[Page: H9990]---
Mr. OSE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3218) to amend title 31, United States Code, to prohibit the appearance of Social Security account numbers on or through unopened mailings of checks or other drafts issued on public money in the Treasury.
The Clerk read as follows:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Number Confidentiality Act of 1999''.
[Page: H9991]
SEC. 2. OPEN DISCLOSURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS ON THE FACE OF GOVERNMENT CHECK MAILINGS PROHIBITED.
Section 3327 of title 31 of the United States Code (relating to general authority to issue checks and other drafts) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``The Secretary''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall take such actions as are necessary to ensure that Social Security account numbers (including derivatives of such numbers) are not visible on or through unopened mailings of checks or other drafts described in subsection (a) of this section.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITIONAL RULE.
(a) IN GENERAL.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to all mailings of checks or other drafts issued on or after the date which is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) PHASE-IN OF AMENDMENTS.--Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall commence procedures to gradually implement the amendments made by this Act in advance of the effective date described in subsection (a). Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for each of the next two years, the Secretary shall transmit to each House of the Congress a report describing the manner and extent to which the requirements of the preceding sentence have been carried out.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. OSE) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. TURNER) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. OSE).
Mr. OSE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. CALVERT).
Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I rise as the author of H.R. 3218, the Social Security Number Confidentiality Act of 1999.
First, though, I would like to thank the leadership for bringing the problem of personal privacy into the national arena, especially the gentleman from Florida (Mr. SHAW), chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means, who presently has a more comprehensive bill before the House, for his long-time advocacy of personal information privacy.
H.R. 3218 is only a small step toward protecting all Americans from identity theft, and I look forward to working with the gentleman from Florida (Chairman SHAW) next year.
H.R. 3218 stops the Federal Government from making identity theft any easier for con artists. How? My bill prohibits the appearance of Social Security account numbers on or through unopened mailings of checks or other drafts issued by the Treasury Department.
This problem was brought to my attention by senior citizens in my district who revealed that their Social Security numbers appeared in the windowed part of their Social Security checks, making them easy targets to scam artists. Just remember the credit card scam that victimized military officers whose names, addresses, and Social Security numbers were printed in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
Congress has since halted this practice. Is it not time that we take steps to ensure the safety and privacy for our senior citizens?
Just last month, the Treasury Department confirmed that Social Security numbers would no longer be visible through the windows of benefits checks, such as Social Security checks.
However, the need for this legislation still exists. Any future administration could, for the sake of time or efficiency, return to the practice of using Social Security numbers for positive identification. The banking industry's concern over efficiency has been addressed in my bill by leaving Social Security numbers on the benefit checks, just not in a place where it can be seen in a windowed envelope.
H.R. 3218 ensures that seniors are never again put at risk of having their Social Security numbers displayed in plain view where they are available for criminals and fraud. It will protect the privacy and confidentiality of our Social Security numbers.
Again, I would like to thank the leadership and the gentleman from Florida (Chairman SHAW) for bringing this bill to the floor for consideration.
Mr. TURNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3218, the Social Security Number Confidentiality Act, which amends the law to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make necessary changes to ensure that Social Security numbers are not visible through the unopened mailings of government checks or other drafts.
I appreciate the gentleman from California (Mr. CALVERT) for bringing this legislation forward, and I also commend the Department of the Treasury which also noted that this change needed to be made.
In fact, in August of this year, the Treasury Department announced that Social Security numbers would no longer be visible through the envelope window of checks mailed to Social Security recipients.
This past September, the Treasury Department began using the check numbers rather than the Social Security numbers to identify and to retrieve payments that are ineligible for delivery. This was a welcome and a necessary change.
I commend the gentleman from California (Mr. CALVERT) and the Department of the Treasury both for noting that this important change needed to be made on the mailings of our Nation's Social Security checks.
It is interesting to note that there are a number of House Members who also have privacy bills that are pending who are anxious to have this House act on their legislation. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. KLECZKA) has H.R. 1450; the gentleman from Florida (Mr. SHAW) has H.R. 4857; the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. HOOLEY) has H.R. 4311; the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. MARKEY) has H.R. 4611. All of these bills are worthy of consideration by this Congress.
Unfortunately, time seems to be running out on these important measures that are designed, as the bill of the gentleman from California (Mr. CALVERT) is designed, to protect the privacy of American citizens.
Again, clearly, our citizens do not deserve to have their Social Security numbers displayed to the public on the envelopes in which they receive their Social Security checks.
Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to join in adopting this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OSE. Madam Speaker, I also urge adoption of this bill. Having no other requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. OSE) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3218.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. OSE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
END