislation by an officer,
employee, or agent of any Federal, State or local government
agency, and (3) sale or purchase of SSNs as those terms are
defined in sections 208(d)(2) and (3) of the Social Security
Act.
Section 303 of the bill would authorize SSA to impose civil
monetary penalties, in addition to any other penalties that
apply, of up to $5,000 for each of the following violations:
(1) omission of a statement that the individual should have
made to SSA in connection with determining eligibility for, or
the amount of benefits; (2) using a SSN obtained through false
information; (3) falsely represents a SSN to be theirs; (4)
alters a Social Security card; (5) buying or selling a SSN
card; (6) counterfeiting a Social Security card; (7)
disclosure, use, sale, or purchase of another person's SSN in
violation of any Federal law; (8) offer to acquire, for a fee,
an additional SSN for an individual; and (9) violation of
sections 101 through 106 of this Act by improper sale of SSNs
by an officer, employee, or agent of a Federal, State or local
government agency.
Section 304 of the bill would allow trial judges to order
restitution for violations of the Social Security Act. Amounts
recovered will be credited to special account in the Treasury
and will be available to defray expenses associated with
carrying out Titles II, VIII, and XVI of the Social Security
Act.
Reason for change
SSN misuse can result in considerable costs for the
government, the private sector, and individuals who are victims
of fraud. In many cases, the costs of SSN misuse extend beyond
monetary losses. Because of the gravity of SSN misuse, it is
appropriate to provide criminal and civil monetary penalties
for violations of the law relating to SSN misuse.
Providing trial judges with the ability to impose
restitution will enhance trial judges' ability to further
penalize offenders and further provide the opportunity for the
Social Security programs to be compensated for losses resulting
from SSN misuse.
Effective date
Sections 301 through 304 are effective for violations
occurring after enactment, except that penalties for violations
in connection with Sections 101 through 106 of Title I of this
Act shall apply with respect to violations occurring on or
after the applicable effective date of each section.
2. Law Enforcement Authority for the Office of the Inspector General of
the Social Security Administration (Sec. 305 of the bill and Sec. 702
of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Since September 1995, SSA/OIG Special Agents have been
designated as Special Deputy United States Marshals pursuant to
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice
(DoJ). Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the designated
Special Agents have law enforcement authority.
Explanation of provision
This provision would codify the current Memorandum of
Understanding between DoJ and SSA/OIG, subject to guidelines
approved by the Attorney General of the United States. The
provision also allows the Inspector General to cross-designate
State and local law enforcement officers to assist SSA/OIG
Special Agents in investigations as needed.
Reason for change
Designation as Special Deputy United States Marshals allows
SSA/OIG to properly investigate allegations of criminal
violations of the programs and operations of SSA. On July 19,
2000, DoJ testified before the United States Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs that effective January 31, 2001, this
renewable deputation would no longer be provided due to a lack
of resources for the United States Marshals Service.
In addition, designation of State and local law enforcement
officers to assist SSA/OIG Special Agents in investigating
criminal allegations of fraud, is particularly important due to
the unique Federal/State relationship in administering the
Social Security disability program. Such designation would
assist SSA/OIG to better coordinate investigative efforts with
State law enforcement.
Effective date
Effective upon the approval of the guidelines by the
Attorney General, which shall be issued within 1 year after the
date of enactment.
E. Provisions Relating to Representative Payees
1. Authority to Reissue Benefits Misused by Organizational
Representative Payees (Sec. 401 of the bill and Secs. 205, 807, 1613,
and 1631 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
The Social Security Act requires the re-issuance of
benefits in cases of misuse by an individual or organizational
representative payee when there has been a finding by the
Commissioner of Social Security of negligent failure by the
Commissioner to investigate or monitor the payee.
Explanation of provision
The provision would require the Commissioner of Social
Security to re-issue benefits under Titles II, VIII, or XVI
whenever an individual representative payee serving 15 or more
beneficiaries, or an organizational representative payee, is
found to have misused a beneficiary's funds.
The provision defines misuse as any case in which a
representative payee converts the benefits entrusted to his or
her care for purposes other than the ``use and benefit'' of the
beneficiary and requires the Commissioner to define ``use and
benefit'' in regulation. However, the Committee does not intend
for the definition of misuse to include a conversion of
benefits that is not exclusively for the ``use and benefit'' of
the beneficiary. For instance, the Committee does not envision
misuse to include cases in which a representative payee uses
the benefits entrusted to his or her care to help pay the rent
on an apartment that he or she and the beneficiary share.
Reason for change
Within recent years there have been a number of highly-
publicized cases involving organizational representative payees
that have misused large sums of monies paid to them on behalf
of the Social Security and SSI beneficiaries they represent. In
most instances, these organizations operated as criminal
enterprises bent not only on stealing funds from beneficiaries,
but also on carefully concealing the evidence of their
wrongdoing. These illegal activities went undetected until
large sums had been stolen. As a result, the affected
beneficiaries may never be repaid, or may be repaid only when
the representative payee who committed the misuse makes
restitution to SSA.
Requiring SSA to reissue benefit payments to the victims of
such misuse protects beneficiaries served by organizational
representative payees. These beneficiaries are among the most
vulnerable because they have no family members or friends who
are willing or able to protect their interests by managing
their benefits.
With respect to individual representative payees, the
provision applies only to representative payees serving 15 or
more beneficiaries. Limiting the provision in this manner is
justified because the aggregate amount that can be misused in
cases involving representative payees serving many
beneficiaries is much greater.
Moreover, extending the provision to cases involving
individual representative payees serving fewer beneficiaries
may lead to fraudulent claims of misuse. These claims, which
often turn on information available only from close family
members, would be difficult to disprove. Similarly, extension
of this provision to these cases could potentially encourage
misuse or poor money management by these individual
representative payees if they believed that the beneficiary
could eventually be paid a second time by SSA.
Effective date
The provision is effective for misuses occurring on or
after January 1, 1995, as determined by the Commissioner.
2. Oversight of Representative Payees (Sec. 402 of bill and Secs. 205,
807 and 1631 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Present law requires nongovernmental fee-for-service
organizational representative payees to be licensed or bonded.
However, there is no provision requiring the yearly submission
of proof of licensing or bonding or the submission of
independent audits. In addition, there is no provision
requiring periodic onsite reviews of organizational
representative payees (other than the accountability monitoring
done for State institutions that serve as representative
payees).
Explanation of provision
The provision would require nongovernmental fee-for-service
organizational representative payees to be both licensed and
bonded, provided that licensing is available in the State. In
addition, representative payees must submit yearly proof of
bonding and licensing, as well as any available independent
audit.
The Commissioner of Social Security would be required to
conduct periodic onsite reviews of certain representative
payees: (1) a person who serves as a representative payee to 15
or more beneficiaries, (2) nongovernmental fee-for-service
representative payees (as defined in titles II and XVI) or, (3)
any other agency that serves as the representative payee to 50
or more beneficiaries.
Reason for change
Strengthening the requirements for representative payees
would add further safeguards to protect beneficiaries' funds.
State licensing provides for some oversight by the State into
the fee-for-service organization's business practices, and
bonding provides some assurances that a surety company has
investigated the organization and approved it for the level of
risk associated with the bond for all community based non-
profit social service agencies serving as representative
payees.
On-site periodic visits should be conducted regularly, and
to the degree possible, appropriate auditing and accounting
standards be utilized in conducting such reviews.
Effective date
Effective the first day of the 13th month after enactment,
except that the periodic review requirement would be effective
upon enactment.
3. Disqualification from Service as Representative Payee upon
Conviction of Offenses Resulting in Imprisonment for more than 1 year
(Sec. 403 of the bill and Secs. 205, 807 and 1631 of the Social
Security Act)
Present law
Individuals are disqualified from service as representative
payees upon conviction of criminal violations under the Social
Security Act.
Explanation of provision
The provision would disqualify an individual from serving
as a representative payee if he or she has been convicted of an
offense resulting in more than one year of imprisonment, unless
the Commissioner of Social Security determines that such
certification would be appropriate notwithstanding such
conviction.
Reason for change
Present law does not disqualify individuals from serving as
representative payees if they have been convicted of criminal
offenses outside of the Social Security Act. The Committee
believes that allowing convicted persons to serve as
representative payees, especially those convicted of criminal
fraud offenses, increases the likelihood of mismanagement or
abuse of beneficiaries' funds.
Effective date
Effective the first day of the 13th month beginning after
the date of enactment.
4. Fee Forfeiture in Case of Benefit Misuse by Representative Payees
(Sec. 404 of bill and Secs. 205 and 1631 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Certain organizational representative payees are authorized
to collect a fee for their services. This fee is deducted from
their clients' benefit payments.
Explanation of provision
The provision would require representative payees to
forfeit their fee from the beneficiary's benefits for the
months during which the representative payee misused the funds,
as determined by the Commissioner of Social Security or a court
of competent jurisdiction.
Reason for change
Representative payees who misuse their clients' funds are
not required to forfeit the fees they collect. The Committee
believes that payees who misuse their clients' funds are not
properly performing the service for which the fee was paid. As
a result, the payee should be required to forfeit these fees.
Permitting the organization to retain the fees is tantamount to
rewarding the payee for violating his or her responsibility to
use the benefits for an individual's needs.
Effective date
Applies to any month involving benefit misuse by a
representative payee where the Commissioner of Social Security
makes the determination of misuse after December 31, 1999.
5. Liability of Representative Payees for Misused Benefits (Sec. 405 of
the bill and Secs. 205, 807 and 1631 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
No provision.
Explanation of provision
This provision would provide that misused benefits by a
nongovernmental representative payee shall be treated as
overpayments to the representative payee, subject to current
overpayment recovery authorities. Any recovered benefits not
reissued to the beneficiary pursuant to section 401 of this
legislation would be reissued under this provision to the
beneficiary or their alternate representative payee, up to the
total amount misused.
Reason for change
Although SSA has been provided with expanded authority to
recover overpayments (such as tax refund offsets, referral to
contract collection agencies, notifying credit bureaus, and
administrative offsets of future federal benefit/payments),
these tools cannot be used to recoup benefits misused by a
representative payee. Treating misused benefits as overpayments
to the representative payee would provide SSA with additional
means for recovering the misused payments. The change would
enhance protections for all beneficiaries with payees, not just
those with organizational payees.
Effective date
Applies to benefit misuse by a representative payee in any
case where the Commissioner of Social Security makes the
determination of misuse after December 31, 1999.
6. Extension of Civil Monetary Penalty Authority with Respect to
Representative Payees (Sec. 406 of the bill and Sec. 1129 of the Social
Security Act)
Present law
The Social Security Act authorizes SSA to impose civil
monetary penalties for any person who makes a false statement
of a material fact, or omits a material fact while providing a
statement to SSA, for use in determining Social Security or SSI
benefits, or to affect the amount of such benefits.
Explanation of provision
This provision would authorize SSA to impose a civil
monetary penalty for offenses involving misuse of Social
Security, Title VIII, or SSI benefits received by a
representative payee on behalf of another individual. The
penalty equals up to $5,000 for each violation. In addition,
the representative payee shall be subject to an assessment in
lieu of damages sustained by the United States resulting from
the conversion, of not more than twice the amount of the
misused payments.
Reason for change
Representative payees who misuse beneficiaries' funds are
subject to criminal penalties under current law. Providing
civil monetary penalties (in addition to SSA's present
authority permitting recovery of misused funds) would provide
SSA with an additional means of addressing misuse by
representative payees.
Effective date
Applies to violations occurring after the date of
enactment.
7. Authority to Redirect Delivery of Benefit Payments When a
Representative Payee Fails to Provide Required Accounting (Sec. 407 of
the bill and Secs. 205, 807 and 1631 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
The Social Security Act requires representative payees to
submit an accounting report to the Commissioner of Social
Security detailing how benefit payments received on a client's
behalf were used. The report is required at least annually, but
may be requested by the Commissioner at any time if the
Commissioner has reason to believe the representative payee is
misusing benefits.
Explanation of provision
The provision would provide SSA with the authority to
redirect payments of Social Security, Title VIII, and SSI
benefits to local Social Security field offices if a
representative payee fails to provide an annual accounting of
benefits report. The Commissioner would be required to provide
proper notice and the opportunity for a hearing prior to
redirecting benefits.
Reason for change
Accounting reports are an important means of monitoring the
activities of representative payees and establishing
accountability. Failure to submit these reports to the
Commissioner makes it more difficult for the Commissioner to
detect fraud and misuse. As a result, steps should be taken to
protect beneficiaries when representative payees fail to submit
their reports in a timely manner. Redirecting benefit payments
to the field office, and notifying the payee of the
possibility, would provide an effective tool for increasing the
number of payees who return the annual accounting form.
Effective date
180 days after enactment.
F. Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments
1. Technical Correction Respecting Responsible Agency Head (Sec. 501 of
the bill and Sec. 1143 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Section 1143 of the Social Security Act requires the
Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide individuals
with periodic Social Security statements.
Explanation of provision
The provision would delete all references to the
``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' found in Section
1143 of the Social Security Act and replaces them with the
``Commissioner of Social Security''.
