Max Baucus: “today I am introducing the Safeguard of New Employee Information Act of 1998. This bill will ensure that the mechanisms…”

“today I am introducing the Safeguard of New Employee Information Act of 1998. This bill will ensure that the mechanisms created in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to enhance our child support enforcement system will not lead to a misuse of personal information. I believe that my bill will assure that new employee information is kept confidential without compromising the usefulness of the National Directory of New Hires. The legislation provides clear safeguards against the abuse of personal employee information, and makes sure that the information is erased two years after entry. As we all know, child support is a critical part of welfare reform. I strongly support the measures in PRWORA that help states track and crack down on parents who fail to pay court-ordered child support. In response to the fact that over 30 percent of child support cases involve parents who do not live in the same state as their children, a National Directory of New Hires was created to assist states in locating parents who reside in other states.”