I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 220

To amend title II of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue 

Code of 1986 to protect the integrity and confidentiality of Social Security account numbers issued under such title, to prohibit the establishment in the Federal Government of any uniform national identifying 

number, and to prohibit Federal agencies from imposing standards for 

identification of individuals on other agencies or persons. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend title II of the Social Security Act and the Internal 

Revenue Code of 1986 to protect the integrity and confidentiality of Social Security account numbers issued 

under such title, to prohibit the establishment in the 

Federal Government of any uniform national identifying 

number, and to prohibit Federal agencies from imposing 

standards for identification of individuals on other agencies or persons.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Identity Theft Preven3 tion Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF THE SOCIAL SECU5 RITY ACCOUNT NUMBER. 

6 (a) REPEAL OF PROVISIONS AUTHORIZING CERTAIN

7 USAGES OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER.—

8 Section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 405(c)(2)) is amended—

10 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘(C)(i) It 

11 is the policy’’ and all that follows through clause 

12 (vi); 

13 (2) by striking subparagraphs (C)(ix), (E), and 

14 (H); and 

15 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and 

16 (G) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively. 

17 (b) NEW RULES APPLICABLE TO SOCIAL SECURITY

18 ACCOUNT NUMBERS.—Section 205(c)(2) of such Act is 

19 amended further—

20 (1) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(C)(i) All social security account numbers issued 

23 under this subsection shall be randomly generated. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Except as otherwise provided in this para25 graph—
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1 ‘‘(I) the social security account number issued 

2 under this subsection to any individual shall be the 

3 exclusive property of such individual, and 

4 ‘‘(II) the Social Security Administration shall 

5 not divulge the social security account number 

6 issued to any individual under this subsection to any 

7 agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern8 ment, to any State, political subdivision of a State, 

9 or agency or instrumentality of a State or political 

10 subdivision thereof, or to any other individual. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Clause (ii) shall not apply with respect to the 

12 use of the social security account number as an identifying 

13 number to the extent provided in section 6109(d) of the 

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to use of the so15 cial security account number for social security and re16 lated purposes).’’; and 

17 (2) by redesignating clauses (vii) and (viii) of 

18 subparagraph (C) as clauses (iv) and (v), respec19 tively. 

20 (c) USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS

21 UNDER INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—Subsection (d) of 

22 section 6109 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

23 amended—
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1 (1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘FOR SOCIAL

2 SECURITY AND RELATED PURPOSES’’ after ‘‘NUM3 BER’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘this title’’ and inserting ‘‘sec5 tion 86, chapter 2, and subtitle C of this title’’. 

6 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES AND RELATED RULES.—

7 (1) EFFECTIVE DATES.—Not later than 60 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

9 Commissioner of Social Security shall publish in the 

10 Federal Register the date determined by the Com11 missioner, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

12 Treasury, to be the earliest date thereafter by which 

13 implementation of the amendments made by this 

14 section is practicable. The amendments made by 

15 subsection (a) shall take effect on the earlier of such 

16 date or the date which occurs 5 years after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. The amendments made 

18 by subsection (b) shall apply with respect to social 

19 security account numbers issued on or after such 

20 earlier date. The amendments made by subsection 

21 (c) shall apply with respect to calendar quarters and 

22 taxable years beginning on or after such earlier date. 

23 (2) REISSUANCE OF NUMBERS.—The Commis24 sioner of Social Security shall ensure that, not later 

25 than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 
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1 Act, all individuals who have been issued social secu2 rity account numbers under section 205(c) of the 

3 Social Security Act as of the date prior to the earlier 

4 date specified in paragraph (1) are issued new social 

5 security account numbers in accordance with such 

6 section as amended by this section. Upon issuance of 

7 such new social security account numbers, any social 

8 security account numbers issued to such individuals 

9 prior to such earlier date specified in paragraph (1) 

10 shall be null and void and subject to the require11 ments of section 205(c)(2)(C)(ii)(II) of such Act, as 