Reason for change
When the Congress enacted the Social Security Independence
and Program Improvements Act of 1994, it established the Social
Security Administration as an independent agency within the
Executive Branch of the Federal Government. All duties relating
to the administration of Social Security and SSI benefits were
transferred from the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
the Commissioner of Social Security. This transfer of duties
was not incorporated into Section 1143 of the Social Security
Act. This provision remedies the oversight.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
2. Technical Correction Respecting Domestic Employment (Sec. 502 of the
bill and Secs. 3121 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and Sec. 209
of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Present law is ambiguous concerning the tax treatment of
domestic service performed on a farm. Domestic employment on a
farm appears to be subject to two separate coverage thresholds
(one for agricultural labor and another for domestic
employees).
Explanation of provision
This provision would remove references to domestic
employment from the definition of agricultural employment. The
definition of domestic employment will specify that domestic
employment includes domestic service performed on a farm.
Reason for change
Prior to 1994, domestic service on a farm was treated as
agricultural labor and was subject to the coverage threshold
for agricultural labor. In 1994, when Congress amended the law
with respect to domestic employment, the intent was that
domestic employment on a farm would be subject to the coverage
threshold for domestic employees instead of agricultural labor.
However, the language is unclear and it appears that farm
domestics are subject to both thresholds.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
3. Technical Corrections of Outdated References (Sec. 503 of the bill
and Secs. 202 and 211 of the Social Security Act and 3102 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986)
Present law
No provision.
Explanation of provision
This provision would conform references in the law. For
example, section 3102(a) of the Internal Revenue Code
(pertaining to the deduction of the Social Security taxes from
a worker's wages) still refers to a 20-day work test for Social
Security coverage of agricultural labor. However, the 20-day
work test was deleted from the Social Security Act in 1987.
Reason for change
Over the years, provisions in the Social Security Act, the
Internal Revenue Code and other related laws have been deleted,
re-designated or amended. However, necessary conforming changes
have not always been made. Consequently, Social Security law
contains some outdated references.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
4. Technical Corrections Relating to Retirement Benefits of Ministers
(Sec. 504 of the bill and Sec. 211 of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Certain retirement benefits received by ministers and
members of religious orders (such as the rental value of a
parsonage or parsonage allowance) are not subject to Social
Security payroll taxes under the Internal Revenue Code.
However, they are treated as net earnings from self-employment
under the Social Security Act for the purpose of acquiring
insured status and calculating Social Security benefits.
Explanation of provision
This provision would amend the Social Security Act to
exclude for Social Security benefit purposes certain benefits
(including the rental value of a parsonage or parsonage
allowance) received by retired ministers or members of
religious orders.
Reason for change
Some types of income are not subject to Social Security
payroll taxes, but they are used to earn insured status under
Social Security and to compute benefits under the Social
Security program. Thus, the income is not treated in a uniform
manner. The provision is needed to conform the Social Security
Act to the Internal Revenue Code with respect to such income.
Effective date
Effective for years beginning before, on, or after December
31, 1994.
5. Requirements Relating to Offers to Provide for a Fee a Product or
Service Available Without Charge from the Social Security
Administration (Sec. 505 of the bill and Sec. 1140 of the Social
Security Act)
Present law
Section 1140 of the Social Security Act prohibits or
restricts various activities involving the use of SSA symbols,
emblems, or references. It also provides for the imposition of
civil monetary penalties with respect to violations of the
Section.
Explanation of provision
The provision would amend Section 1140 by adding a
mandatory requirement that persons or companies include in
their solicitations a statement that services which they
provide for a fee are available directly from SSA free of
charge. The statements would be required to comply with
standards promulgated by the Commissioner of Social Security
with respect to their content, placement, visibility, and
legibility.
Reason for change
Several individuals or companies offer Social Security
services for a fee even though the same services are available
directly from SSA free of charge. Oftentimes, customers are not
informed that the service may be obtained for free from SSA.
These practices mislead and deceive senior citizens, newlyweds,
new parents, and other individuals seeking services from SSA.
The provision is needed to protect these consumers.
Effective date
Applies to offers of assistance made after the sixth month
ending after the Commissioner of Social Security promulgates
regulations prescribing notice standards.
6. Funding for Demonstration Projects Providing for Reductions in
Disability Insurance Benefits Based on Earnings (Sec. 506 of the bill
and Sec. 302 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
of 1999)
Present law
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
requires SSA to conduct a demonstration project regarding the
effects of gradually reducing Social Security Disability
Insurance benefits by $1 for every $2 in earnings over a level
determined by the Commissioner. The law is ambiguous regarding
appropriations for the demonstration project.
Explanation of provision
The provision would clarify that the administrative costs
associated with the demonstration projects will be appropriated
annually, to the extent or in the amounts provided in advance
in appropriation Acts. The cost of paying increased benefits
will not be appropriated.
Reason for change
The demonstration projects required under present law will
increase administrative costs for SSA and will also increase
benefit payments to disabled beneficiaries taking part in the
projects. The law is unclear regarding the appropriation of
funds to cover these increased costs.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
7. Optional Federal Administration of State Recognition Payments (Sec.
507 of the bill and Title VIII of the Social Security Act)
Present law
Title VIII of the Social Security Act provides for Federal
payments to certain World War II U.S. veterans, including
Filipino veterans, who were eligible for SSI in December 1999
and who now reside outside of the United States.
Explanation of provision
The provision would provide the Commissioner of Social
Security with the authority to enter into an agreement with a
State to make State Recognition payments to qualified
individuals eligible for Title VIII benefits on the State's
behalf.
Reason for change
Title XVI of the Social Security Act provides for State
supplementary payments to individuals under the SSI program.
These payments are funded by the States. However, SSA may enter
into an agreement with a State to make these supplementary
payments on the State's behalf. Title VIII of the Social
Security Act provides for Federal payments to certain qualified
veterans and at least one State has established a program to
provide State recognition payments to Filipino veterans
eligible for Title VIII. The Commissioner does not have the
authority to administer these payments on a State's behalf. The
provision provides the Commissioner with this authority under
Title VIII comparable to the Title XVI authority.
Effective date
Date of enactment.
8. Military Wage Credits (Sec. 508 of the bill and Sec. 229 of the
Social Security Act)
Present law
Active duty military service members currently receive
deemed military wages credits of $100 for every $300 of
earnings subject to a maximum credit of $1,200 annually.
Credits are not granted if earnings are at or above the maximum
taxable wage base ($76,200 in 2000). These credits are used to
determine the individual's insured status and benefit payments.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is required to reimburse to the
Social Security trust funds an amount equal to the combined
employer and employee share of the payroll tax contribution on
the amount of deemed wage credits that are given.
Explanation of provision
The provision would eliminate deemed military wage credits
for active duty military service, except for earnings below the
grade of E-6 in the case of service members who die or become
disabled before attainment of age 47 if, at the time the wage
credits are used in the computation, the service member had
fewer than 6 years of military service.
Reason for change
The DoD is currently developing proposals to reconfigure
the total benefits package now available to military service
personnel. The provision would eliminate military wage credits
for certain active duty military service members, allowing DoD
to reapply funds to other essential military pay and retirement
initiatives with minimal impact on the service member's future
Social Security benefit. The provision would protect those
service members who still need the benefit protection provided
by deemed military wage credits.
Effective date
Effective for deemed military wage credits that would be
credited to a worker's earnings record for 2002 or later.
III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the following statements are made
concerning the votes of the Committee on Ways and Means in its
consideration of the bill, H.R. 4857.
Motion to Report the Bill
The bill, H.R. 4857, as amended, was ordered favorably
reported by a voice vote (with a quorum being present).
IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL
A. Committee Estimates on Budgetary Effects
In compliance with clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the following statement is
made concerning the effects on the budget of the bill, H.R.
4857, as reported. The Committee agrees with the estimate
provided by CBO which is below.
B. Statement Regarding New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Budget authority
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states that the
bill involves no new increased budget authority. The bill
increases off-budget direct spending from Social Security Trust
Funds, however, the Social Security Administration's Office of
the Chief Actuary has determined that such spending will have a
negligible effect on the long-range Social Security actuarial
balance. The bill has no effect on revenues.
C. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget Office
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, requiring a cost estimate
prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (``CBO''), the
following statement by CBO is provided.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, October 6, 2000.
Hon. Bill Archer,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4857, the Social
Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of
2000.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Sheila
Dacey and Kathy Ruffing.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 4857--Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention
Act of 2000
Summary: H.R. 4857 would address the increasing use of the
Social Security number (SSN) for personal identification by
limiting the sale, purchase, display, and uses of the number.
It would tighten procedures for obtaining an SSN and impose or
stiffen criminal and civil penalties for misuse. H.R. 4857
would also strengthen the supervision of representative payees
(people who receive benefit checks belonging to others, such as
children or mentally-impaired adults) and make several, mostly
technical, amendments to the Social Security Act. In addition,
the bill would eliminate the payment of Social Security and
Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) benefits related to non-cash
compensation earned by members of the armed forces, and the
associated annual payment from the Department of Defense (DoD)
to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4857 would increase direct
spending by $2 million in 2001 and by negligible amounts
thereafter. It would also lead to slight increases in receipts
from penalties. Because H.R. 4857 would affect direct spending
and receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply.
H.R. 4857 would also affect discretionary spending. DoD
would save up to $400 million annually that it now pays to the
Social Security and Hospital Insurance trust funds. In
addition, the bill would cause the Social Security
Administration (SSA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to
incur a total of about $30 million a year in additional
enforcement costs.
H.R. 4857 contains a number of intergovernmental mandates
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA),
including limitations on the sale, display, and use of Social
Security numbers by state or local governments. CBO estimates
that the aggregate costs of those mandates would exceed the
threshold established in UMRA ($55 million in 2000), adjusted
annually for inflation) in at least one of the next five years.
The bill contains several private-sector mandates on
businesses that now use Social Security numbers. CBO estimates
that the costs of complying those mandates would significantly
exceed the threshold for private-sector mandates specified in
UMRA ($109 million in 2000, adjusted annually for inflation).
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 4857 is shown in Table 1. This
legislation affects multiple budget functions--chiefly 050
(national defense), 600 (income security), 650 (Social
Security), and 950 (undistributed offsetting receipts).
Basis of estimate: CBO assumes that H.R. 4857 will be
enacted in October 2000, and that the authorized amounts will
be appropriated at the beginning of each fiscal year.
Direct spending and revenues
Titles I, II, and III. The first two titles address the
uses of the SSN in the public sector (federal, state, and local
governments) and private sectors, respectively; the third deals
with enforcement. Several provisions could affect the federal
budget. Requiring birth records from all applicants for SSNs--
as is already automatic in the hospital-based Enumeration at
Birth program--and granting more law enforcement powers to the
Inspector General of SSA, for example, might curtail fraudulent
payments of benefits. Allowing SSA to impose civil monetary
penalties and collect court-ordered restitution in cases of SSN
fraud or misuse could boost governmental receipts. Similarly,
allowing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to impose civil
monetary penalties when businesses violate the new law would
also raise receipts. Based on information from SSA and FTC
staffs, CBO estimates that such budgetary effects would be
negligible in the 2001-2010 period.
Title IV. The fourth title would tighten SSA's oversight of
representative payees. About 5 million recipients of Social
Security benefits (2 million adults and 3 million children) and
2 million recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
benefits (1 million adults and 1 million children) collect
these payments through representative payees. Typically, a
family member serves as a representative payee. But especially
for adult recipients, the payee may be a social service agency,
an institution, or a similar organization. SSA monitors
representative payees by requiring annual accounting reports
and by conducting on-site reviews every three years of certain
representative payees who serve a large number of
beneficiaries. Title IV would direct SSA to certify annually
that social service agencies meet licensing and bonding
requirements and to conduct periodic on-site inspections of
more representative payees. It would enhance SSA's ability to
recover misused funds and to impose civil monetary penalties.
TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF H.R. 4857
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-------------------------------------------
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING OUTLAYS
Title IV. Provisions
Relating to Representative
Payees
OASDI benefits (off-budget). 1 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
SSI benefits (on-budget).... 1 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
Other Titles................ (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
-------------------------------------------
Total, direct spending 2 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
===========================================
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Title I. Provisions Relating
to the Social Security
Account Number in the Public
Sector
Verify birth records (OASDI,
off-budget):
Estimated authorization 0 18 19 19 20
level..................
Estimated outlays....... 0 16 17 19 19
Title II. Provisions
Relating to the Social
Security Account Number in
the Private Sector
FTC enforcement:
Estimated authorization 3 3 3 3 3
level..................
Estimated outlays....... 3 3 3 3 3
Title IV. Provisions
Relating to Representative
Payees
OASDI (off-budget):
Estimated authorization 0 7 7 8 8
level..................
Estimated outlays....... 0 7 7 8 8
SSI (on-budget):
Estimated authorization 0 3 3 3 3
level..................
Estimated outlays....... 0 3 3 3 3
Title V. Miscellaneous and
Technical Amendments
Department of Defense:
Estimated authorization 0 -397 -353 -357 -360
level..................
Estimated outlays....... 0 -397 -353 -357 -360
Total:..................
