ACTION
FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3625
September 29, 2000
No. FC 35-A
Archer Announces Committee Action
on H.R. 4857, the "Social Security Number Privacy and Identity
Theft Prevention Act of 2000"
Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Ways
and Means, today announced that on Thursday, September 28, 2000, the
Committee ordered favorably reported, as amended, H.R.
4857, the "Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft
Prevention Act of 2000," by voice vote.
DESCRIPTION OF H.R.
4857 AS APPROVED:
Title I: Provisions Relating to the
Social Security Account Number (SSN) in the Public Sector
- The bill would prohibit Federal, State and local governments from:
-selling SSNs (limited exceptions are
made to facilitate law enforcement and national security, to ensure
the accuracy of credit and insurance underwriting information, and to
allow for the effective administration of programs authorized under
the Social Security Act),
-displaying SSNs to the general public and on Internet sites (limited
exceptions are made to facilitate law enforcement and national
security and to ensure the accuracy of credit information),
-displaying SSNs on checks issued for payment,
-displaying SSNs on drivers' licenses, motor vehicle registrations, or
other identification documents issued by State Departments of Motor
Vehicles,
-displaying SSNs on employee identification cards or military tags,
and
-employing prisoners in jobs that provide them with access to SSNs.
- The bill would strengthen
verification requirements for birth records when someone applies for a
SSN card.
- The bill would require the
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the
Attorney General to report on the progress of SSA and the Immigration
and Naturalization Service in implementing a process for enumeration
of aliens who are in need of SSNs.
- The bill would require the U.S.
General Accounting Office to conduct a comprehensive study regarding
how use of the SSN can be minimized at all levels and branches of
government.
Title II:
Provisions Relating to the Social Security Account Number in the
Private Sector
- The bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission to issue
regulations restricting the sale and purchase of SSNs in the private
sector.
- The bill would discourage businesses from denying services to
individuals who refuse to provide their SSNs by subjecting them to
penalties under Federal law.
- The bill would include the SSN in the definition of "credit
report" under the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that the SSN
receives the same privacy protections as other consumer credit
information.
Title III: Enforcement
- The bill would create new criminal and civil penalties for
violations of the law relating to sale, purchase, or misuse of the SSN.
- The bill would allow Federal courts to order defendants to make
restitution to the Social Security Trust Funds or the General Fund of
the Treasury for violations of the law.
- The bill would enhance law enforcement authority for the SSA
Office of Inspector General.
Title IV: Provisions Relating to
Representative Payees
- The bill would authorize the re-issuance of Social Security and
Supplemental Security Income benefit payments whenever a
representative payee is found to have misused funds.
- The bill would enhance oversight of
representative payees by requiring bonding and licensing, annual
independent audits, and periodic onsite reviews.
- The bill would disqualify individuals
from serving as representative payees if they have been convicted of
offenses resulting in more than one year of imprisonment unless the
Commissioner grants an exception.
- The bill would require representative
payees to forfeit any fee collected from the beneficiary's benefits in
any month in which the payee misuses the beneficiary's funds.
- The bill would allow the SSA to treat
misused funds as overpayments to the representative payee, thus
providing another tool to recover the misused funds.
- The bill would extend civil monetary
penalties for violations of the law.
- The bill would authorize the SSA to
redirect benefit payments to a local Social Security Office if the
representative payee failed to provide the SSA with required
accounting reports.
Title
V: Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments
- The bill would prohibit organizations from charging customers for
services that the SSA provides free of charge unless the organization
informs the customer that the service is available from the SSA free
of charge.
- The bill would provide that the Commissioner may enter into an
arrangement with a State to administer State recognition payments
under Title VIII of the Social Security Act (payments to
Filipino-American veterans) on the State's behalf.
- The bill would eliminate deemed military wage credits for certain
active duty military service, which would allow the funds to be
applied to other military compensation and retirement initiatives.
- The bill would provide for several other technical and conforming
amendments.