Social Security Child Protection Act of 2018

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1512) to amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for the reissuance of Social Security account numbers to young children in cases where confidentiality has been compromised, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1512, which is currently under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the history of this legislation begins in my district in Southlake, Texas. A constituent of mine called my office very distraught that her mail had been stolen, and with it, her newborn baby's Social Security card and number. A week later, a felon with an extensive history of forgery, credit card abuse, and identity theft was apprehended, and in his possession was the Social Security card of my newborn constituent.

The child's mother, rightfully so, was very concerned that her 6- month-old child's identity had been compromised, and I requested on her behalf that the Social Security Administration issue the child a new Social Security card. We thought that would be an easy thing to do. The request was denied.

My staff and my district office took it on themselves to get the law changed and asked me would I consider introducing a bill to do that. So today, we are here to try to protect a group of the most vulnerable of our Social Security cardholders.

Members of this Chamber know Social Security numbers have become an increasingly valuable target for identity theft due to their widespread use throughout the financial sector.

Madam Speaker, children like my constituent are particularly vulnerable to Social Security number theft because usually, before the age of 13, they do not work, they do not drive, they do not try to get credit cards, and they don't try to establish credit, which would extend the time a thief can use that child's identity before the theft is even noticed.

Current policy does little to protect children whose Social Security cards and numbers have been stolen. I believe H.R. 1512 is the answer to this problem. This bill requires that the Social Security Administration issue a new Social Security number for a child age 13 and under when a child's Social Security card has been stolen and the child's parent or guardian demonstrates to the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration under penalty of perjury that it was stolen while being transmitted by Social Security to the child's address, that is, by U.S. mail.

This bill is a commonsense solution. We need to combat identity theft. I encourage all Members to vote today to protect our constituents, especially our most vulnerable.

I thank my fellow Texan, Lloyd Doggett, for cosponsoring the bill and helping me introduce the bill. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this bipartisan bill.

I would also like to thank, Madam Speaker, my district staff who worked

on this problem so hard in the beginning and the committee staff who helped me shepherd this through to its chairman, Mr. Johnson, of the Social Security Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Plano, Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), who is the chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to say thank you to my colleagues on the committee who have worked on this bill, and especially Congressman Doggett, who has helped every step of the way.

H.R. 1512 is a very commonsense solution that is supported by the Association of Mature American Citizens and the AARP.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record their letters of support.

Association of Mature

American Citizens,

Washington, DC, March 17, 2017.

Hon. Kenny Marchant,

24th District, Texas,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Lloyd Doggett,

35th District, Texas,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Marchant and Congressman Doggett: On

behalf of the 1.3 million members of AMAC, the Association of

Mature American Citizens, I am writing in strong support of

H.R. 1512, the Social Security Child Protection Act. This

important piece of legislation offers more protection for

children under 14 who have been victims of Social Security

card theft. This bill is as timely as it is simple in

protecting the identities of our nation's children.

The Social Security Child Protection Act is a real-life

solution to a real-time problem. As the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) recently reported, identity theft rose by

50% from 2014 to 2015. As millions of identities are

compromised each year due to Social Security card theft,

children are becoming a more attractive target to identity

thieves. H.R. 1512 does more to stem Social Security card

theft by making it easier for parents to request new Social

Security numbers for their children when their Social

Security card has been stolen, in transit, from the Social

Security Administration (SSA).

Under current policy, parents of children under 14 are able

to request a new Social Security number only when they can

demonstrate harm has occurred as a direct result of Social

Security card theft. However, demonstrating a level of harm

requisite with current policy is difficult for most parents

because children do not typically participate in activities

where harm from Social Security card theft would be made

apparent (getting a driver's license, buying a home, opening

a line of credit, etc.). H.R. 1512 would make it easier for

parents to get a new Social Security number for their

children because they would only need to show their child's

Social Security card was stolen in transit from the SSA--not

that their child suffered harm.

As an organization committed to representing the interests

of mature Americans and seniors, AMAC is dedicated to

ensuring senior citizens' interests are protected. We thank

Congressman Marchant and Congressman Doggett for their

commonsense and practical solution to protect children from

identity theft. AMAC is pleased to offer our organization's

full support to the Social Security Child Protection Act.

Sincerely,

Dan Weber,

President and Founder of AMAC.

Again, I encourage all Members to vote ``yes'' to make sure that children who have their Social Security cards stolen are protected.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, the Social Security number really is a key to identity theft, and thieves have had a field day with these Social Security numbers and the identity theft and the invasion of privacy that occurs.

A full 10 years ago, I authored a measure here in the House to remove this information from the Medicare card. The next session, finally in 2010, we were able to pass that through the House with the help of Representative Johnson. It was a bipartisan initiative.