Estimated 0 -366 -321 -325 -326
authorization level
Estimated outlays... 0 -368 -323 -325 -327
CHANGES IN REVENUES
Estimated Revenues.......... (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
Memorandum:
Effect on outlays for
offsetting receipts from
eliminating
intragovernmental payments
by DoD:
OASDI (off-budget)...... 0 321 285 289 291
HI (on-budget).......... 0 76 68 68 69
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Less than $500,000.
Note.--OASDI=Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance;
SSI=Supplemental Security Income; HI=Hospital Insurance; FTC=Federal
Trade Commission; DoD=Department of Defense
Most provisions of Title IV would have negligible effects
on benefit payments or recoveries. Section 401, however, would
direct SSA to pay beneficiaries any amounts that had been
misused by an organizational representatives payee, even if
there had been no negligence on SSA's part. (Currently, such
claimants must show negligence by SSA.) Representative payees
misuse about $3 million in benefits each year. Only about 10
percent of payees are organizations that would be affected by
this provision, so CBO assumes that it would cost about
$300,000 a year. Because the provision would be retroactive to
January 1, 1995, CBO estimates that it would cost $2 million in
2001 and $5 million over the 2001-2010 period.
Title V. The fifth title chiefly contains technical
clarifications or minor changes to the Social Security Act. One
of those provisions would have a small budgetary effect.
Members of the armed services receive cash pay plus other
compensation such as housing, food, and uniform allowances.
Under current law, they may get credit for an extra $1,200 of
earnings each year toward the calculation of their eventual
Social Security benefits to reflect that noncash pay. Each
year, DoD pays about $300 million to the Old-Age, Survivors,
and Disability Insurance trust funds and about $75 million to
the Hospital Insurance (Medicare Part A) trust fund to pay for
those extra credits. H.R. 4857 would eliminate both the DoD
payment and the resulting benefits except in very isolated
cases of early death or disability. CBO estimates that the
savings in benefit payments over the 2002-2010 period would be
negligible.
Spending subject to appropriation
Based on information from SSA, CBO judges that H.R. 4857
would cost the agency about $30 million a year in
administrative costs. Verifying birth records of roughly 1.7
million people each year who apply for an SSN outside of the
Enumeration at Birth program would require an estimated 250
workyears each year and cost $16 million to $19 million
annually. More rigorous oversight of representative payees,
chiefly from conducting on-site inspections of a broader range
of payees, would add about 130 workyears and cost $10 million
to $11 million annually.
H.R. 4857 would define any document containing a Social
Security number as a consumer report. Consumer reports are
regulated by the Federal Trade Commission under the Fair Credit
Reporting Act. Based on information from the FTC, CBO expects
that the agency would have to hire new personnel in order to
regulate the handling of documents containing Social Security
numbers. CBO estimates that these new staff would cost about $3
million per year.
DoD pays $350 million to $400 million a year to the Social
Security and Hospital Insurance trust funds to reflect the
taxes due on the value of noncash allowances. As discussed
above, H.R. 4857 would end that practice in most cases. These
are intragovernmental payments, however, so their elimination
would have no net effect on the budget. If future
appropriations were cut commensurately, discretionary spending
would be lower by $1.5 billion over the 2002-2005 period. But
receipts to the trust funds would decline commensurately, as
shown in the memorandum item in Table 1. Because that change in
offsetting receipts would depend on future appropriation
action, it is not considered a direct spending effect.
Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go procedures
for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts. The net
changes in outlays and governmental receipts that are subject
to pay-as-you-go procedures, are shown in the following table.
(Spending for OASDI is not counted.) For purposes of enforcing
pay-as-you-go procedures only the effects in the budget year
and the succeeding four years are counted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in outlays........................ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Changes in receipts....................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated impact on state, local, and tribal governments:
H.R. 4857 contains a number of intergovernmental mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Specifically, the
bill would restrict or prohibit governmental agencies from:
Selling Social Security numbers;
Otherwise allowing access to SSNs by the
public;
Displaying SSNs on checks or check stubs,
and;
Using SSNs on driver's licenses or
identification cards.
The extent to which state and local governments still use
SSNs in their data and bookkeeping systems is unclear. In
addition, the cost of altering such systems varies widely.
Based on information from state and local governments and
various interest groups representing them, however, CBO
believes that the aggregate costs of those mandates would
probably exceed the threshold established in UMRA ($55 million
in 2000, adjusted annually for inflation) in at least one year
over the next five years.
Many state and local governments have reduced the use of
SSNs in recent years, particularly on driver's licenses, and
the sale of such numbers to non-governmental entities. However,
several other uses of SSNs by governments would violate the
prohibitions in the bill.
Most costly would be the prohibition against displaying
SSNs on checks and check stubs and otherwise restricting public
access to those numbers. Some states have already enacted laws
protecting access to SSNs, and few alterations would have to be
made in those states. Many other state and local governments,
however, currently use SSNs to identify individuals for
purposes such as property tax liens, court documents, income
tax payment and refund data, motor vehicle registrations, and
employee benefit records. For example, the state of Illinois
includes SSNs on check stubs for income tax refunds, and the
state of Pennsylvania includes SSNs on unemployment and state
retirement system checks. The state of New York uses SSNs as
the default for sales tax identification numbers. In those and
similar cases, the SSNs would have to be removed or alternative
systems developed. Some governments also have laws allowing
general access to public documents. By requiring governments
either to implement new record-keeping systems (most likely
involving computer reprogramming) or to audit documents made
available to the public in order to avoid disclosing SSNs, H.R.
4857 would impose costs that are likely, in the aggregate, to
be significant.
The bill would allow a three-year window for affected
governments to alter their systems, and this delay would tend
to lower costs and spread them over time. However, because of
the large number of state and local governments (well over
80,000) in the United States, even inexpensive changes to
individual systems would quickly add up to aggregate costs
exceeding the threshold in UMRA. For example, even if only half
of all governments were required to reprogram or audit
documents, and each spent as little as $5,000 on altering their
systems or procedures over a three-year period, total costs
would exceed $55 million annually at some point over the next
few years.
Estimated impact on the private sector: H.R. 4857 would
impose new private-sector mandates on persons who buy or sell
personally identifiable information (sections 201 and 203), on
firms that require customers to provide them with their Social
Security number (section 202), and on representative payees
that accept Social Security checks on behalf of beneficiaries
(section 402). CBO has been unable to obtain sufficient data to
estimate the aggregate direct cost of these mandates. However,
we have sufficient information to conclude that the cost would
significantly exceed the statutory threshold specified in UMRA
($109 million in 2000, adjusted annually for inflation).
The Social Security number is the de factor unique and
constant individual identifier that is used in the United
States today. Most other identifiers either are not unique,
such as a name, or can change, such as names or addresses. For
example,
42 million people move each year;
3 million people change their last name each
year;
6 million people have second homes and may use
either address; and
Ten of millions of people own businesses or
use a business address in connection with their credit.
As a result, the most accurate method of combining
information on individuals from different sources is to match
the sources on the SNN. Also, the most reliable current method
of accessing information about an individual from a database is
to use the SSN.
In the long term, if use of the SSN were severely
restricted, governments and commercial firms might develop
another method of uniquely identifying individuals. However,
such an effort would be costly and would take years to
complete. Furthermore, current problems with identify theft and
loss of privacy would transfer to the replacement identifier.
In the short term, if use of the SSN were severely restricted,
accessing information from large databases, such as those
maintained by credit bureaus, would become more difficult and
providers of information would undoubtedly have to increase the
price for their services. In the short and medium term, the
cost to information providers of maintaining and expanding
their databases would rise. Consequently, the quality of these
information sources would fall and there would be further
pressure for providers to increase the prices for their
services. The cost of most mandates in this bill is related to
the added difficulty of accessing information in these
databases without using an SSN, or to maintaining and expanding
these databases without using an SSN.
Section 201 of the bill would make it unlawful for any
person to sell or purchase an SSN in a manner that would put
the information at risk of being used to commit fraud,
deception, or crime, or put the individual at some risk of
bodily, emotional, or financial harm. The Federal Trade
Commission would be required to develop regulations that would
govern these purchases and sales. A few activities, such as law
enforcement, would be exempt from the regulations. Firms that
disclose SSNs--for example, those that sell personally
identifiable information over the Internet--would find some of
their activities prohibited by FTC regulations.
Section 202 of the bill would make it an unfair trade
practice for firms to refuse to do business with an individual
if that individual did not provide their SSN. A person may now
be asked to provide his or her SSN for such diverse activities
as taking out an insurance policy, checking into a hospital,
applying for store charge account, joining a club, or taking a
college admissions test. This provision could make it much more
difficult for a firm to obtain, for example, a credit history
on a customer who is applying for credit but who declines to
provide an SSN. It would also make it much more difficult to
provide information that can be readily matched to other
information. For example, college admissions testing
organizations normally ask for the SSN so that their score
reports to colleges can be easily matched to the other
information in a student's admission file.
While CBO does not know how many people would not provide
their SSN if the bill were enacted, the number of current
transactions that require the SSN as a unique identifier is
extremely large. Credit bureaus use the person's SSN as the
unique identifier in their databases. In fact, they currently
maintain credit files on 180 million adults, issue 900 million
credit reports each year, and track roughly two billion
transactions per month using the SSN as the identifier. Thus,
while we do not have sufficient information to estimate the
cost of this mandate, it could be very large.
Section 203 would strengthen the provisions of the Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by giving the SSN the same status
as credit history information, thereby significantly
restricting the permissible uses of SSN. From the perspective
of the FCRA, the information about a consumer in the databases
credit bureaus maintain can be divided into the credit header
and the consumer report, which includes credit history. The
credit header contains key identifying information, including
the SSN, while the consumer report contains the information
bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, including income and
payment histories. It is unlawful to disclose information in
the consumer report unless it is for one of the listed
permissible purposes specified in the law.
This provision would make it unlawful, for example, for a
private detective to supply a person's SSN to an information
broker in order to get information on that person's addresses.
It would also be unlawful to sell data that include the SSN to
information brokers such as those in the IRSG or to direct
marketers. If such firms are not able to buy information that
can be economically combined using an identifier such as the
SSN, then the value of the remaining information they have
would fall and the cost of maintaining it at a particular level
of quality would rise.
A permissible purpose of a consumer report is one that is
in accordance with the written instructions of the consumer, so
a college admissions testing organization, for example, would
have to obtain the written consent of test-takers to be able to
provide the test-taker's SSN to colleges and universities along
with their scores. Nevertheless, any attempt to get information
about a consumer from an information broker by providing the
consumer's SSN would become unlawful because disclosing the SSN
would constitute a consumer report and the purpose--getting
locating information--would not be a permissible one. The
exception would be those cases in which the consumer provides
written consent to the requestor.
This provision would have a particularly strong impact on
private investigators, law firms, collection agencies, or any
user of locating services because the requestor would not have
the consumer's written consent to provide the SSN to the
information broker. Providing other identifying information to
the broker instead of the SSN would lead to higher charges for
the services. Furthermore, the information the search returned
would be less useful because it would sometimes be diluted with
information on other consumers with the same identifying
information or would not based on records with the correct
information.
One other mandate in the bill would be created by section
402. This provision would stiffen restrictions on
nongovernmental, organizational representative payees. These
organizations would be required to both obtain a license from
the state they are located in and be bonded. This would impose
a mandate on representative payees who under current law need
only do one or the other. This provision would have a minimal
aggregate cost on these organizations, however.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Sheila Dacey (Titles
I-IV); Kathy Ruffing (Title V); and Ken Johnson (Federal Trade
Commission). Revenues: Edward Harris and Erin Whitaker. Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Leo Lex. Impact on the
Private Sector: Nabeel Alsalam.
Estimate approved by: Robert A Sunshine, Assistant Director
for Budget Analysis.
V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE
A. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that it
was a result of the Subcommittee on Social Security's oversight
review of the use and misuse of Social Security numbers and the
misuse of Social Security and SSI benefits by organizational
representative payees that the Committee concluded that it is
appropriate and timely to enact the provisions included in the
bill as reported.
B. Summary of Findings and Recommendations of the Committee on
Government Reform
In compliance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that no
oversight findings or recommendations have been submitted to
this Committee by the Committee on Government Reform with
respect to the provisions contained in this bill.
C. Constitutional Authority Statement
With respect to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, relating to Constitutional
Authority, the Committee states that the Committee's action in
reporting the bill is derived from Article I of the
Constitution, Section 8 (``The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
debts and to provide for * * * the general Welfare of the
United States * * *'').
D. Information Relating to Unfunded Mandates
This information is provided in accordance with section 423
of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) of 1995 (Public Law
104-4).
The Committee has determined that the following provisions
of the bill contain Federal mandates on the private sector: (1)
restricting the sale and purchase of SSNs in the private
sector, (2) making it an unfair or deceptive trade practice for
businesses to deny services to an individual who declines to
provide his or her SSN, (3) giving the SSN contained in a
consumer report the same status as the credit information
contained in the report, thereby restricting permissible uses
of the SSN, and (4) requiring nongovernmental organizational
representative payees to be both bonded and licensed (if the
State provides licensing.)
