Murphy Introduces Bill To Tackle Social Security Fraud

Press Release

Congressman Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) joined Representatives David G. Valadao (CA-21) and Eric Swalwell (CA-15), two of Murphy's co-chairs in the United Solutions Caucus, in introducing bipartisan legislation to protect Americans -- especially children, veterans, and senior citizens -- from identity theft and fraud.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. It threatens the financial security of millions of Americans, as well the economic stability of the United States as a whole. In fact, every two seconds, another American becomes a victim of identity fraud. Even worse, children, veterans, and seniors are especially vulnerable to such attacks. Despite these alarming statistics, there is a high prevalence of unnecessarily printed Social Security numbers on documents issued by the federal government.

The Social Security Fraud Prevention Act of 2015 addresses concerns regarding the prevalence of Social Security Numbers on government-issued documents. Specifically, the legislation aims to specify the circumstances under which inclusion of full SSNs are necessary and otherwise partially redact or completely remove the SSN from government-issued documents.

"By printing Social Security numbers unnecessarily on various government-issued documents, the federal government is actually promoting instead of protecting against the growing threat of identity theft," said Congressman Murphy. "This common-sense bill would right this wrong to help keep our most vulnerable citizens from falling victim to identity theft. I thank my United Solutions Caucus co-chairs for their leadership on this important bill to combat fraud and protect our seniors, veterans, children, and economy from this costly crime."

"By reducing the number of mailed documents that contain full Social Security numbers, Congress can lessen the occurrence and mitigate the impacts of identity theft," said Congressman Valadao. "The fact that this crime affects children, seniors, and veterans makes it even more imperative that the federal government does everything in its power to prevent identity theft."

'With identity theft growing in the U.S., we must take the crime seriously and take action to protect consumers. I'm proud to join with my United Solutions Caucus colleague, Rep. Valadao to introduce this important legislation to remove Social Security Numbers from government documents where unnecessary or redact these numbers when they are necessary. We can't afford to ignore this growing problem, and this commonsense legislation would take steps to reduce fraud and safeguard Americans," said Congressman Eric Swalwell.

Source