Madam Chairwoman and Senator Kyl, thank you for allowing me to make a few comments on this important matter. As you know, I'm no longer a member of this subcommittee, but I remain very interested in making sure that we eradicate identity theft. So I thank the Chair for her indulgence.
The dangers to our society and its citizens that result from the misuse of personal information are significant. Social Security Number misuse is a subset of identity theft. This pervasive use of SSNs coupled with the advent of the Internet has opened up new opportunities for wrongdoers to create false identities. And we've all seen that when a person's name and other identifying information is stolen to commit theft or fraud, or to access confidential information, there can be devastating results. The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration reported that, "The tragedies of [September 11] demonstrate that SSN misuse and identity theft are ‘breeder' offenses with the ability to facilitate crimes beyond our imagination." We now know that identity theft was a prime modus operandi of the terrorists. The hijackers and their suspected accomplices committed identity theft, including at least one documented case of using a false Social Security number, to infiltrate American society while planning these attacks.
Congress can help make it a lot harder for these criminals to get this sensitive information. There are a number of bills currently pending in Congress that try to do just that. I've joined with Senators Feinstein and Kyl in sponsoring "The Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2001" to make it more difficult to steal someone's identity, and to impose additional duties on credit issuers and credit bureaus to ensure the accuracy of information in credit applications.
Let me say just a few words about some relevant data that my Finance Committee investigative staff has found with respect to the safeguarding of SSNs by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration reported that SSA has no programs designed to uncover illegal activity or to assist in the detection of terrorist activity. According to the Inspector General, "Once an individual obtains an SSN, either through proper or improper means, the agency has little ability to control the use of that number." SSA controls to detect or prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining a false or stolen SSN "do not always work as intended and are not always used." This is not good enough. Knowing what we know now about the 9-11 terrorists, the Social Security Administration's safeguarding of Social Security numbers must be among its highest priorities.
The Department of Veterans Affairs didn't fare much better in terms of improper access to and theft of Social Security numbers. I asked the Inspector General to examine cases involving identity theft by VA employees, patients or visitors. The Inspector General found losses to the VA to include $11.5 million in improper benefit payments; $52,000 in fraudulent credit card charges; and, $159,000 worth of medical treatment.
This supports the Inspector General's finding that "VA programs and operations have identified a continuing vulnerability to destruction, manipulation, use, and inappropriate disclosure of sensitive veteran identifier information." Although there are levels of access, once employee access is assigned, "restrictions have not been implemented to prevent full access to all veterans' information in that group." That information may include Social Security numbers and medical histories of psychosis or other mental ailments. This is very troubling.
Clearly, these agencies, as well as other federal agencies, need to reform their programs to identify and combat Social Security number misuse, and I intend to help them with this effort. But the federal agencies cannot do it alone. As people increasingly rely on credit cards for electronic commerce and daily business transactions, industry needs to step up to the plate to protect consumers' sensitive information. And Congress can enact tougher laws that make it harder for these criminals to obtain access to this information, and that severely penalize identity thieves. I hope we can minimize opportunities for invasions of privacy in the form of identity theft through legislative and oversight initiatives. The American people deserve no less than knowing that their identities are protected.