Jon Kyl: “the purpose of this bill, ``The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act'', is to address one of the fastest growing…”

“the purpose of this bill, ``The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act'', is to address one of the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft. Losses related to identity theft have nearly doubled in the last two years. Today, 95% of financial crimes arrests involve identity theft. Trans Union, one of the country's three major credit bureaus, says calls to its fraud division have risen from 3,000 a month in 1992 to nearly 43,000 a month this year. This is more than a troubling trend. Indeed, with increasing frequency, criminals--sometimes part of an international criminal syndicate--are misappropriating law-abiding citizens' identifying information such as names, birth dates, and social security numbers. And while the results of the theft of identification information can be devastating for the victims, often costing a citizen thousands of dollars to clear his credit or good name, today the law recognizes neither the victim nor the crime. The bill, as reported unanimously by the Judiciary Committee, does both. It recognizes the crime by making it unlawful to steal personal information and enhancing penalties against identity thiefs. It recognizes victims by giving them the ability to seek restitution for all costs involved in restoring lost credit and reputation.”