The House Ways and Means's subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing
on Tuesday about privacy and preventing the misuse of Social Security
numbers. See chairman Clay Shaw (R-FL)'s opening statement, planning "to
quickly bring to the House floor comprehensive legislation to keep Social
Security numbers private and protect citizens from identity theft." It's here:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/socsec/107cong/5-22-01/5-22shaw.htm
Other testimony, from Ron Plesser representing credit bureaus and Marc
Rotenberg of EPIC:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/socsec/107cong/5-22-01/5-22ples.htm
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/socsec/107cong/5-22-01/5-22rote.htm
You can see the complete list of prepared testimony at:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/socsec/107cong/ss-4wit.htm
-Declan
*********
From: "Singleton, Norman" <Norman.Singleton_at_mail.house.gov>
Subject: Statement on SSNs
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:57:18 -0400
Friends, I thought you might be interested in the following statement
Congressman Paul submitted for the subcommittee on Social Security hearing
on the abuse of the Social Security number on May 22:
<http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr052201.htm>http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr052201.htm
May 22, 2001
Hearing before the House Ways and Means Social Security
Subcommittee
Protecting Privacy and Preventing Misuse of Social Security Numbers
I wish to thank the subcommittee on Social Security of the Ways and
Means
Committee for holding this hearing on the misuse of the Social Security
number. The transformation of the Social Security number into a de facto
uniform identifier is a subject of increasing concern to the American
people.
This is, in large part, because the use of the Social Security number
as a
standard identifier facilitates the crime of identity theft. Today,
all an
unscrupulous person needs to do is obtain someone's Social Security
number
in order to access that person's bank accounts, credit cards, and other
financial assets. Many Americans have lost their life savings and
have had
their credit destroyed as a result of identity theft.
The responsibility for the misuse of the Social Security number and the
corresponding vulnerability of the American people to identity crimes
lies
squarely with the Congress. Since the creation of the Social Security
number,
Congress has authorized over 40 uses of the Social Security number.
Thanks
to Congress, today no American can get a job, open a bank account, get a
professional license, or even get a drivers' license without
presenting their
Social Security number. So widespread has the use of the Social Security
number become that a member of my staff had to produce a Social Security
number in order to get a fishing license!
Because it was Congress which transformed the Social Security number
into
a national identifier, Congress has a moral responsibility to address
this
problem. In order to protect the American people from
government-mandated
uniform identifiers which facilitate identity crimes, I have
introduced the
Identity Theft Prevention Act (HR 220). The major provision of the
Identity
Theft Prevention Act halts the practice of using the Social Security
number as
an identifier by requiring the Social Security Administration to
issue all
Americans new Social Security numbers within five years after the
enactment
of the bill. These new numbers will be the sole legal property of the
recipient
and the Social Security Administration shall be forbidden to divulge the
numbers for any purposes not related to the Social Security program.
Social
Security numbers issued before implementation of this bill shall no
longer be
considered valid federal identifiers. Of course, the Social Security
Administration shall be able to use an individual's original Social
Security
number to ensure efficient transition of the Social Security system.
This act also forbids the federal government from creating national
ID cards
or establishing any identifiers for the purpose of investigating,
monitoring,
overseeing, or regulating private transactions between American
citizens, as
well as repealing those sections of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 that require the Department of Health and
Human
Services to establish a uniform standard health identifier. By
putting an end to
government-mandated uniform IDs, the Identity Theft Prevention Act will
prevent millions of Americans from having their liberty, property and
privacy
violated by private-and-public sector criminals.
In addition to forbidding the federal government from creating national
identifiers, this legislation forbids the federal government from
blackmailing
states into adopting uniform standard identifiers by withholding
federal funds.
One of the most onerous practices of Congress is the use of federal
funds
illegitimately taken from the American people to bribe states into
obeying
federal dictates.
Many of our colleagues will claim that the federal government needs
these
powers to protect against fraud or some other criminal activities.
However,
monitoring the transactions of every American in order to catch those
few
who are involved in some sort of illegal activity turns one of the great
bulwarks of our liberty, the presumption of innocence, on its head.
The federal
government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying
on their
relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers. In fact,
criminal law
enforcement is reserved to the state and local governments by the
Constitution's Tenth Amendment.
Other members of Congress will claim that the federal government
needs the
power to monitor Americans in order to allow the government to operate
more efficiently. I would remind my colleagues that in a
constitutional republic
the people are never asked to sacrifice their liberties to make the
job of
government officials a little bit easier. We are here to protect the
freedom of
the American people, not to make privacy invasion more efficient.
Mr. Chairman, while I do not question the sincerity of those members who
suggest that Congress can ensure citizens' rights are protected through
legislation restricting access to personal information, the only
effective privacy
protection is to forbid the federal government from mandating national
identifiers. Legislative "privacy protections" are inadequate to
protect the
liberty of Americans for several reasons. First, it is simply common
sense that
repealing those federal laws that promote identity theft is a more
effective in
protecting the public than expanding the power of the federal police
force.
Federal punishment of identity thieves provides old comfort to those
who have
suffered financial losses and the destruction of their good
reputation as a
result of identity theft.
Federal laws are not only ineffective in stopping private criminals,
they have
not even stopped unscrupulous government officials from accessing
personal
information. Did laws purporting to restrict the use of personal
information
stop the well-publicized violation of privacy by IRS officials or the
FBI abuses
by the Clinton and Nixon administrations? !
The primary reason why any action short of the repeal of laws
authorizing
privacy violation is insufficient is because the federal government
lacks
constitutional authority to force citizens to adopt a universal
identifier for
health care, employment, or any other reason. Any federal action that
oversteps constitutional limitations violates liberty because it
ratifies the
principle that the federal government, not the Constitution, is the
ultimate judge
of its own jurisdiction over the people. The only effective
protection of the
rights of citizens is for Congress to follow Thomas Jefferson's
advice and
"bind (the federal government) down with the chains of the
Constitution."
Mr. Chairman, those members who are unpersuaded by the moral and
constitutional reasons for embracing the Identity Theft Prevention
Act should
consider the overwhelming opposition of the American people toward
national
identifiers. The overwhelming public opposition to the various
"Know-Your-Customer" schemes, the attempt to turn drivers' licenses into
National ID cards, HHS's misnamed "medical privacy" proposal, as well as
the numerous complaints over the ever-growing uses of the Social
Security
number show that American people want Congress to stop invading their
privacy. Congress risks provoking a voter backlash if we fail to halt
the
growth of the surveillance state.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I once again thank you and the other
members
of the subcommittee for holding a hearing on this important issue. I
hope this
hearing would lead to serious Congressional action to end to the federal
government's unconstitutional use of national identifiers which
facilitate
identity theft by passing Hr 220, the Identify Theft Prevention Act.
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Received on May 26 2001
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