Then the Senate didn't pass it.

When Republicans took over control of the House, Mr. Johnson appropriately took the lead on that legislation, and he worked at it for a while, and, finally, in 2015, he got it passed to remove the Social Security number from the Medicare card.

As Representative Johnson knows, finally, now, 10 years from when we started in June of this year, it looks like seniors will begin getting their Medicare cards without the Social Security number on it, to protect their privacy and to avoid the exploitation that has occurred.

To his credit, Mr. Marchant has identified another group of very vulnerable individuals: children. Carnegie Mellon did a study that reported that nearly 10 percent of America's children have had their identity already stolen, and the Social Security number is a factor in that. That is significantly higher than it is for adults, some 51 times higher, according to the Carnegie Mellon study.

Children are particularly vulnerable in this regard because they don't have a driver's license. They are really kind of a blank canvas. They don't work, and they don't establish credit. This allows theft and fraud to go undetected for many years in some cases.

By the time that they are young adults, they could unknowingly be buried in debt and face delays in very important steps in their education, in their work, in getting their first job, in getting that driver's license or applying for a student loan.

I salute Mr. Marchant for seeing that this is a problem. I am pleased to join him and my colleague, Mr. Davis, from Chicago in supporting this measure.

Children and their parents or their guardians acting on their behalf deserve a streamlined process that will allow for a child to be issued a new Social Security number long before any misuse occurs.

No child should have to wait for the inevitable harm to come along and have their identity stolen before action occurs. Building on the success that we have had with seniors, and I hope in a much more prompt fashion than we were able to do it for seniors, we now, through Mr. Marchant's efforts, are working to ensure, once again on a bipartisan basis, that we provide the same kind of protection for infants and children from baseless identity thieves.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 1512, the Social Security Child Protection Act, which was introduced jointly by Representatives Kenny Marchant and Lloyd Doggett, both of Texas. I note that my colleague, Mr. Johnson, is also in the House. This means that Texas is serious about children and protecting them. This bipartisan legislation would protect children in cases where their Social Security card is stolen from the mail.

Most parents apply for a Social Security number for their child soon after the baby is born. They can do this easily and securely right in the hospital. The Social Security Administration then assigns a number to the child and mails the card to the child's family.

Unfortunately, sometimes these letters do not reach their intended destination. They can be stolen from the mail. In fact, the Social Security numbers of children are highly valued by identity thieves. Fraudsters can wreak havoc, creating an extensive record of bad debt and fraud associated with a child's number.

Currently, Social Security will issue a new number to anyone, child or adult, who can show that their number has been misused and that they have been harmed. However, in the case of a child, sometimes years go by before the family learns that a child's number has been used for fraud.

Under the bill, the Social Security Administration would issue a child a new Social Security number if their card is stolen from the mail. The family would no longer have to prove that harm has occurred before the child can be issued a new number.

Madam Speaker, this is a commonsense measure, and I want to commend Mr. Marchant for thinking it up, thinking of it and responding to a need that was expressed to him by one of his constituents. It is a great measure. I am pleased to support it, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I will close.

I am pleased to note that H.R. 1512 and other bills before us today take important steps to decrease identity theft. I know that identity theft is one of the top issues that the Chicago Taxpayer Advocate addresses. Helping prevent identity fraud and helping taxpayers deal with identity theft are important improvements.

Madam Speaker, I urge passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my fellow Texans, Mr. Marchant and Mr. Doggett, for introducing this commonsense bill.

Children who have had their Social Security cards stolen from the mail before it even gets to them deserve a new Social Security number. This helps these youngest victims of identity theft start out with a clean slate. It is the right thing to do, and I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation.

As the chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee, I have been committed to doing all I can to protect Americans from identity theft. This bill helps us get there. But, Madam Speaker, while this bill will help child victims of identity theft, the fact is that it still doesn't fix the real problem.

The real problem is that we use Social Security numbers to both identify and authenticate people. It just doesn't make sense, but we have been doing this for decades, and I think it is time to put a stop to it.

When Social Security created Social Security numbers back in 1936, they were designed for a limited purpose: to track earnings and administer Social Security benefits for hardworking Americans. Back then, there wasn't much thought about keeping your number secret. But as we all know, that has changed since these numbers are used for everything from getting credit to enrolling kids in school.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 1512, the Social Security Child Protection Act, is a step in the right direction, and I urge all Members to support it.

I also want to take this opportunity to begin a serious conversation about the future of Social Security numbers and how we use them. I invite Members to join me. The American people deserve no less.

Mr. Speaker, I am not recorded for roll call votes on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 and Wednesday, April 18, 2018 because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted Aye on final passage for the following bills: