On the recordSeptember 17, 2024
I thank the chairman for his support, and I thank Mr. Larson for his engagement on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3784, a bill I introduced called the Improving Social Security's Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act. In 2021, roughly 1.5 million children were the victims of identity fraud. That is 1 in nearly 50 children. The numbers are staggering. Now, I as chairman, along with Ranking Member Larson, held a subcommittee hearing to discuss ways the Social Security Administration could responsibly do more to protect America's Social Security numbers from identity theft. The hearing also highlighted the government's failure to help individuals whose Social Security numbers had been compromised. During the hearing, we heard from Mrs. Hayward, who testified her family had been forced to navigate the Social Security Administration's bureaucratic maze to protect her daughter's financial future. Mr. Speaker, she told the subcommittee that after giving birth to her third child, she promptly submitted the proper paperwork for a new birth certificate and a Social Security card. While the birth certificate arrived without issue, the Social Security card did not. By the time her daughter was 7 weeks old, and having not received the card, she grew concerned and contacted the Social Security Administration about the fact that the website said that it had been sent and received when, in fact, it had not.…
