Social Security Child Protection Act of 2018

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. 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.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source