The Committee has been unable to obtain sufficient data to
estimate the direct cost of these mandates. However, the
Committee has determined that the mandates would exceed the
statutory threshold specified in UMRA. The benefits of these
provisions include protecting SSN privacy and reducing SSN
misuse, including identity theft. Restricting the sale and
purchase of SSNs and strengthening protections for SSNs
contained in consumer reports (items #1 and #3 above) would
protect SSN privacy by restricting unauthorized access to this
information and reducing the potential for fraudulent
activities. Making it an unfair or deceptive trade practice
deny services to individuals who refuse to provide their SSNs
(item #2 above) would further protect SSN privacy by
discouraging businesses from requesting the SSN unless the
information is legitimately needed to carry out the business
transaction. Requiring representative payees to be licensed and
bonded (item #4 above) strengthens protections for Social
Security and SSI beneficiaries who rely on representative
payees to manage their benefits and reduces the risk that
representative payees will misuse beneficiaries' funds.
Separately, the Committee has determined that the following
provisions of the bill contain Federal mandates on the public
sector by prohibiting Federal, State and local government
agencies from: (1) selling SSNs (with certain exceptions) (2)
displaying SSNs to the general public (with certain
exceptions), (3) displaying SSNs on checks or check stubs, and
(4) displaying SSNs on drivers' licenses or identification
cards.
The Committee has not determined the direct costs of these
provisions. However, based on information from State and local
governments and various interest groups representing them, the
aggregate cost of all of these mandates would probably exceed
the threshold established under UMRA in at least one year over
the next five years. Under present law, SSNs are widely
available and easily accessible to the public. These provisions
would restrict the sale and public display of SSNs, making it
more difficult for criminals to access this personal
information and subsequently use it to facilitate fraudulent
activities, such as identity theft. Consequently, these
provisions would protect privacy, help prevent SSN crimes and
reduce the public and private costs associated with such
crimes.
The legislation does not authorize federal funding for
these direct costs because the extent to which State and local
governments still use SSNs in their data and bookkeeping
systems is unclear. Moreover, the cost of altering such systems
(if needed) varies widely. Thus, the Committee does not have
sufficient data to determine the costs associated with these
mandates or how federal funding should be allocated among the
various government agencies. The legislation allows a three-
year window to phase in necessary changes, thereby lowering
costs and spreading them over time. Finally, the costs to
individual government units is likely to be small. However,
because of the large number of State and local governments
(well over 800,000) in the United States, inexpensive changes
to individual systems add up to aggregate costs which exceed
the UMRA threshold.
The provisions of the bill affect activities engaged in by
both the private and public sectors. Therefore, they do not
affect the competitive balance between state, local or tribal
governments and the private sector.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
SOCIAL SECURITY ACT
* * * * * * *
TITLE II--FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS
* * * * * * *
age and survivors insurance benefit payments
Old Age Insurance Benefits
Sec. 202. (a) * * *
* * * * * * *
Termination of Benefits Upon [Deportation] Removal of Primary
Beneficiary
(n)(1) If any individual is (after the date of enactment of
this subsection) [deported under section 241(a) (other than
under paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)] removed under
section 237(a) (other than paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)
or 212(a)(6)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, then,
notwithstanding any other provisions of this title--
(A) no monthly benefit under this section or section
223 shall be paid to such individual, on the basis of
his wages and self employment income, for any month
occurring (i) after the month in which the Commissioner
of Social Security is notified by the Attorney General
that such individual has been so [deported] removed,
and (ii) before the month in which such individual is
thereafter lawfully admitted to the United States for
permanent residence,
* * * * * * *
(2) As soon as practicable after the [deportation] removal of
any individual [under any of the paragraphs of section 241(a)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (other than under
paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof)] under any of the
paragraphs of section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (other than paragraph (1)(C) or (1)(E) thereof) or under
section 212(a)(6)(A) of such Act, the Attorney General shall
notify the Commissioner of Social Security of such
[deportation] removal.
(3) For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this
subsection, an individual against whom a final order of
[deportation] removal has been issued under [paragraph (19) of
section 241(a)] subparagraph (D) of section 237(a)(4) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (relating to persecution of
others on account of race, religion, national origin, or
political opinion, under the direction of or in association
with the Nazi government of Germany or its allies) shall be
considered to have been [deported] removed under such
[paragraph (19)] subparagraph (D) as of the date on which such
order became final.
* * * * * * *
evidence, procedure, and certification for payment
Sec. 205. (a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(c)(1) * * *
(2)(A) * * *
(B)(i) * * *
(ii) The Commissioner of Social Security shall require of
applicants for social security account numbers such evidence as
may be necessary to establish the age, citizenship, or alien
status, and true identity of such applicants, and to determine
which (if any) social security account number has previously
been assigned to such individual. With respect to an
application for a social security account number for an
individual who has not attained the age of 18 before such
application, such evidence shall include the information
described in subparagraph (C)(ii). With respect to an
application for a social security account number for an
individual other than for purposes of enumeration at birth, the
Commissioner shall require independent verification of any
birth record provided by the applicant in support of the
application.
* * * * * * *
(C)(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(vi)(I) For purposes of clause (i) of this subparagraph, an
agency of a State (or political subdivision thereof) charged
with the administration of any general public assistance,
driver's license, or motor vehicle registration law which did
not use the social security account number for identification
under a law or regulation adopted before January 1, 1975, may
require an individual to disclose his or her social security
number to such agency solely for the purpose of administering
the laws referred to in clause (i) above and for the purpose of
responding to requests for information from an agency
administering a program funded under part A of title IV or an
agency operating pursuant to the provisions of part D of such
title.
(II) A State or political subdivision thereof (and any person
acting as an agent of such an agency or instrumentality), in
the administration of any driver's license or motor vehicle
registration law within its jurisdiction, may not disclose the
social security account numbers issued by the Commissioner of
Social Security, or any derivative of such numbers, on any
driver's license or motor vehicle registration or any other
document issued by such State or political subdivision to an
individual for purposes of identification of such individual.
* * * * * * *
(x) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a
political subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) in possession of any
individual's social security account number may accept an item
of material value in exchange for such number, or any
derivative thereof. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence,
such number (or derivative) may be made available or disclosed
in such an exchange in accordance with the following exceptions
(and for no other purpose):
(I) Such number (or derivative) may be disclosed in
such an exchange by a State department of motor
vehicles as authorized under subsection (b) of section
2721 of title 18, United States Code, if such disclosed
number (or derivative) is to be used solely for the
purposes permitted under paragraph (1), (6) or (9) of
such subsection.
(II) Such number (or derivative) may be made
available in such an exchange to a consumer reporting
agency, as defined in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)), exclusively for use
in accordance with such Act.
(III) Such number (or derivative) may be disclosed in
such an exchange to the extent that is necessary or
appropriate for law enforcement or national security
purposes, as determined under regulations which shall
be issued by the Attorney General of the United States.
(IV) Such an exchange may occur to the extent it is
otherwise specifically authorized by this Act.
(xi) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a
political subdivision thereof or trustee appointed in a case
under title 11, United States Code (or person acting as an
agent of such an agency or instrumentality or trustee), may
display to the general public any individual's social security
account number, or any derivative of such number.
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, such number (or
derivative) may be so displayed in accordance with the
following exceptions (and for no other purpose):
(I) Such number (or derivative) may be so displayed
to a consumer reporting agency, as defined in section
603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681a(f)), exclusively for use in accordance with such
Act.
(II) Such number (or derivative) may be so displayed
to the extent that is necessary or appropriate for law
enforcement or national security purposes, as
determined under regulations which shall be issued by
the Attorney General of the United States.
For purposes of this clause, the term ``display to the general
public'' in connection with a social security account number,
or a derivative thereof, means the intentional placing of such
number or derivative in a viewable manner on an Internet site
that is available to the general public or in any other manner
intended to provide access to such number or derivative by the
general public. Each such agency or instrumentality or trustee
shall ensure that access to such numbers, and any derivative of
such numbers, is restricted to persons who may obtain them in
accordance with this clause and other applicable law.
(xii) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or a
political subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) may include the social
security account number of any individual on any check issued
for any payment by the Federal Government, any State or
political subdivision thereof, or any agency or instrumentality
thereof or on any document attached to or accompanying such a
check.
(xiii) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or
political subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) may display the social
security account number, or any derivative of such number, on
any card or tag that is commonly provided to employees for
purposes of identification and that is to be maintained for
continual, open display by the employees.
(xiv) No executive, legislative, or judicial agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or
political subdivision thereof (or person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) may employ, or enter into a
contract for the use or employment of, prisoners in any
capacity that would allow such prisoners access to the social
security account numbers of other individuals. For purposes of
this clause, the term ``prisoner'' means an individual confined
in a jail, prison, or other penal institution or correctional
facility pursuant to such individual's conviction of a criminal
offense.
* * * * * * *
Representative Payees
(j)(1) * * *
(2)(A) * * *
(B)(i) As part of the investigation referred to in
subparagraph (A)(i), the Commissioner of Social Security
shall--
(I) * * *
* * * * * * *
(III) determine whether such person has been
convicted of a violation of section 208, 811, or 1632,
[and]
(IV) obtain information concerning whether such
person has been convicted of any other offense under
Federal or State law which resulted in imprisonment for
more than 1 year, and
[(IV)] (V) determine whether certification of payment
of benefits to such person has been revoked pursuant to
this subsection, the designation of such person as a
representative payee has been revoked pursuant to
section 807(a), or payment of benefits to such person
has been terminated pursuant to section
1631(a)(2)(A)(iii) by reason of misuse of funds paid as
benefits under this title, title VIII, or title XVI.
* * * * * * *
(C)(i) Benefits of an individual may not be certified for
payment to any other person pursuant to this subsection if--
(I) * * *
(II) except as provided in clause (ii), certification
of payment of benefits to such person under this
subsection has previously been revoked as described in
[subparagraph (B)(i)(IV),] subparagraph (B)(i)(V), the
designation of such person as a representative payee
has been revoked pursuant to section 807(a), or payment
of benefits to such person pursuant to section
1631(a)(2)(A)(ii) has previously been terminated as
described in [section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(IV)] section
1631(a)(2)(B)(ii)(V), or
(III) except as provided in clause (iii), such person
is a creditor of such individual who provides such
individual with goods or services for consideration.
Benefits of an individual may not be certified for payment to
any other person pursuant to this subsection if such person has
previously been convicted as described in subparagraph
(B)(i)(IV), unless the Commissioner determines that such
certification would be appropriate notwithstanding such
conviction.
* * * * * * *
(v) In the case of an individual described in paragraph
(1)(B), when selecting such individual's representative payee,
preference shall be given to--
(I) [a community-based nonprofit social service
agency licensed or bonded by the State] a certified
community-based nonprofit social service agency,
(II) a Federal, State, or local government agency
whose mission is to carry out income maintenance,
social service, or health care-related activities,
(III) a State or local government agency with
fiduciary responsibilities, or
(IV) a designee of an agency (other than of a Federal
agency) referred to in the preceding subclauses of this
clause, if the Commissioner of Social Security deems it
appropriate,
unless the Commissioner of Social Security determines that
selection of a family member would be appropriate. For purposes
of subclause (I), the term ``certified community-based
nonprofit social service agency'' means a community based
nonprofit social service agency which is in compliance with
requirements, under regulations which shall be prescribed by
the Commissioner, for annual certification to the Commissioner
that it is bonded in accordance with requirements specified by
the Commissioner and that it is licensed in each State in which
it serves as a representative payee (if licensing is available
in such State) in accordance with requirements specified by the
Commissioner. Any such annual certification shall include a
copy of any independent audit on such agency which may have
been performed since the previous certification.
* * * * * * *
(3)(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(E) In any case in which the person described in subparagraph
(A) or (D) receiving payments on behalf of another fails to
submit a report required by the Commissioner of Social Security
under subparagraph (A) or (D), the Commissioner may, after
furnishing notice and opportunity for a hearing to such person
and the individual entitled to such payment, require that the
person collect such payments in person at a field office of the
Social Security Administration serving the area in which the
individual resides.
[(E)] (F) The Commissioner of Social Security shall maintain
a centralized file, which shall be updated periodically and
which shall be in a form which will be readily retrievable by
each servicing office of the Social Security Administration,
of--
(i) the address and the social security account
number (or employer identification number) of each
representative payee who is receiving benefit payments
pursuant to this subsection, section 807, or section
1631(a)(2), and
(ii) the address and social security account number
of each individual for whom each representative payee
is reported to be providing services as representative
payee pursuant to this subsection, section 807, or
section 1631(a)(2).
[(F)] (G) Each servicing office of the Administration shall
maintain a list, which shall be updated periodically, of public
agencies and community-based nonprofit social service agencies
which are qualified to serve as representative payees pursuant
to this subsection or section 807 or 1631(a)(2) and which are
located in the area served by such servicing office.
