I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4852 

To require the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration to produce 

and make available at no cost to certain individuals in the United 

States an identification for the purpose of allowing such individuals 

to meet certain identification requirements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2023 

Mr. CASTEN (for himself, Ms. BUSH, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

TLAIB, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. CHU, Mr. 

THANEDAR, Mr. CLEAVER, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To require the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration to produce and make available at no cost to 

certain individuals in the United States an identification 

for the purpose of allowing such individuals to meet 

certain identification requirements, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IDs for an Inclusive 

5 Democracy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 

4 the Social Security Administration shall produce and 

5 make available at no cost to individuals in the United 

6 States who submit an application under subsection (f) an 

7 identification pursuant to the requirements in the report 

8 issued by the Task Force on Federal Identification Cards 

9 under section 3(i) that can be presented by such individ10 uals to satisfy certain identification requirements. 

11 (b) USE OF IDENTIFICATION.—With respect to an in12 dividual, the identification described in subsection (a) shall 

13 be deemed sufficient to satisfy identification requirements 

14 to the same extent and for the same purposes that any 

15 driver’s license or identification card issued by a State is 

16 accepted to satisfy such requirements. 

17 (c) CONTENT OF IDENTIFICATION.—With respect to 

18 an individual, the identification described in subsection (a) 

19 shall include— 

20 (1) the full name of the individual; 

21 (2) the date of birth of the individual; 

22 (3) the gender of the individual, which shall in23 clude an option for male, female, and X (rep24 resenting an unspecified or other gender identity), as 

25 attested by the individual; 

26 (4) a photograph of the individual; 


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1 (5) a unique identification number; 

2 (6) the date the identification was issued to the 

3 individual; and 

4 (7) the date on which the identification is no 

5 longer valid. 

6 (d) SECURITY FEATURES OF IDENTIFICATION.—The 

7 identification described in subsection (a) shall include— 

8 (1) physical security features to make the iden9 tification resistant to tampering, counterfeiting, du10 plicating, and fraudulent use; and 

11 (2) common machine-readable identity informa12 tion based on defined minimum data elements as de13 termined by the Task Force on Federal Identifica14 tion Cards established under section 3(a). 

15 (e) PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF IDENTIFICATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), with respect to an individual, the identi18 fication described in subsection (a) shall be valid for 

19 the 10-year period which begins on the date the 

20 identification is issued by the Commissioner of the 

21 Social Security Administration to the individual. 

22 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN INDIVID23 UALS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the case 

24 of an individual with a valid identification— 


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1 (A) who is under the age of 18, such iden2 tification shall only be valid during the period 

3 beginning on the date the identification is 

4 issued to the individual and ending on the date 

5 the individual reaches the age of 18, after 

6 which the individual may submit an application 

7 for a renewal under subsection (f)(2); and 

8 (B) who reaches 65 years of age or older 

9 during the period the identification is valid, the 

10 identification of such individual shall be deemed 

11 valid upon the expiration of the 10-year validity 

12 period for such identification without requiring 

13 a renewal of such identification. 

14 (f) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive an identification 

16 under this section, an individual who is at least 14 

17 years of age or older shall submit an application at 

18 such time and containing such information as the 

19 Task Force on Federal Identification Cards estab20 lished under section 3(a) determines appropriate. 

21 (2) RENEWAL APPLICATION.—To receive a re22 newal of the identification described in subsection 

23 (a), an individual shall submit an application at such 

24 time and containing such information as the Task 

25 Force on Federal Identification Cards established 


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1 under section 3(a) determines appropriate, except 

2 that an individual shall not be required to provide 

3 documents that include the personally identifiable in4 formation of such individual unless any of such per5 sonally identifiable information has changed with re6 spect to the most recent application submitted by 

7 the individual. 

8 (g) PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.—Not later than 

9 6 months before the date the identification is made avail10 able to individuals under subsection (a), the Commissioner 

11 of the Social Security Administration shall develop and 

12 implement a campaign to educate the public with respect 

13 to the identification described in subsection (a), including 

14 how an individual can receive and use such an identifica15 tion to satisfy certain identification requirements. 

16 (h) POSTAL SERVICE APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Post19 master General of the United States Postal Service 

20 shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of the 

21 Social Security Administration, develop and imple22 ment a process pursuant to the requirements of 

23 paragraph (2) that enables individuals to apply for 

24 the identification described in subsection (a) through 

25 the United States Postal Service, including a process 


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1 with respect to an application for a first-time identi2 fication and a renewal of such identification, which 

3 shall be modeled after the process with respect to 

4 applications for a passport through the Postal Serv5 ice. 

