Max Baucus: “I rise to strongly speak in favor of the legislation introduced today by Senators Feinstein and Gregg titled "The Social…”

“I rise to strongly speak in favor of the legislation introduced today by Senators Feinstein and Gregg titled "The Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act of 2002," indeed, I am an original cosponsor of this legislation. If enacted, this bill will reduce the misuse of individuals' Social Security numbers, SSNs, by others. As you well know, the Social Security number is increasingly being used for purposes not related to the administration of the Social Security program, because it is, in many cases, our national identification number. As a result, many people can gain access to the number, and this facilitates its use as a tool for illegal activity, most significantly for the crime of identity theft. In a report issued by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General, OIG, in May 1999, investigators concluded that most identity-related crimes involved the fraudulent use of a Social Security number. Additionally, the introduction of the SSN into the arena of electronic commerce has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in SSN misuse. Given the upward trend in SSN misuse, I feel that the Congress must take a fresh look at options for safeguarding Social Security numbers. I believe that the bill introduced by Senators Feinstein, Gregg and myself today is an important development in that effort. However, I want to make it clear that this bill will not eliminate all misuse of Social Security numbers.”