(4)(A)(i) [A] Except as provided in the next sentence, a
qualified organization may collect from an individual a monthly
fee for expenses (including overhead) incurred by such
organization in providing services performed as such
individual's representative payee pursuant to this subsection
if such fee does not exceed the lesser of--
(I) 10 percent of the monthly benefit involved, or
(II) $25.00 per month ($50.00 per month in any case
in which the individual is described in
paragraph(1)(B)).
A qualified organization may not collect a fee from an
individual for any month with respect to which the Commissioner
of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction has
determined that the organization misused all or part of the
individual's benefit, and any amount so collected by the
qualified organization for such month shall be treated as a
misused part of the individual's benefit for purposes of
paragraphs (5) and (6). The Secretary shall adjust annually
(after 1995) each dollar amount set forth in subclause (II)
under procedures providing for adjustments in the same manner
and to the same extent as adjustments are provided for under
the procedures used to adjust benefit amounts under section
215(i)(2)(A), except that any amount so adjusted that is not a
multiple of $1.00 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of
$1.00.
* * * * * * *
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ``qualified
organization'' means any State or local government agency whose
mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or
health care-related activities, any State or local government
agency with fiduciary responsibilities, or [any community-based
nonprofit social service agency which is bonded or licensed in
each State in which it serves as a representative payee] any
certified community-based nonprofit social service agency (as
defined in paragraph (2)(C)(v)), if such agency, in accordance
with any applicable regulations of the Commissioner of Social
Security--
(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(5) In cases where the negligent failure of the Commissioner
of Social Security to investigate or monitor a representative
payee results in misuse of benefits by the representative
payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall certify for
payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's alternative
representative payee an amount equal to such misused benefits.
In any case in which a representative payee--
(i) that is not an individual (regardless of whether
it is a ``qualified organization'' within the meaning
of paragraph (4)(B)); or
(ii) is an individual who, for any month during a
period when misuse occurs, serves 15 or more
individuals who are beneficiaries under title II, title
VIII, title XVI, or any combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
certify for payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's
alternative representative payee an amount equal to the amount
of such benefit so misused. The provisions of this paragraph
are subject to the limitations of paragraph (6)(B). The
Commissioner of Social Security shall make a good faith effort
to obtain restitution from the terminated representative payee.
[(6) The Commissioner of Social Security shall include as a
part of the annual report required under section 704
information with respect to the implementation of the preceding
provisions of this subsection, including the number of cases in
which the representative payee was changed, the number of cases
discovered where there has been a misuse of funds, how any such
cases were dealt with by the Commissioner of Social Security,
the final disposition of such cases, including any criminal
penalties imposed, and such other information as the
Commissioner of Social Security determines to be appropriate.]
(6)(A) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of
competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee
that is not a Federal, State, or local government agency has
misused all or part of an individual's benefit that was paid to
such representative payee under this subsection, the
representative payee shall be liable for the amount misused,
and such amount (to the extent not repaid by the representative
payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of benefits under
this title to the representative payee for all purposes of this
Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such
overpayments. Subject to subparagraph (B), upon recovering all
or any part of such amount, the Commissioner shall certify an
amount equal to the recovered amount for payment to such
individual or the individual's alternative representative
payee.
(B) The total of the amount certified for payment to such
individual or the individual's alternative representative payee
under subparagraph (A) and the amount certified for payment
under paragraph (5) may not exceed the total benefit amount
misused by the representative payee with respect to such
individual.
* * * * * * *
(8) For purposes of this subsection, misuse of benefits by a
representative payee occurs in any case in which the
representative payee receives payment under this title for the
use and benefit of another person and converts such payment, or
any part thereof, to a use other than for the use and benefit
of such other person. The Commissioner of Social Security may
prescribe by regulation the meaning of the term ``use and
benefit'' for purposes of this paragraph.
(9) The Commissioner of Social Security shall provide for the
periodic onsite inspection of any person or agency that
receives the benefits payable under this title, title VIII, or
title XVI to another individual pursuant to the appointment of
such person or agency as a representative payee under this
subsection, section 807, or section 1631(a)(2) in any case in
which--
(A) the representative payee is a person who serves
in that capacity with respect to 15 or more such
individuals;
(B) the representative payee is a certified
community-based nonprofit social service agency (as
defined in paragraph (2)(C)(v) or section
1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
(C) the representative payee is an agency (other than
an agency described in subparagraph (B)) that serves in
that capacity with respect to 50 or more such
individuals.
* * * * * * *
penalties
Sec. 208. (a) Whoever--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(8) discloses, uses, or compels the disclosure of the
social security number of any person in violation of
the laws of the United States; or
(9) offers, for a fee, to acquire for any individual,
or to assist in acquiring for any individual, an
additional social security account number or a number
that purports to be a social security account number;
or
(10) being an officer or employee of any executive,
legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of
the Federal Government or of a State or political
subdivision thereof (or a person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) in possession of any
individual's social security account number, or (in
connection with section 205(c)(2)(C)(xi)) a trustee
appointed in a case under title 11, United States Code
(or an officer or employee thereof or a person acting
as an agent thereof), willfully acts or fails to act so
as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II), (x), (xi),
(xii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C); or
(11) knowingly sells or purchases (as defined in
paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (d)) the social
security account number of any person;
shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall
be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for
not more than five years, or both.
(b)(1) Any Federal court, when sentencing a defendant
convicted of an offense under subsection (a), may order, in
addition to or in lieu of any other penalty authorized by law,
that the defendant make restitution to the Social Security
Administration.
(2) Sections 3612, 3663, and 3664 of title 18, United States
Code, shall apply with respect to the issuance and enforcement
of orders of restitution under this subsection. In so applying
such sections, the Social Security Administration shall be
considered the victim.
(3) If the court does not order restitution, or orders only
partial restitution, under this subsection, the court shall
state on the record the reasons therefor.
[(b)] (c) Any person or other entity who is convicted of a
violation of any of the provisions of this section, if such
violation is committed by such person or entity in his role as,
or in applying to become, a certified payee under section
205(j) on behalf of another individual (other than such
person's spouse), upon his second or any subsequent such
conviction shall, in lieu of the penalty set forth in the
preceding provisions of this section, be guilty of a felony and
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or
imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. In the case
of any violation described in the preceding sentence, including
a first such violation, if the court determines that such
violation includes a willful misuse of funds by such person or
entity, the court may also require that full or partial
restitution of such funds be made to the individual for whom
such person or entity was the certified payee.
[(c)] (d) Any individual or entity convicted of a felony
under this section or under section 1632(b) may not be
certified as a payee under section 205(j). [For the purpose of
subsection (a)(7), the terms ``social security number'' and
``social security account number'' mean such numbers as are
assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security under section
205(c)(2) whether or not, in actual use, such numbers are
called social security numbers.]
(e)(1) For purposes of subsection (a)(7), the term ``social
security account number'' means a number assigned by the
Commissioner of Social Security under section 205(c)(2) whether
or not, in actual use, such number is called a social security
account number.
(2) For purposes of subsection (a)(11), the term ``sell'' in
connection with a social security account number means to
obtain, directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange
for such number. Such term does not include the submission of
such number as part of the process for applying for any type of
Government benefits or programs (such as grants or loans or
welfare or other public assistance programs). Such term also
does not include transfers of such number as part of a matching
program, as defined in section 552a(a)(8)(A) of title 5, United
States Code, or any other match referred to in section
552a(a)(8)(B) of such title.
(3) For purposes of subsection (a)(11), the term ``purchase''
in connection with a social security account number means to
provide, directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange
for such number. Such term does not include the submission of
such number as part of the process for applying for any type of
Government benefits or programs (such as grants or loans or
welfare or other public assistance programs). Such term also
does not include transfers of such number as part of a matching
program, as defined in section 552a(a)(8)(A) of title 5, United
States Code, or any other match referred to in section
552a(a)(8)(B) of such title.
[(d)] (f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an alien--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
definition of wages
Sec. 209. (a) For the purposes of this title, the term
``wages'' means remuneration paid prior to 1951 which was wages
for the purposes of this title under the law applicable to the
payment of such remuneration, and remuneration paid after 1950
for employment, including the cash value of all remuneration
(including benefits) paid in any medium other than cash; except
that, in the case of remuneration paid after 1950, such term
shall not include--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(6)(A) * * *
(B) Cash remuneration paid by an employer in any
calendar year to an employee for domestic service in a
private home of the employer (including domestic
service [described in section 210(f)(5)] on a farm
operated for profit), if the cash remuneration paid in
such year by the employer to the employee for such
service is less than the applicable dollar threshold
(as defined in section 3121(x) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986) for such year;
* * * * * * *
definition of employment
Sec. 210. For the purposes of this title--
Employment
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
Agricultural Labor
(f) The term ``agricultural labor'' includes all service
performed--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(5) On a farm operated for profit if such service is
not in the course of the employer's trade or business
[or is domestic service in a private home of the
employer].
* * * * * * *
self-employment
Sec. 211. For the purposes of this title--
Net Earnings From Self-Employment
(a) The term ``net earnings from self-employment'' means the
gross income, as computed under subtitle A of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, derived by an individual from any trade
or business carried on by such individual, less the deductions
allowed under such subtitle which are attributable to such
trade or business, plus his distributive share (whether or not
distributed) of the ordinary net income or loss, as computed
under section 702(a)(8) of such Code, from any trade or
business carried on by a partnership of which he is a member;
except that in computing such gross income and deductions and
such distributive share of partnership ordinary net income or
loss--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(7) An individual who is a duly ordained,
commissioned, or licensed minister of a church or a
member of a religious order shall compute his net
earnings from self-employment derived from the
performance of service described in subsection (c)(4)
without regard to section 107 (relating to rental value
of parsonages), section 119 (relating to meals and
lodging furnished for the convenience of the employer),
and section 911 (relating to earned income from sources
without the United States) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, but shall not include in any such net earnings
from self-employment the rental value of any parsonage
or any parsonage allowance (whether or not excluded
under section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)
provided after the individual retires, or any other
retirement benefit received by such individual from a
church plan (as defined in section 414(e) of such Code)
after the individual retires;
* * * * * * *
(15) The deduction under section [162(m)] 162(l)
(relating to health insurance costs of self-employed
individuals) shall not be allowed.
* * * * * * *
benefits in case of members of the uniformed services
Sec. 229. (a) For purposes of determining entitlement to and
the amount of any monthly benefit for any month after December
1972, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum death
payment in case of a death after such month, payable under this
title on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of
any individual, and for purposes of section 216(i)(3), such
individual, if he was paid wages for service as a member of a
uniformed service (as defined in section 210(m)) which was
included in the term ``employment'' as defined in section
210(a) as a result of the provisions of section 210(l)(1)(A),
shall be deemed to have been paid--
(1) * * *
(2) in each calendar year occurring after 1977 and
before 2002 in which he was paid such wages, additional
wages of $100 for each $300 of such wages, up to a
maximum of $1,200 of additional wages for any calendar
year.
(b) There are authorized to be appropriated to each of the
Trust Funds, consisting of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust
Fund, and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, for
transfer on July 1 of each calendar year before 2002 to such
Trust Fund from amounts in the general fund in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, an amount equal to the total of the
additional amounts which would be appropriated to such Trust
Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30 of such calendar
year under section 201 or 1817 of this Act if the amounts of
the additional wages deemed to have been paid for such calendar
year by reason of subsection (a) constituted remuneration for
employment (as defined in section 3121(b) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986) for purposes of the taxes imposed by
sections 3101 and 3111 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subsection for
transfer on July 1 of each calendar year shall be determined on
the basis of estimates of the Commissioner of Social Security
of the wages deemed to be paid for such calendar year under
subsection (a); and proper adjustments shall be made in amounts
authorized to be appropriated for subsequent transfer to the
extent prior estimates were in excess of or were less than such
wages so deemed to be paid. Additional adjustments may be made
in the amounts so authorized to be appropriated to the extent
that the amounts transferred in accordance with clauses (i) and
(ii) of section 151(b)(3)(B) of the Social Security Amendments
of 1983 with respect to wages deemed to have been paid in 1983
were in excess of or were less than the amount which the
Commissioner of Social Security, on the basis of appropriate
data, determines should have been so transferred. No later than
June 1, 2004, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
determine whether and the extent, if any, to which amounts
transferred to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund
under this subsection for calendar years ending prior to
January 1, 2002, were in excess of or less than the amounts
required to be so transferred. No later than 30 days following
the Commissioner's determination, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall transfer from the general fund of the Treasury to the
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, or from such Trust
Fund to the general fund of the Treasury, such amount or
amounts (if any) that the Commissioner determines to be
appropriate.
(c)(1) For purposes of determining entitlement to and the
amount of any benefit for any month, or entitlement to any
lump-sum death payment, payable under this title on the basis
of the wages and self-employment income of any individual--
(A) who has died or is under a disability (as defined
in section 223(d)),
(B) whose death or date of onset of such disability
occurred prior to the individual's attainment of age
47, and
(C) who, prior to the date of death or onset of such
disability, performed fewer than 6 years service as a
member of a uniformed service (as defined in section
210(m)) that was included in the term ``employment'' as
defined in section 210(a) as a result of the provisions
of section 210(l)(1)(A),
there shall be deemed to have been paid to such individual in
each calendar year occurring after 2001 in which such
individual was paid wages for the service described in
subparagraph (C) at the rate of basic pay for a pay grade below
E-6, additional wages of $100 for each $300 of wages paid for
the service described in subparagraph (C), up to a maximum of
$1,200 of additional wages for any calendar year.