6 (2) PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.—The process de7 veloped under paragraph (1) shall include, with re8 spect to an individual, an option to— 

9 (A) receive full service at a post office loca10 tion, including by providing photography serv11 ices at no cost to the individual; 

12 (B) submit an application online through 

13 the website of the Postal Service; 

14 (C) mail a written application described in 

15 subsection (f) through the mail service of the 

16 Postal Service at no cost to the individual; and 

17 (D) with respect to an approved identifica18 tion of an individual, receive such identification 

19 through mail service to the individual’s address 

20 or a post office location, at the option of the in21 dividual. 

22 (i) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

23 ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the District of 

24 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 


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1 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

2 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

3 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE ON FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Task 

5 Force on Federal Identification Cards (in this section re6 ferred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) for the purpose of deter7 mining the requirements to produce and make available 

8 the identification described in section 2(a). 

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall be com10 posed of at least 9 members as follows: 

11 (1) The Commissioner of the Social Security 

12 Administration. 

13 (2) At least 1 representative from the Election 

14 Assistance Commission. 

15 (3) At least 1 representative from the Domestic 

16 Policy Council. 

17 (4) At least 1 representative from the United 

18 States Postal Service. 

19 (5) At least 1 representative from the Con20 sumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

21 (6) At least 1 representative from the Depart22 ment of Housing and Urban Development. 

23 (7) At least 1 representative from the Depart24 ment of Education. 


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1 (8) At least 1 representative from the Depart2 ment of Labor. 

3 (9) At least 1 representative from the Depart4 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

5 (10) The Commissioner of the Social Security 

6 Administration, in collaboration with the representa7 tives described in paragraphs (2) through (9), may 

8 appoint such other individuals with relevant exper9 tise or experience as the Task Force shall determine 

10 appropriate and the Task Force shall, with respect 

11 to any such appointees, make efforts to ensure that 

12 populations that have been disproportionately af13 fected by the lack of access to identification are rep14 resented. 

15 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All appoint16 ments to the Task Force shall be made not later than 8 

17 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Task Force 

19 shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint20 ment. 

21 (e) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL

22 EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Task Force who are full23 time officers or employees of the United States may not 

24 receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason 

25 of their service on the Task Force. 


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1 (f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Except as provided in sub2 section (e), each member shall receive travel expenses, in3 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 

4 applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

5 title 5, United States Code. 

6 (g) SUPPORT STAFF; ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.— 

7 (1) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner of the 

8 Social Security Administration, any representatives 

9 from the Election Assistance Commission, and any 

10 representatives from the Domestic Policy Council 

11 shall provide support staff for the Task Force. 

12 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.—Upon the re13 quest of the Task Force, the Commissioner of the 

14 Social Security Administration, any representatives 

15 from the Election Assistance Commission, and any 

16 representatives from the Domestic Policy Council 

17 shall provide any information, administrative serv18 ices, and supplies that such Commissioner and rep19 resentatives jointly consider necessary for the Task 

20 Force to carry out its duties under this section. 

21 (h) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

22 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

23 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task Force. 

24 (i) REPORT ON REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING

25 AND MAKING IDENTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE.— 


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1 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Task Force 

3 shall issue a report regarding the requirements to 

4 produce and make available the identification de5 scribed in section 2(a). 

6 (2) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE

7 OF INFORMATION.—The Task Force shall include in 

8 the report issued under this subsection a require9 ment that the Commissioner of Social Security and 

10 the Postmaster General shall establish procedures to 

11 prevent the unauthorized disclosure of any informa12 tion obtained with respect to individuals who seek 

13 assistance in obtaining the identification described in 

14 section 2(a). 

15 (j) DEVELOPMENT OF VOLUNTARY BEST PRAC16 TICES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Task Force shall develop and publish 

18 recommendations for voluntary best practices for non19 profit organizations and entities that provide services to 

20 vulnerable populations with respect to how such organiza21 tions and entities can assist individuals to obtain the iden22 tification described in section 2(a), which shall include— 

23 (1) recommendations with respect to how such 

24 organizations and entities can provide full service to 

25 individuals to obtain such identification; and 


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1 (2) recommendations to minimize the barriers 

2 faced by such individuals, including individuals from 

3 groups which have been disproportionately affected 

4 by the lack of access to identification, in obtaining 

5 documentation of the information necessary to ob6 tain the identification. 

7 (k) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall terminate 

8 on the date the identification is made available to individ9 uals under section 2(a). 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

12 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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