Textbook Affordability Act of 2004

Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation to protect one of Americans' most valuable but vulnerable assets: Social Security Numbers. The bill I propose today is identical to legislation that is making progress in the House of Representatives. Just before recess, the House Ways and Means Committee passed the bill not only with bipartisan support, but with unanimous support. Even though this bill has differences from S. 228, which I proposed at the beginning of this Congress to help prevent the misuse of Social Security numbers, the issue is too important for me, or for any other Senator, to stand by and do nothing.

The legislation, which in the House is H.R. 2971, was authored by Representative Clay Shaw, the Republican from Florida's 22nd Congressional District. Very briefly, the key provisions of the legislation will do the following: It will generally prohibit the Federal and State governments, and private businesses, from displaying, buying, and selling Social Security Numbers. However, realizing that there are certain instances where Social Security Numbers must be communicated, the bill makes exceptions for areas such as law enforcement, national security, vehicle registration, and certain limited forms of research.

The bill will also toughen the methods that the Social Security Administration uses to verify birth records, and that it uses to issue Social Security numbers to newborn infants.

Additionally, the legislation will prohibit companies from requiring consumers to provide their Social Security Numbers, and will treat any such requirement as a prohibited unfair trade practice.

The bill will also punish violators with fines and up to five years in prison, with up to 25 years for those who are involved in drug trafficking or terrorism.

The bill also allows other sections of Federal law to impose stronger restrictions, and calls for reports analyzing the process for issuing Social Security Numbers.

This legislation is necessary to help stop the epidemic of identity theft that has been plaguing America and its citizens.

According to a report that the Federal Trade Commission released in September, 2003, almost ten million people were victimized by identity theft in the previous year. This led to losses of over 47 billion dollars.

The damage is not merely monetary. According to the same FTC report, the average victim had to spend thirty hours that is, three-fourths of a standard work-week--to resolve the problems. Often, the entire process can drag out for years.

Perhaps worst of all, victims must confront the trauma that someone else has hijacked their very identity. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a non-profit group that operates in my home state of California: ``Each time you answer the telephone or go to the mailbox, you wonder what new bill will appear. The idea of dealing with yet another collection agency or a newly discovered credit card leaves you filled with dread, rage and helplessness. . . . Some feel like they are experiencing a form of `post-traumatic stress disorder' for a short time.''

Theft of a Social Security number can be especially devastating, because that piece of information has become a de facto universal identifier in American society.

One recent book on privacy in the United States documents how far the use of Social Security Numbers has spread beyond its original purpose, when they were created in 1936, of tracking American workers' earnings and benefits. According to the book: ``The SSN began to be used for military personnel, legally admitted aliens, anyone receiving or applying for federal benefits, food stamps, school lunch program eligibility, draft registration, and federal loans. State and local governments, as well as private sector entities such as schools and banks, began to use SSNs as well--for drivers' licenses, birth certificates, blood donation, jury selection, worker's compensation, occupational licenses, and marriage licenses. `` (SOURCE: Daniel Solove and Marc Rotenberg, Information Privacy Law, Aspen Publishers, 2003, at page 447-48.)

Despite this widespread use of Social Security Numbers, according to the General Accounting Office, ``No single federal law regulates the overall use or restricts the disclosure of SSNs by governments.'' (SOURCE: Social Security Numbers: SSNs are Widely Used by Government and Could be Better Protected, 2002 (Report Number GAO-02-691T) at page 5). As a result, the use of Social Security Numbers is regulated by an inconsistent and insufficient patchwork of State and Federal laws, that often leaves the numbers in plain view of the whole world.

It isn't surprising, then, that the sale of Social Security Numbers is proceeding at a furious pace. According to the GAO in a report that it released earlier this year, ``Internet-based information resellers whose Web sites we accessed also obtain SSNs from their customers and scour public records and other publicly available information to provide the information to persons willing to pay a fee.'' (SOUCE: Social Security Numbers: Private Sector Entities Routinely Obtain and Use SSNs, and Laws Limit the Disclosure of this Information (2004, Report Number GAO-04-11), on Highlights Page).

I personally first became aware of the need for a law to restrict the sale and display of Social Security numbers about eight years ago, when one of my staff members sat me down and downloaded my own Social Security Number from the Internet in a matter of minutes. Congress has done shockingly little to protect Social Security Numbers since then.

Therefore, we badly need a uniform law such as the one that the GAO report anticipates. Year after year, I have advocated and proposed such legislation that would restrict the public display and use of Social Security Numbers.

In the 106th Congress, I introduced S. 2966.

In the 107th Congress, I introduced, S. 848 and S. 3100.

In the 108th Congress, I introduced S. 228.

None of these bills moved. Today, I stand before you yet again, to introduce a fifth bill to take steps that will make it more difficult for thieves to steal this precious resource. This is not a partisan issue--all of the bills that I introduced in the past were bipartisan. And so is this bill: in the House, as I mentioned, it was passed unanimously in the Ways and Means Committee, and also has 41 co- sponsors, including 16 Republicans and 25 Democrats. This issue does not concern Republican government or Democratic government; rather, this is an issue of good government.