(2)(A) Whenever the Commissioner computes the primary
insurance amount of an individual described in paragraph (1)
for the purpose of determining the amount of a monthly benefit
payable on the basis of such individual's wages and self-
employment income, the Commissioner shall additionally
calculate, with respect to each calendar year (not previously
subject to a calculation under this subparagraph) in which
additional wages are deemed to have been paid to such
individual (under paragraph (1)) and which is also a benefit
computation year (as defined in section 215(b)(2)(B)) used in
the computation of such primary insurance amount, the total
of--
(i) the amounts that would have been appropriated to
the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund
and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund under
section 201 if such deemed additional wages had
constituted wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for purposes of the
taxes imposed by sections 3101 and 3111 of such Code in
such calendar year, and
(ii) such additional amounts as are necessary to
place such Trust Funds in the position, as of the last
day of the calendar year in which the Commissioner so
computes such individual's primary insurance amount,
that they would have been in on such day had the
amounts described in clause (i) been appropriated to
such Trust Funds under section 201 in a timely manner.
(B) No later than July 1 of the year 2003 and each year
thereafter, the Commissioner shall notify the Secretary of the
Treasury of the total, with respect to each such Trust Fund, of
all amounts calculated by the Commissioner under subparagraph
(A) during the preceding calendar year. Within 30 days
following notification by the Commissioner, the Secretary of
the Treasury shall transfer the amount so calculated with
respect to each such Trust Fund to such Trust Fund from amounts
in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Proper adjustment shall be made in amounts required to be
transferred with respect to any calendar year to the extent
that the Commissioner determines, on the basis of appropriate
data, that amounts calculated and transferred with respect to
any earlier year were less than, or in excess of, the amount
required to be so calculated and transferred.
(3) The head of each uniformed service described in section
210(m) shall report to the Commissioner, in such form and
within such time frame as the Commissioner may specify, such
information as the Commissioner may require for the purpose of
carrying out this subsection.
* * * * * * *
TITLE VII--ADMINISTRATION
* * * * * * *
Commissioner; deputy commissioner; other officers
Commissioner of Social Security
Sec. 702. (a) * * *
* * * * * * *
Inspector General
(e)(1) In General.--There shall be in the Administration an
Inspector General appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, in accordance with section
3(a) of the Inspector General Act of 1978.
(2) Law Enforcement Authority.--
(A) Specific designations.--The Inspector General may
designate one or more special agents in the Office of
the Inspector General to exercise the authorities
specified in subparagraph (B).
(B) Authorities.--A special agent in the Office of
the Inspector General who is designated under
subparagraph (A) may--
(i) carry firearms, while engaged in the
special agent's official duties conducted
pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978
(5 U.S.C. App.) or any other statute, or as
expressly authorized by the Attorney General of
the United States,
(ii) seek and execute warrants for arrest,
search of premises, or seizure of evidence
issued under the authority of the United
States, upon probable cause to believe that a
violation of law has been committed, and
(iii) make an arrest without a warrant, while
engaged in the special agent's official duties
conducted pursuant to the Inspector General Act
of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) or any other statute,
or as expressly authorized by the Attorney
General, for--
(I) any offense against the United
States committed in the presence of the
special agent, or
(II) any felony cognizable under the
laws of the United States, if the
special agent has reasonable grounds to
believe that the person to be arrested
has committed or is committing such
felony.
(C) Special agent.--For purposes of this paragraph,
the term ``special agent'' means an employee in the
Office of the Inspector General whose duties include
conducting, supervising, and coordinating
investigations of criminal activity in the programs and
operations of the Social Security Administration.
(D) Use of state or local law enforcement officers.--
(i) In general.--Any State or local law
enforcement officer designated by the Inspector
General, while assisting a special agent
designated under subparagraph (A), may exercise
the authorities provided under subparagraph
(B).
(ii) Applicability of provisions governing
federal employees.--
(I) In general.--Any such officer
shall not be deemed a Federal employee,
and, subject to subclause (II), shall
not be subject to provisions of law
relating to Federal employees, solely
by reason of the exercise by such
officer of any such authority.
(II) Applicability of certain
provisions.--While exercising such
authority, such officer shall be
subject to subsection (c) of section
3374 of title 5, United States Code, as
if such officer were assigned and
appointed as described in such section,
except that nothing in this clause
shall be construed to authorize Federal
pay or other compensation for such
officer.
(E) Guidelines on exercise of authorities.--The
authorities provided under subparagraph (B) shall be
exercised in accordance with guidelines prescribed by
the Inspector General and approved by the Attorney
General of the United States. Such guidelines shall be
issued within 1 year after the date of the enactment of
the Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft
Prevention Act of 2000.
* * * * * * *
administrative duties of the commissioner
Personnel
Sec. 704. (a) * * *
Budgetary Matters
(b)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), amounts
received by the Social Security Administration pursuant to an
order of restitution under section 208(b), 807(i), or 1632(b)
shall be credited to a special fund established in the Treasury
of the United States for amounts so received or recovered. The
amounts so credited, to the extent and in the amounts provided
in advance in appropriations Acts, shall be available to defray
expenses incurred in carrying out title II, title VIII, and
title XVI.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to amounts
received in connection with misuse by a representative payee
(within the meaning of sections 205(j), 807, and 1631(a)(2)) of
funds paid as benefits under title II, VIII, or XVI. Such
amounts received in connection with misuse of funds paid as
benefits under title II shall be transferred to the Managing
Trustee of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust
Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, as
determined appropriate by the Commissioner of Social Security,
and such amounts shall be deposited by the Managing Trustee
into such Trust Fund. All other such amounts shall be deposited
by the Commissioner into the general fund of the Treasury as
miscellaneous receipts.
* * * * * * *
TITLE VIII--SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN WORLD WAR II VETERANS
Table of Contents
Sec. 801. Basic entitlement to benefits.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 810A. Optional Federal administration of State recognition
payments.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 807. REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.
(a) * * *
(b) Examination of Fitness of Prospective Representative
Payee.--
(1) * * *
(2) As part of the investigation referred to in
paragraph (1), the Commissioner of Social Security
shall--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(C) determine whether the person has been
convicted of a violation of section 208, 811,
or 1632; [and]
(D) obtain information concerning whether
such person has been convicted of any other
offense under Federal or State law which
resulted in imprisonment for more than 1 year;
and
[(D)] (E) determine whether payment of
benefits to the person in the capacity as
representative payee has been revoked or
terminated pursuant to this section, section
205( j), or section 1631(a)(2)(A)(iii) by
reason of misuse of funds paid as benefits
under this title, title II, or XVI,
respectively.
* * * * * * *
(d) Persons Ineligible To Serve as Representative Payees.--
(1) In general.--The benefits of a qualified
individual may not be paid to any other person pursuant
to this section if--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(C) except as provided in paragraph (2)(B),
the person is a creditor of the qualified
individual and provides the qualified
individual with goods or services for
consideration.
Benefits of an individual may not be paid to any other
person pursuant to this subsection if such person has
previously been convicted as described in subsection
(b)(2)(D), unless the Commissioner determines that such
payment would be appropriate notwithstanding such
conviction.
* * * * * * *
(h) Accountability Monitoring.--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(3) Authority to restrict collection of payments by
persons failing to report.--In any case in which the
person described in paragraph (1) or (2) receiving
payments on behalf of a qualified individual fails to
submit a report required by the Commissioner of Social
Security under paragraph (1) or (2), the Commissioner
may, after furnishing notice and opportunity for a
hearing to such person and the qualified individual,
require that the person collect such payments in person
at a field office of the Social Security Administration
serving the area in which the qualified individual
resides.
[(3)] (4) Maintaining lists of payees.--The
Commissioner of Social Security shall maintain lists
which shall be updated periodically of--
(A) the name, address, and (if issued) the
social security account number or employer
identification number of each representative
payee who is receiving benefit payments
pursuant to this section, section 205( j), or
section 1631(a)(2); and
(B) the name, address, and social security
account number of each individual for whom each
representative payee is reported to be
providing services as representative payee
pursuant to this section, section 205( j), or
section 1631(a)(2).
[(4)] (5) Maintaining lists of agencies.--The
Commissioner of Social Security shall maintain lists,
which shall be updated periodically, of public agencies
and community-based nonprofit social service agencies
which are qualified to serve as representative payees
pursuant to this section and which are located in the
jurisdiction in which any qualified individual resides.
[(i) Restitution.--In any case where]
(i) Restitution.--
(1) In general.--In any case where the negligent
failure of the Commissioner of Social Security to
investigate or monitor a representative payee results
in misuse of benefits by the representative payee, the
Commissioner of Social Security shall make payment to
the qualified individual or the individual's
alternative representative payee of an amount equal to
the misused benefits. In any case in which a
representative payee--
(A) that is not an individual; or
(B) is an individual who, for any month
during a period when misuse occurs, serves 15
or more individuals who are beneficiaries under
this title, title II, title XVI, or any
combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to
such representative payee, the Commissioner of Social
Security shall pay to the beneficiary or the
beneficiary's alternative representative payee an
amount equal to the amount of such benefit so misused.
The provisions of this paragraph are subject to the
limitations of subsection (j)(2). The Commissioner of
Social Security shall make a good faith effort to
obtain restitution from the terminated representative
payee.
(2) Court order for restitution.--
(A) In general.--Any Federal court, when
sentencing a defendant convicted of an offense
under subsection (a), may order, in addition to
or in lieu of any other penalty authorized by
law, that the defendant make restitution to the
Social Security Administration.
(B) Related provisions.--Sections 3612, 3663,
and 3664 of title 18, United States Code, shall
apply with respect to the issuance and
enforcement of orders of restitution under this
paragraph. In so applying such sections, the
Social Security Administration shall be
considered the victim.
(C) Stated reasons for not ordering
restitution.--If the court does not order
restitution, or orders only partial
restitution, under this paragraph, the court
shall state on the record the reasons therefor.
(j) Misuse of Benefits.--For purposes of this title, misuse
of benefits by a representative payee occurs in any case in
which the representative payee receives payment under this
title for the use and benefit of another person and converts
such payment, or any part thereof, to a use other than for the
use and benefit of such other person. The Commissioner of
Social Security may prescribe by regulation the meaning of the
term ``use and benefit'' for purposes of this paragraph.
(k) Periodic Onsite Inspection.--The Commissioner of Social
Security shall provide for the periodic onsite inspection of
any person or agency that receives the benefits payable under
this title, title II, or title XVI to another individual
pursuant to the appointment of such person or agency as a
representative payee under this section, section 205(j), or
section 1631(a)(2) in any case in which--
(1) the representative payee is a person who serves
in that capacity with respect to 15 or more such
individuals;
(2) the representative payee is a certified
community-based nonprofit social service agency (as
defined in section 205(j)(2)(C)(v) or section
1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
(3) the representative payee is an agency (other than
an agency described in paragraph (2)) that serves in
that capacity with respect to 50 or more such
individuals.
(l) Liability for Misused Amounts.--
(1) In general.--If the Commissioner of Social
Security or a court of competent jurisdiction
determines that a representative payee that is not a
Federal, State, or local government agency has misused
all or part of an individual's benefit that was paid to
such representative payee under this section, the
representative payee shall be liable for the amount
misused, and such amount (to the extent not repaid by
the representative payee) shall be treated as an
overpayment of benefits under this title to the
representative payee for all purposes of this Act and
related laws pertaining to the recovery of such
overpayments. Subject to paragraph (2), upon recovering
all or any part of such amount, the Commissioner shall
make payment of an amount equal to the recovered amount
to such individual or the individual's alternative
representative payee.
(2) Limitation.--The total of the amount paid to such
individual or the individual's alternative
representative payee under paragraph (1) and the amount
paid under subsection (i) may not exceed the total
benefit amount misused by the representative payee with
respect to such individual.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 810A. OPTIONAL FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION OF STATE RECOGNITION
PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Commissioner of Social Security may
enter into an agreement with any State (or political
subdivision thereof) that provides cash payments on a regular
basis to individuals entitled to benefits under this title
under which the Commissioner shall make such payments on behalf
of such State (or political subdivision).
(b) Agreement Terms.--
(1) In general.--Such agreement shall include such
terms as the Commissioner finds necessary to achieve
efficient and effective administration of both this
title and the State program which provides the cash
payments referred to in subsection (a).
(2) Financial terms.--Such agreement shall provide
for the State to pay the Commissioner, at such times
and in such installments as the parties may specify--
(A) an amount equal to the expenditures made
by the Commissioner pursuant to such agreement
as payments to individuals on behalf of such
State; and
(B) an administrative fee equal to the
administrative expenses incurred by the
Commissioner in making such payments.
(c) Special Disposition of Administrative Fees.--
Administrative fees, upon collection, shall be credited to a
special fund established in the Treasury of the United States
for State recognition payments for certain World War II
veterans. The amounts so credited, to the extent and in the
amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, shall be
available to defray expenses incurred in carrying out this
title.
