Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3779, the Social Security Fraud Prevention Act of 2016, as amended. As my colleague, the gentleman from Utah, has noted, this bipartisan legislation has been introduced by Representative David Valadao and cosponsored by Mr. Swalwell, both from California. This bill would strengthen efforts to prevent identity theft. In particular, it would prohibit Federal agencies from including the Social Security number of any individual on documents sent in the U.S. mail, unless an agency head determines that it is absolutely necessary to do so. Also, through regulations, agencies would, in the future, specify the precise circumstances under which they would need to include Social Security numbers in printed and mailed documents inside the envelope. This bill would also require agencies to partially redact Social Security numbers, where feasible, and restrict the visibility of Social Security numbers on the outside of any package sent by mail. As reported by the Department of Justice, nearly 18 million Americans are victims of identity theft per year. According to the 2016 Identity Fraud Study conducted by the Javelin Strategy & Research firm, identity theft has resulted in losses exceeding $112 billion over the last 6 years alone. That amounts to $35,600 stolen per minute over the last 6 years. The Javelin study also indicates that, as the U.S.…”