"Unfortunately, knowing someone whose identity has been stolen is all too common," Grassley said. "These crimes are an egregious invasion of privacy and destroy the credit of hard-working Americans. This bill will help identity theft victims get the records they need to protect their identities and restore their good name."
Grassley is a co-sponsor of the identity theft victims assistance bill, which has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent. The bill now must be considered by the full Senate.
The Identity Theft Victims Assistance Act would:
?Establish a nation-wide process for victims of identity theft to obtain business records related to the crime, facilitate the correction of false records and assist the law enforcement community in obtaining evidence to apprehend the thieves.
?Clarify that for victims of identity theft, the statute of limitations for the Fair Credit Reporting Act will be five years, rather than the current two years.
?Require consumer credit reporting agencies to block reporting of bad credit that results from identity thefts.
?Expand the role of the federal Coordinating Committee on False Identification to examine how the federal government can better help state and local identity theft law enforcement, and best provide timely and current information regarding terrorists and terrorist activity related to identity theft.
The legislation is supported by the National Center for Victims of Crime, the Fraternal Order of Police, Consumers Union, Identity Theft Resource Center, Police Executive Forum, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Amazon.com.
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington is lead sponsor of the bill. In addition to Grassley, co-sponsors include Sens. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Charles Schumer of New York and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Grassley has long been a leader in Congress in the charge against identity theft. In addition to this bill, he is a co-sponsor of legislation that would make it harder for criminals to steal someone's identity. The Identity Theft Prevention Act would impose additional duties on credit issuers and credit bureaus to ensure the accuracy of information in credit applications. In addition, Grassley is working with others in the Senate to introduce a bill that would increase criminal penalties for perpetrators of identity theft.