12 amended by this section. Nothing in this section or 

13 the amendments made thereby shall be construed to 

14 preclude the Social Security Administration and the 

15 Secretary of the Treasury from cross-referencing 

16 such social security account numbers newly issued to 

17 individuals pursuant to this paragraph to the former 

18 social security account numbers of such individuals 

19 for purposes of administering title II or title XVI of 

20 such Act or administering the Internal Revenue 

21 Code of 1986 in connection with section 86, chapter 

22 2, and subtitle C thereof. 
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1 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE PRIVACY ACT 

2 OF 1974. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Privacy Act of 

4 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a note, 88 Stat. 1909) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (2) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this sub8 section shall not apply with respect to any disclosure which 

9 is required under regulations of the commissioner of social 

10 security pursuant to section 205(c)(2) of the social secu11 rity act or under regulations of the secretary of the treas12 ury pursuant to section 6109(d) of the internal revenue 

13 code of 1986.’’; and 

14 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(b) Except with respect to disclosures described in 

17 subsection (a)(2), no agency or instrumentality of the 

18 Federal Government, a State, a political subdivision of a 

19 State, or any combination of the foregoing may request 

20 an individual to disclose his social security account num21 ber, on either a mandatory or voluntary basis.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall take effect on the earlier date specified 

24 in section 2(d)(1). 
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1 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF GOVERNMENT-WIDE UNIFORM 

2 IDENTIFYING NUMBERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as authorized under sec4 tion 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, any two agencies 

5 or instrumentalities of the Federal Government may not 

6 implement the same identifying number with respect to 

7 any individual. 

8 (b) IDENTIFYING NUMBERS.—For purposes of this 

9 section—

10 (1) the term ‘‘identifying number’’ with respect 

11 to an individual means any combination of alpha-nu12 meric symbols which serves to identify such indi13 vidual, and 

14 (2) any identifying number and any one or 

15 more derivatives of such number shall be treated as 

16 the same identifying number. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this section 

18 shall take effect January 1, 2005. 

19 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF GOVERNMENT-ESTABLISHED 

20 IDENTIFIERS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a Fed22 eral agency may not—

23 (1) establish or mandate a uniform standard 

24 for identification of an individual that is required to 

25 be used by any other Federal agency, a State agen26 cy, or a private person for any purpose other than 
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1 the purpose of conducting the authorized activities 

2 of the Federal agency establishing or mandating the 

3 standard; or 

4 (2) condition receipt of any Federal grant or 

5 contract or other Federal funding on the adoption, 

6 by a State, a State agency, or a political subdivision 

7 of a State, of a uniform standard for identification 

8 of an individual. 

9 (b) TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN PRIVATE PERSONS.—

10 Notwithstanding subsection (a), a Federal agency may not 

11 establish or mandate a uniform standard for identification 

12 of an individual that is required to be used within the 

13 agency, or by any other Federal agency, a State agency, 

14 or a private person, for the purpose of—

15 (1) investigating, monitoring, overseeing, or 

16 otherwise regulating a transaction to which the Fed17 eral Government is not a party; or 

18 (2) administrative simplification. 

19 (c) REPEALER.—Any provision of Federal law en20 acted before, on, or after the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act that is inconsistent with subsection (a) or (b) is 

22 repealed, including sections 1173(b) and 1177(a)(1) of the 

23 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(b); 42 U.S.C. 

24 1320d–6(a)(1)). 

25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any 

2 of the following: 

3 (A) An Executive agency (as defined in 

4 section 105 of title 5, United States Code). 

5 (B) A military department (as defined in 

6 section 102 of such title). 

7 (C) An agency in the executive branch of 

8 a State government. 

9 (D) An agency in the legislative branch of 

10 the Government of the United States or a State 

11 government. 

12 (E) An agency in the judicial branch of the 

13 Government of the United States or a State 

14 government. 

15 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

16 the several States, the District of Columbia, the Vir17 gin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

18 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

19 Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Mar20 shall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or 

21 the Republic of Palau. 

22 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this section 

23 shall take effect January 1, 2005.

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