IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 97 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Government should take all appropriate measures to ensure that citizens 

continue to be provided with paper-based information, products and services, and public notices while providing, where appropriate, the ability 

for all citizens to opt-in to electronic delivery if they so choose. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2013 

Mr. DUFFY (for himself and Mr. MICHAUD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the Federal Government should take all appropriate 

measures to ensure that citizens continue to be provided 

with paper-based information, products and services, and 

public notices while providing, where appropriate, the 

ability for all citizens to opt-in to electronic delivery 

if they so choose. 

Whereas the Federal Government has a duty to provide important information about government programs and 

services in a manner that is accessible to all citizens; 

Whereas paper-based information enhances transparency 

while improving access and citizen participation; 

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Whereas more than one-third of the United States population 

lacks broadband access at home; 

Whereas according to the Pew Internet Project, 47 percent 

of people in the United States age 65 and older do not 

use Internet or E-mail; 

Whereas according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), 8.2 percent of United States households accounting for 17,000,000 adults are unbanked and 

a further 20.1 percent of households with 51,000,000 

adults are underbanked; 

Whereas recent surveys by major polling organizations have 

confirmed that the majority of people in the United 

States would like to continue receiving paper-based information, products, and services; 

Whereas the United States Treasury has ended the sale of 

paper savings bonds, which can now only be bought online in electronic format, despite the fact that paper 

bonds comprised $1,400,000,000 of the $1,900,000,000 

in savings bonds sold during fiscal year 2012; 

Whereas the Social Security Administration has eliminated 

the paper version of the Annual Earnings Statement, an 

important financial planning tool, and the only one many 

low-income United States citizens will ever receive; 

Whereas the Social Security Administration has announced 

plans to move virtually all seniors currently receiving Social Security benefit checks through the mail into a direct 

deposit or debit card method of delivery; 

Whereas elderly citizens may be unfamiliar or uneasy with 

electronic commerce and are particularly susceptible to 

identity theft and other fraudulent schemes; 

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Whereas the Social Security Administration receives an average of 50 reports of direct deposit-related fraud each day 

related to schemes perpetrated on elderly and disabled 

beneficiaries; 

Whereas the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made the decision to discontinue mailing tax forms to taxpayers still 

filing by mail in 2010, forcing consumers without Internet access to source these important documents from 

public libraries or post offices, where availability of tax 

forms is often inconsistent; 

Whereas 20,000,000 returns were submitted on paper in 

2010; 

Whereas the IRS has also begun issuing tax refunds in the 

form of prepaid debit cards, which has contributed to a 

proliferation of violent criminal activity, fraud, and has 

resulted in a loss to the United States Treasury of 

$5,200,000,000 in fraudulent refunds in 2010 alone; and 

Whereas the Veterans’ Administration has invested 

$491,000,000 in a paperless claims system, yet claims 

taking more than 125 days to process have increased by 

a factor of three since its introduction: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the Federal Government should take all ap4 propriate measures to ensure that citizens continue 

5 to be provided with paper-based information, prod6 ucts and services, and public notices while providing, 

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•HRES 97 IH 

1 where appropriate, the ability for all citizens to opt2 in to electronic delivery if they so choose; and 

3 (2) decisions by Federal Government agencies 

4 regarding the elimination of paper-based informa5 tion, products, or services should be subject to over6 sight by Congress. 

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