OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Wolf Cosponsors Bill Aimed At Curbing Identity Theft

Press Release

Date: Sept. 6, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net


Wolf Cosponsors Bill Aimed At Curbing Identity Theft

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) today announced that he has cosponsored bipartisan legislation designed to address the growing problem of identity theft by helping Americans keep their Social Security Numbers (SSNs) private.

The measure, H.R. 3046, would make SSNs less available to potential identity thieves by limiting use of the SSN as an identifier by government and business. The bill contains important prohibitions against displaying SSNs on public Web sites, identification cards and tags, and checks issued for payment. The measure also would direct the National Research Council to conduct a study to evaluate the feasibility of banning the use of the SSN as an authenticator. The bill has 50 cosponsors and is pending before the House Ways and Means Committee.

"We must put some commonsense limits on the use of Social Security Numbers in order to make them less accessible to predators and criminals," said Wolf, who added that the Federal Trade Commission cites identity theft as the most common complaint from consumers in all 50 states.

According to the FTC, as many as 9 million Americans each year are victims of identity theft.


Source
arrow_upward