Earlier this year, the President signed into law a bill that I helped to author, to increase punishment for those who steal the identities of others. But punishment is not enough. We need to stop identity theft from occurring in the first place.

We have only three weeks until the end of this Congress to enact this legislation to prevent such thefts by protecting Social Security Numbers. If we do not pass this legislation now, we will have to wait yet again to give basic protection to information that should have been under lock and key long ago. It is time for us to act. Thank you.

I ask unanimous consent, the text of the accompanying bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Health Promotion FIRST (Funding Integrated Research, Synthesis and Training) Act, legislation to provide the foundation for solid planning and a scientific base for health promotion.

Between one half and two-thirds of premature deaths in the United States and much of our health care costs are caused by just three risk factors: poor diet, physical inactivity, and tobacco. Recent news reports have highlighted the alarming increase in obesity across the Nation. In the last 10 years, obesity rates have increased by more than 60 percent among adults--with approximately 59 million adults considered obese today.

We also know that medical costs are directly related to lifestyle risk factors. The September 2000 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion reported that approximately 25 percent of all employer medical costs are caused by lifestyle factors. Emerging research is showing the value may be closer to 50 percent today.

Medical care costs are reaching crisis levels. Some major employers are actively exploring discontinuing medical insurance coverage if costs are not controlled. The Federal Government has the same cost problems with its own employees, and the cost to Medicare of lifestyle- related diseases will only increase as Baby Boomers retire, and more and more beneficiaries are diagnosed with lifestyle-related illnesses.

An obvious first step to addressing our health and medical cost problems is to help people stay healthy.

The good news is that both the public and private sectors are starting to do more in the area of health prevention and health promotion. For instance, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 included several new prevention initiatives for Medicare beneficiaries.

Also in recent years Congress and the Administration have worked together to pass numerous pieces of legislation to establish grants to provide health services for improved nutrition, increased physical activity, and obesity prevention.

However, despite the success of many health promotion programs, there is a quality gap between the best programs and typical programs. This occurs because most professionals are not aware of the best practice methods. Furthermore, even the best programs reach a small percentage of the population and do poorly in creating lasting change.

The Health Promotion FIRST Act will build the foundation for a stable coordinated strategy to develop the basic and applied science of health promotion, synthesize research results and disseminate findings to researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop strategic plans focusing on the following: how to develop the basic and applied science of health promotion; how to best utilize the authority and resources of the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies to integrate health promotion concepts into health care and other elements of society; how to synthesize health promotion research into practical guidelines that can be easily disseminated and; how to foster a strong health workforce for health promotion activities.

Additional funding is also provided for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health to augment current activities related to health promotion research and dissemination.

We have made a good start, at the Federal level, in addressing the needs of health promotion. However, we need to go further. I believe this legislation will serve as a good basis for Congress and the administration to take the next step in developing health promotion programs for the next decade.

Mr. President. The safety and security of our Nation's borders has been on all of our minds lately. In the past, we have approached the problem in a stovepipe manner, focusing on what illegal items criminals were bringing across our borders. We need to begin thinking about these challenges differently.

Increasingly, smuggling organizations do not tie themselves to the movement of one particular commodity, but are specialists in smuggling merchandise of any type into the United States undetected. So long as there is profit to be made, smugglers don't really care what they smuggle. If we are going to encourage effective investigations and prosecutions of these smuggling organizations, we must ensure sufficient penalties to send a clear message that smuggling--whether it's heroin, pirated CDs, AK-47s, or look-a-like designer hand bags--is wrong, and will be severely punished.

Today I am introducing a bill that will do just that. It is very simple. Raise the penalty for smuggling contraband into the United States from a maximum of 5 years to a maximum of 20 years. This will give prosecutors and law enforcement agents a better tool to go after those who try and evade our customs, border, and port security efforts. If we are serious about securing our borders, then we need to be serious about punishing those who try and evade our controls. I urge my colleagues to join me in sponsoring this legislation.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to create a Federal charter for the Pulaski Cadets, Ltd. The purpose of this organization is to perpetuate the history of General Kazimierz Pulaski and military personnel of Polish origin with other nationals who served with the Continental Army of America in the Revolutionary War. Leaders of the Pulaski Cadets work hard devoting time and energy to the memory of a military hero, General Pulaski.

It is fitting that the Pulaski Cadets should be granted a Federal charter to show the appreciation and respect Congress maintains for this organization and the values espoused by its members. I am proud to stand before the Senate and proclaim my admiration for this group and the many soldiers and leaders of Polish origin who have made our country great and continue to protect Americans at home and abroad. Their contribution has been recognized by many in New Jersey, including Mayor Joe Vas, of Perth Amboy, who has been a key supporter in their quest for a charter.

I believe it is vital to study and emulate those leaders who came before us, particularly those who left such an impressive mark on our country's behalf. As such, I ask the United States Senate to support a Federal Charter for the Pulaski Cadets.

I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.