* * * * * * *
TITLE XI--GENERAL PROVISIONS, PEER REVIEW, AND ADMINISTRATIVE
SIMPLIFICATION
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1129. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES AND ASSESSMENTS FOR TITLES II, VIII
AND XVI.
(a)(1) Any person (including an organization, agency, or
other entity) [who makes, or causes to be made, a statement or
representation of a material fact for use in determining any
initial or continuing right to or the amount of--
[(A) monthly insurance benefits under title II,
[(B) benefits or payments under title VIII,
or
[(C) benefits or payments under title XVI,
that the person knows or should know is false or misleading or
knows or should know omits a material fact or makes such a
statement with knowing disregard for the truth shall be subject
to] who--
(A) makes, or causes to be made, a statement or
representation of a material fact, for use in
determining any initial or continuing right to or the
amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II or
benefits or payments under title VIII or XVI that the
person knows or should know is false or misleading,
(B) makes such a statement or representation for such
use with knowing disregard for the truth, or
(C) omits from a statement or representation for such
use, or otherwise withholds disclosure of, a fact which
the individual knows or should know is material to the
determination of any initial or continuing right to or
the amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II
or benefits or payments under title VIII or XVI, if the
individual knows, or should know, that the statement or
representation with such omission is false or
misleading or that the withholding of such disclosure
is misleading,
shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that
may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not more
than $5,000 for each such statement or representation or each
receipt of such benefits or payments while withholding
disclosure of such fact. Such person also shall be subject to
an assessment, in lieu of damages sustained by the United
States because of such statement or representation or because
of such withholding of disclosure of a material fact, of not
more than twice the amount of benefits or payments paid as a
result of such a statement or representation or such a
withholding of disclosure.
(2) In addition, the Commissioner of Social Security may make
a determination in the same proceeding to recommend that the
Secretary exclude, as provided in section 1128, such a person
who is a medical provider or physician from participation in
the programs under title XVIII.
(3) Any person (including an organization, agency, or other
entity) who--
(A) uses a social security account number that such
person knows or should know has been assigned by the
Commissioner of Social Security (in an exercise of
authority under section 205(c)(2) to establish and
maintain records) on the basis of false information
furnished to the Commissioner by any person;
(B) falsely represents a number to be the social
security account number assigned by the Commissioner of
Social Security to any individual, when such person
knows or should know that such number is not the social
security account number assigned by the Commissioner to
such individual;
(C) knowingly alters a social security card issued by
the Commissioner of Social Security, or possesses such
a card with intent to alter it;
(D) knowingly buys or sells a card that is, or
purports to be, a card issued by the Commissioner of
Social Security, or possesses such a card with intent
to buy or sell it;
(E) counterfeits a social security card, or possesses
a counterfeit social security card with intent to buy
or sell it;
(F) discloses, uses, compels the disclosure of, or
knowingly sells or purchases the social security
account number of any person in violation of the laws
of the United States;
(G) with intent to deceive the Commissioner of Social
Security as to such person's true identity (or the true
identity of any other person) furnishes or causes to be
furnished false information to the Commissioner with
respect to any information required by the Commissioner
in connection with the establishment and maintenance of
the records provided for in section 205(c)(2);
(H) offers, for a fee, to acquire for any individual,
or to assist in acquiring for any individual, an
additional social security account number or a number
which purports to be a social security account number;
or
(I) being an officer or employee of any executive,
legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of
the Federal Government or of a State or political
subdivision thereof (or a person acting as an agent of
such an agency or instrumentality) or (in connection
with section 205(c)(2)(C)(xi)) a trustee appointed in a
case under title 11, United States Code (or an officer
or employee thereof or a person acting as an agent
thereof), in possession of any individual's social
security account number, willfully acts or fails to act
so as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II), (x),
(xi), (xii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C);
shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that
may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not more
than $5,000 for each violation. Such person shall also be
subject to an assessment, in lieu of damages sustained by the
United States resulting from such violation, of not more than
twice the amount of any benefits or payments paid as a result
of such violation.
(4) Any person (including an organization, agency, or other
entity) who, having received, while acting in the capacity of a
representative payee pursuant to section 205(j), 807, or
1631(a)(2), a payment under title II, VIII, or XVI for the use
and benefit of another individual, converts such payment, or
any part thereof, to a use that such person knows or should
know is other than for the use and benefit of such other
individual shall be subject to, in addition to any other
penalties that may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty
of not more than $5,000 for each conversion. Such person shall
also be subject to an assessment, in lieu of damages sustained
by the United States resulting from such conversion, of not
more than twice the amount of any payments so converted.
[(2)] (5) For purposes of this section, a material fact is
one which the Commissioner of Social Security may consider in
evaluating whether an applicant is entitled to benefits under
title II or title VIII, or eligible for benefits or payments
under title XVI.
(b)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(3) In a proceeding under this section which--
(A) is against a person who has been convicted
(whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea of
guilty or nolo contendere) of a Federal or State crime
[charging fraud or false statements]; and
* * * * * * *
(c) In determining pursuant to subsection (a) the amount or
scope of any penalty or assessment, or whether to recommend and
exclusion, the Commissioner of Social Security shall take into
account--
(1) the nature of the statements [and
representations], representations, or actions referred
to in subsection (a) and the circumstances under which
they occurred;
* * * * * * *
(e)(1) Civil money penalties and assessments imposed under
this section may be compromised by the Commissioner of Social
Security and may be recovered--
(A) in a civil action in the name of the United
States brought in United States district court for the
district where the [statement or representation
referred to in subsection (a) was made] violation
occurred, or where the person resides, as determined by
the Commissioner of Social Security;
* * * * * * *
(2) Amounts recovered under this section shall be recovered
under by the Commissioner of Social Security and shall be
disposed of as follows:
(A) * * *
(B) [In the case of amounts recovered arising out of
a determination relating to title VIII or XVI,] In the
case of any other amounts recovered under this section,
the amounts shall be deposited by the Commissioner of
Social Security into the general fund of the Treasury
as miscellaneous receipts.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1129A. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE FOR IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR FALSE
OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS.
(a) In General.--Any person [who makes, or causes to be made,
a statement or representation of a material fact for use in
determining any initial or continuing right to or the amount
of--
[(1) monthly insurance benefits under title II; or
[(2) benefits or payments under title XVI,
that the person knows or should know is false or misleading or
knows or should know omits a material fact or who makes such a
statement with knowing disregard for the truth shall be subject
to, who--
(1) makes, or causes to be made, a statement or
representation of a material fact, for use in
determining any initial or continuing right to or the
amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II or
benefits or payments under title VIII or XVI that the
person knows or should know is false or misleading,
(2) makes such a statement or representation for such
use with knowing disregard for the truth, or
(3) omits from a statement or representation for such
use, or otherwise withholds disclosure of, a fact which
the individual knows or should know is material to the
determination of any initial or continuing right to or
the amount of monthly insurance benefits under title II
or benefits or payments under title VIII or XVI, if the
individual knows, or should know, that the statement or
representation with such omission is false or
misleading or that the withholding of such disclosure
is misleading,
shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that
may be prescribed by law, a penalty described in subsection (b)
to be imposed by the Commissioner of Social Security.
* * * * * * *
(e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``benefits under
title XVI'' includes State supplementary payments made by the
Commissioner pursuant to an agreement under section 810A or
1616(a) of this Act or section 212(b) of Public Law 93-66.
* * * * * * *
[prohibition of misuse of symbols, emblems, or names in reference]
prohibitions relating to references to social security or medicare
Sec. 1140. (a)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(4)(A) No person shall offer, for a fee, to assist an
individual to obtain a product or service that the person knows
or should know is provided free of charge by the Social
Security Administration unless, at the time the offer is made,
the person provides to the individual to whom the offer is
tendered a notice that--
(i) explains that the product or service is available
free of charge from the Social Security Administration,
and
(ii) complies with standards prescribed by the
Commissioner of Social Security respecting content,
placement, visibility, and legibility.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any offer--
(i) to serve as a claimant representative in
connection with a claim arising under title II, title
VIII, or title XVI; or
(ii) to prepare, or assist in the preparation of, an
individual's plan for achieving self-support under
title XVI.
* * * * * * *
social security account statements
Provision Upon Request
Sec. 1143. (a)(1) Beginning not later than October 1, 1990,
the [Secretary] Commissioner of Social Security shall provide
upon the request of an eligible individual a social security
account statement (hereinafter referred to as the
``statement'').
(2) Each statement shall contain--
(A) the amount of wages paid to and self-employment
income derived by the eligible individual as shown by
the records of the [Secretary] Commissioner at the date
of the request;
(B) an estimate of the aggregate of the employer,
employee, and self-employment contributions of the
eligible individual for old-age, survivors, and
disability insurance as shown by the records of the
[Secretary] Commissioner on the date of the request;
(C) a separate estimate of the aggregate of the
employer, employee, and self-employment contributions
of the eligible individual for hospital insurance as
shown by the records of the [Secretary] Commissioner on
the date of the request; and
* * * * * * *
Notice to Eligible Individuals
(b) The [Secretary] Commissioner shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, take such steps as are necessary to assure that
eligible individuals are informed of the availability of the
statement described in subsection (a).
Mandatory Provision of Statements
(c)(1) By not later than September 30, 1995, the [Secretary]
Commissioner shall provide a statement to each eligible
individual who has attained age 60 by October 1, 1994, and who
is not receiving benefits under title II and for whom a current
mailing address can be determined through such methods as the
[Secretary] Commissioner determines to be appropriate. In
fiscal years 1995 through 1999 the [Secretary] Commissioner
shall provide a statement to each eligible individual who
attains age 60 in such fiscal years and who is not receiving
benefits under title II and for whom a current mailing address
can be determined through such methods as the [Secretary]
Commissioner determines to be appropriate. The [Secretary]
Commissioner shall provide with each statement to an eligible
individual notice that such statement is updated annually and
is available upon request.
(2) Beginning not later than October 1, 1999, the [Secretary]
Commissioner shall provide a statement on an annual basis to
each eligible individual who is not receiving benefits under
title II and for whom a mailing address can be determined
through such methods as the [Secretary] Commissioner determines
to be appropriate. With respect to statements provided to
eligible individuals who have not attained age 50, such
statements need not include estimates of monthly retirement
benefits. However, if such statements provided to eligible
individuals who have not attained age 50 do not include
estimates of retirement benefit amounts, such statements shall
include a description of the benefits (including auxiliary
benefits) that are available upon retirement.
* * * * * * *
TITLE XVI--SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND
DISABLED
* * * * * * *
Part A--Determination of Benefits
* * * * * * *
RESOURCES
Exclusions From Resources
Sec. 1613. (a) In determining the resources of an individual
(and his eligible spouse, if any) there shall be excluded--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(12) any account, including accrued interest or other
earnings thereon, established and maintained in
accordance with section 1631(a)(2)(F); [and]
(13) any gift to, or for the benefit of, an
individual who has not attained 18 years of age and who
has a life-threatening condition, from an organization
described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 which is exempt from taxation under
section 501(a) of such Code--
(A) in the case of an in-kind gift, if the
gift is not converted to cash; or
(B) in the case of a cash gift, only to the
extent that the total amount excluded from the
resources of the individual pursuant to this
paragraph in the calendar year in which the
gift is made does not exceed $2,000[.]; and
(14) for the 9-month period beginning after the month
in which received, any amount received by such
individual (or spouse) or any other person whose income
is deemed to be included in such individual's (or
spouse's) income for purposes of this title as
restitution for benefits under this title, title II, or
title VIII misused by the representative payee.
* * * * * * *
Part B--Procedural and General Provisions
PAYMENTS AND PROCEDURES
Payment of Benefits
Sec. 1631. (a)(1) Benefits under this title shall be paid at
such time or times and (subject to paragraph (10)) in such
installments as will best effectuate the purposes of this
title, as determined under regulations (and may in any case be
paid less frequently than monthly where the amount of the
monthly benefit would not exceed $10).
(2)(A)(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(iv) For purposes of this subsection, misuse of benefits by a
representative payee occurs in any case in which the
representative payee receives payment under this title for the
use and benefit of another person and converts such payment, or
any part thereof, to a use other than for the use and benefit
of such other person. The Commissioner of Social Security may
prescribe by regulation the meaning of the term ``use and
benefit'' for purposes of this clause.
(B)(i) * * *
(ii) As part of the investigation referred to in clause
(i)(I), the Commissioner of Social Security shall--
(I) * * *
* * * * * * *
(III) determine whether such person has been
convicted of a violation of section 208, 811, or 1632;
[and]
(IV) obtain information concerning whether such
person has been convicted of any other offense under
Federal or State law which resulted in imprisonment for
more than 1 year; and
[(IV)] (V) determine whether payment of benefits to
such person has been terminated pursuant to
subparagraph (A)(iii), whether the designation of such
person as a representative payee has been revoked
pursuant to section 807(a), and whether certification
of payment of benefits to such person has been revoked
pursuant to section 205(j), by reason of misuse of
funds paid as benefits under title II, title VIII, or
this title.
