Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Johnson for his leadership on this, and I concur fully with the remarks he made. In 2008, I filed this piece of legislation with Chairman Johnson's help. At that time, we worked together and passed it through the House, and the Senate failed to act. {time} 1450 And since that time, whether it was under a Republican or Democratic administration, there has not been sufficient priority placed on this by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to address this question of privacy. It is a serious matter. It clearly requires legislation, and this time, hopefully, the Senate will respond to our bipartisan initiative and get it passed into law. There are, indeed, about 48 million Americans, seniors, individuals with disabilities, who are carrying in their wallet or purse today something that makes them vulnerable to identity theft, and that something is their Medicare card. Apart from the Social Security card itself, the Medicare card is the most frequently issued government document that displays a Social Security number, and that practice invites foul play. It was back in 2007 when the Bush administration, recognizing this danger by the overuse of Social Security numbers, sent out a directive to Federal agencies to eliminate the use of Social Security numbers and explore alternative identifiers.…”