Opening Statement of the Hon. George W. Gekas, a Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania,
and Chairman, Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims

Hearing on Preserving the Integrity of Social Security Numbers and
Preventing Their Misuse by Terrorists and Identity Thieves

September 19, 2002

Chairman Shaw, it’s a pleasure to join with you and your colleagues on the Committee on Ways and Means . Thanks for your kind words of welcome.

I agree with your concerns about the overuse of the Social Security Number and its lack of privacy.

Times have changed since the Social Security Administration began producing the little green cards in 1937. We in the Congress need to determine what remedies can be applied to the use of the card and to the practices of the Social Security Administration.

I am very supportive of the efforts of Chairman Shaw to bolster protection of the Social Security Number. At the same time, we need to look at what else is needed to address the problem comprehensively.

In some cases, old laws need to be updated.

There’s no question in my mind that the criminal penalties for identity theft and for Social Security Number fraud, in particular, need to be strengthened.

We also need to look at whether tougher legal rules are needed so that the Social Security Administration will move faster to work with federal law enforcement agencies to stop the growth of identity fraud.

All Americans, especially Seniors and those approaching retirement, need to hear that the Social Security Administration is aggressive in preventing ineligible people from obtaining Social Security Numbers. It is only a short step from fraudulently obtaining Social Security Numbers to fraudulently obtaining benefits.

The structural problems of the Social Security program are well known and publicly debated. The problems with Social Security number fraud are much less well known, but equally important to protect benefits and the financial well being of the fund. I believe we can do much more to make it very difficult for terrorists, crooks and illegal workers to obtain Social Security Numbers.

Terrorists and crooks and the purveyors of illegal documents are getting smarter and many are experts in use of the Internet. We have to compel our government agencies and especially the Social Security Administration to get smarter too. We have to look at changing the business practices of the Social Security Administration to raise the bar against fraudulent and counterfeit source documents. We have to make it much more difficult for people to obtain two and three valid Social Security Numbers from this government agency.

The Social Security Number is the most common form of identification confirmation by Americans. It is absolutely vital that we make it extremely difficult for terrorists to abuse this fundamental key to the American identity.

I look forward to the testimony from the Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and from our other excellent witnesses. I want to particularly recognize Mr. Matthew Reindl. He has come here today from Great Neck, New York, to tell us about the difficulty of operating a small family business with strict adherence to federal laws, when his competition freely employs illegal workers because of the lack of enforcement by federal agencies, including especially, the INS.