(iii) Benefits of an individual may not be paid to any other
person pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) if--
(I) such person has previously been convicted as
described in clause (ii)(III);
(II) except as provided in clause (iv), payment of
benefits to such person pursuant to subparagraph
(A)(ii) has previously been terminated as described in
clause [(ii)(IV)] (ii)(V), the designation of such
person as a representative payee has been revoked
pursuant to section 807(a), or certification of payment
of benefits to such person under section 205(j) has
previously been revoked as described in section
[205(j)(2)(B)(i)(IV)] 205(j)(2)(B)(i)(V); or
(III) except as provided in clause (v), such person
is a creditor of such individual who provides such
individual with goods or services for consideration.
Benefits of an individual may not be paid to any other person
pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) if such person has previously
been convicted as described in clause (ii)(IV), unless the
Commissioner determines that such payment would be appropriate
notwithstanding such conviction.
* * * * * * *
(vii) In the case of an individual described in subparagraph
(A)(ii)(II), when selecting such individual's representative
payee, preference shall be given to--
(I) [a community-based nonprofit social
service agency licensed or bonded by the State]
a certified community-based nonprofit social
service agency;
* * * * * * *
(IV) a designee of an agency (other than of a
Federal agency) referred to in the preceding
subclauses of this clause, if the Commissioner
of Social Security deems it appropriate,
unless the Commissioner of Social Security determines that
selection of a family member would be appropriate. For purposes
of subclause (I), the term ``certified community-based
nonprofit social service agency'' means a community based
nonprofit social service agency which is in compliance with
requirements, under regulations which shall be prescribed by
the Commissioner, for annual certification to the Commissioner
that it is bonded in accordance with requirements specified by
the Commissioner and that it is licensed in each State in which
it serves as a representative payee (if licensing is available
in such State) in accordance with requirements specified by the
Commissioner. Any such annual certification shall include a
copy of any independent audit on such agency which may have
been performed since the previous certification.
* * * * * * *
(C)(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(v) In any case in which the person described in clause (i)
or (iv) receiving payments on behalf of another fails to submit
a report required by the Commissioner of Social Security under
clause (i) or (iv), the Commissioner may, after furnishing
notice and opportunity for a hearing to such person and the
individual entitled to such payment, require that the person
collect such payments in person at a field office of the Social
Security Administration serving the area in which the
individual resides.
(D)(i) [A] Except as provided in the next sentence, a
qualified organization may collect from an individual a monthly
fee for expenses (including overhead) incurred by such
organization in providing services performed as such
individual's representative payee pursuant to subparagraph
(A)(ii) if the fee does not exceed the lesser of--
(I) 10 percent of the monthly benefit involved, or
(II) $25.00 per month ($50.00 per month in any case
in which an individual is described in subparagraph
(A)(ii)(II)).
A qualified organization may not collect a fee from an
individual for any month with respect to which the Commissioner
of Social Security or a court of competent jurisdiction has
determined that the organization misused all or part of the
individual's benefit, and any amount so collected by the
qualified organization for such month shall be treated as a
misused part of the individual's benefit for purposes of
subparagraphs (E) and (F). The Commissioner of Social Security
shall adjust annually (after 1995) each dollar amount set forth
in subclause (II) of this clause under procedures providing for
adjustments in the same manner and to the same extent as
adjustments are provided for under the procedures used to
adjust benefit amounts under section 215(i)(2)(A), except that
any amount so adjusted that is not a multiple of $1.00 shall be
rounded to the nearest multiple of $1.00. Any agreement
providing for a fee in excess of the amount permitted under
this clause shall be void and shall be treated as misuse by the
organization of such individual's benefits.
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ``qualified
organization'' means any State or local government agency whose
mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or
health care-related activities, any State or local government
agency with fiduciary responsibilities, [or any community-based
nonprofit social service agency, which--
[(I) is bonded or licensed in each State in which the
agency serves as a representative payee; and
[(II) in accordance] or any certified community-based
nonprofit social service agency (as defined in
subparagraph (B)(vii)), if such agency, in accordance
with any applicable regulations of the Commissioner of
Social Security--
[(aa)] (I) regularly provides services as a
representative payee pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii)
or section 205(j)(4) or 807 concurrently to 5 or more
individuals; and
[(bb)] (II) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
Commissioner of Social Security that such agency is not
otherwise a creditor of any such individual.
The Commissioner of Social Security shall prescribe regulations
under which the Commissioner of Social Security may grant an
exception from [subclause (II)(bb)] subclause (II) for any
individual on a case-by-case basis if such exception is in the
best interests of such individual.
(E) Restitution.--In cases where the negligent failure of the
Commissioner of Social Security to investigate or monitor a
representative payee results in misuse of benefits by the
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
make payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's
representative payee of an amount equal to such misused
benefits. In any case in which a representative payee--
(i) that is not an individual (regardless of whether
it is a ``qualified organization'' within the meaning
of subparagraph (D)(ii)); or
(ii) is an individual who, for any month during a
period when misuse occurs, serves 15 or more
individuals who are beneficiaries under title II, title
VIII, title XVI, or any combination of such titles;
misuses all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such
representative payee, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
make payment to the beneficiary or the beneficiary's
alternative representative payee of an amount equal to the
amount of such benefit so misused. The provisions of this
subparagraph are subject to the limitations of subparagraph
(F)(ii). The Commissioner of Social Security shall make a good
faith effort to obtain restitution from the terminated
representative payee.
* * * * * * *
[(G) The Commissioner of Social Security shall include as a
part of the annual report required under section 704
information with respect to the implementation of the preceding
provisions of this paragraph, including--
[(i) the number of cases in which the representative
payee was changed;
[(ii) the number of cases discovered where there has
been a misuse of funds;
[(iii) how any such cases were dealt with by the
Commissioner of Social Security;
[(iv) the final disposition of such cases (including
any criminal penalties imposed); and
[(v) such other information as the Commissioner of
Social Security determines to be appropriate.]
(G)(i) If the Commissioner of Social Security or a court of
competent jurisdiction determines that a representative payee
that is not a Federal, State, or local government agency has
misused all or part of an individual's benefit that was paid to
such representative payee under this paragraph, the
representative payee shall be liable for the amount misused,
and such amount (to the extent not repaid by the representative
payee) shall be treated as an overpayment of benefits under
this title to the representative payee for all purposes of this
Act and related laws pertaining to the recovery of such
overpayments. Subject to clause (ii), upon recovering all or
any part of such amount, the Commissioner shall make payment of
an amount equal to the recovered amount to such individual or
the individual's alternative representative payee.
(ii) The total of the amount paid to such individual or the
individual's alternative representative payee under clause (i)
of this subparagraph and the amount paid under subparagraph (E)
may not exceed the total benefit amount misused by the
representative payee with respect to such individual.
* * * * * * *
(I) The Commissioner of Social Security shall provide for the
periodic onsite inspection of any person or agency that
receives the benefits payable under this title, title II, or
title VIII to another individual pursuant to the appointment of
such person or agency as a representative payee under this
paragraph, section 205(j), or section 807 in any case in
which--
(i) the representative payee is a person who serves
in that capacity with respect to 15 or more such
individuals;
(ii) the representative payee is a certified
community-based nonprofit social service agency (as
defined in section 205(j)(2)(C)(v) or section
1631(a)(2)(B)(vii)); or
(iii) the representative payee is an agency (other
than an agency described in clause (ii)) that serves in
that capacity with respect to 50 or more such
individuals.
* * * * * * *
PENALTIES FOR FRAUD
Sec. 1632. (a) * * *
(b)(1) Any Federal court, when sentencing a defendant
convicted of an offense under subsection (a), may order, in
addition to or in lieu of any other penalty authorized by law,
that the defendant make restitution to the Social Security
Administration.
(2) Sections 3612, 3663, and 3664 of title 18, United States
Code, shall apply with respect to the issuance and enforcement
of orders of restitution under this subsection. In so applying
such sections, the Social Security Administration shall be
considered the victim.
(3) If the court does not order restitution, or orders only
partial restitution, under this subsection, the court shall
state on the record the reasons therefor.
[(b)] (c)(1) If a person or entity violates subsection (a) in
the person's or entity's role as, or in applying to become, a
representative payee under section 1631(a)(2) on behalf of
another individual (other than the person's eligible spouse),
and the violation includes a willful misuse of funds by the
person or entity, the court may also require that full or
partial restitution of funds be made to such other individual.
* * * * * * *
----------
SECTION 603 OF THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
Sec. 603. Definitions and rules of construction
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(d) Consumer Report.--
(1) In general.--The term ``consumer report'' means
any written, oral, or other communication of any
information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a
consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit
capacity, character, general reputation, personal
characteristics, or mode of living which is used or
expected to be used or collected in whole or in part
for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing
the consumer's eligibility for--
(A) credit or insurance to be used primarily
for personal, family, or household purposes;
(B) employment purposes; or
(C) any other purpose authorized under
section 604.
The term also includes information regarding the social
security account number of the consumer or any
derivative thereof.
* * * * * * *
----------
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986
* * * * * * *
Subtitle C--Employment Taxes
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 21--FEDERAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS ACT
* * * * * * *
Subchapter A--Tax on Employees
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3102. DEDUCTION OF TAX FROM WAGES.
(a) Requirement.--The tax imposed by section 3101 shall be
collected by the employer of the taxpayer, by deducting the
amount of the tax from the wages as and when paid. An employer
who in any calendar year pays to an employee cash remuneration
to which paragraph (7)(B) of section 3121(a) is applicable may
deduct an amount equivalent to such tax from any such payment
of remuneration, even though at the time of payment the total
amount of such remuneration paid to the employee by the
employer in the calendar year is less than the applicable
dollar threshold (as defined in section 3121(x) for such year;
and an employer who in any calendar year pays to an employee
cash remuneration to which paragraph (7)(C) or (10) of section
3121(a) is applicable may deduct an amount equivalent to such
tax from any such payment of remuneration, even though at the
time of payment the total amount of such remuneration paid to
the employee by the employer in the calendar year is less than
$100; and an employer who in any calendar year pays to an
employee cash remuneration to which paragraph (8)(B) of section
3121(a) is applicable may deduct an amount equivalent to such
tax from any such payment of remuneration, even though at the
time of payment the total amount of such remuneration paid to
the employee by the employer in the calendar year is less than
$150 [and the employee has not performed agricultural labor for
the employer on 20 days or more in the calendar year for cash
remuneration computed on a time basis]; and an employer who is
furnished by an employee a written statement of tips (received
in a calendar month) pursuant to section 6053(a) to which
paragraph (12)(B) of section 3121(a) is applicable may deduct
an amount equivalent to such tax with respect to such tips from
any wages of the employee (exclusive of tips) under his
control, even though at the time such statement is furnished
the total amount of the tips included in statements furnished
to the employer as having been received by the employee in such
calendar month in the course of his employment by such employer
is less than $20.
* * * * * * *
Subchapter C--General Provisions
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3121. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Wages.--For purposes of this chapter, the term ``wages''
means all remuneration for employment, including the cash value
of all remuneration (including benefits) paid in any medium
other than cash; except that such term shall not include--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(7)(A) remuneration paid in any medium other than
cash to an employee for service not in the course of
the employer's trade or business or for domestic
service in a private home of the employer; (B) cash
remuneration paid by an employer in any calendar year
to an employee for domestic service in a private home
of the employer (including domestic service [described
in subsection (g)(5)] on a farm operated for profit),
if the cash remuneration paid in such year by the
employer to the employee for such service is less than
the applicable dollar threshold (as defined in
subsection (x)) for such year;
* * * * * * *
(g) Agricultural Labor.--For purposes of this chapter, the
term ``agricultural labor'' includes all service performed--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(5) on a farm operated for profit if such service is
not in the course of the employer's trade or business
[or is domestic service in a private home of the
employer]. As used in this subsection, the term
``farm'' includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-
bearing animal, and truck farms, plantations, ranches,
nurseries, ranges, greenhouses or other similar
structures used primarily for the raising of
agricultural or horticultural commodities, and
orchards.
* * * * * * *
----------
SECTION 302 OF THE TICKET TO WORK AND WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENT ACT
OF 1999
SEC. 302. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS PROVIDING FOR REDUCTIONS IN DISABILITY
INSURANCE BENEFITS BASED ON EARNINGS.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
[(f ) Expenditures.--Expenditures made for demonstration
projects under this section shall be made from the Federal
Disability Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, as determined appropriate by
the Commissioner of Social Security, and from the Federal
Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary
Medical Insurance Trust Fund, as determined appropriate by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the extent provided
in advance in appropriation Acts.]
(f) Expenditures.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
expenditures made for the demonstration projects under
this section shall be made from the Federal Disability
Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, as determined
appropriate by the Commissioner of Social Security, and
from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the
Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, as
determined appropriate by the Secretary of Health and
Human Services.
(2) Administrative expenditures.--Administrative
expenditures for the demonstration projects under this
section incurred by the Commissioner of Social Security
shall be made from funds available pursuant to section
201(g) of the Social Security Act, to the extent or in
the amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts.