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 Account-
ability 
A BILL 
To require the Commissioner of the Social Security Adminis-
tration 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 pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IDs for an Inclusive 
Democracy Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
the Social Security Administration shall produce and 
make available at no cost to individuals in the United 
States who submit an application under subsection (f) an 
identification pursuant to the requirements in the report 
issued by the Task Force on Federal Identification Cards 
under section 3(i) that can be presented by such individ-
uals to satisfy certain identification requirements. 
(b) USE OF IDENTIFICATION.—With respect to an in-
dividual, the identification described in subsection (a) shall 
be deemed sufficient to satisfy identification requirements 
to the same extent and for the same purposes that any 
driver’s license or identification card issued by a State is 
accepted to satisfy such requirements. 
(c) CONTENT OF IDENTIFICATION.—With respect to 
an individual, the identification described in subsection (a) 
shall include— 
(1) the full name of the individual; 
(2) the date of birth of the individual; 
(3) the gender of the individual, which shall in-
clude an option for male, female, and X (rep-
resenting an unspecified or other gender identity), as 
attested by the individual; 
(4) a photograph of the individual; 
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(5) a unique identification number; 
(6) the date the identification was issued to the 
individual; and 
(7) the date on which the identification is no 
longer valid. 
(d) SECURITY FEATURES OF IDENTIFICATION.—The 
identification described in subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) physical security features to make the iden-
tification resistant to tampering, counterfeiting, du-
plicating, and fraudulent use; and 
(2) common machine-readable identity informa-
tion based on defined minimum data elements as de-
termined by the Task Force on Federal Identifica-
tion Cards established under section 3(a). 
(e) PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF IDENTIFICATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), with respect to an individual, the identi-
fication described in subsection (a) shall be valid for 
the 10-year period which begins on the date the 
identification is issued by the Commissioner of the 
Social Security Administration to the individual. 
(2) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
CERTAIN
INDIVID-
UALS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the case 
of an individual with a valid identification— 
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(A) who is under the age of 18, such iden-
tification shall only be valid during the period 
beginning on the date the identification is 
issued to the individual and ending on the date 
the individual reaches the age of 18, after 
which the individual may submit an application 
for a renewal under subsection (f)(2); and 
(B) who reaches 65 years of age or older 
during the period the identification is valid, the 
identification of such individual shall be deemed 
valid upon the expiration of the 10-year validity 
period for such identification without requiring 
a renewal of such identification. 
(f) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive an identification 
under this section, an individual who is at least 14 
years of age or older shall submit an application at 
such time and containing such information as the 
Task Force on Federal Identification Cards estab-
lished under section 3(a) determines appropriate. 
(2) RENEWAL APPLICATION.—To receive a re-
newal of the identification described in subsection 
(a), an individual shall submit an application at such 
time and containing such information as the Task 
Force on Federal Identification Cards established 
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under section 3(a) determines appropriate, except 
that an individual shall not be required to provide 
documents that include the personally identifiable in-
formation of such individual unless any of such per-
sonally identifiable information has changed with re-
spect to the most recent application submitted by 
the individual. 
(g) PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.—Not later than 
6 months before the date the identification is made avail-
able to individuals under subsection (a), the Commissioner 
of the Social Security Administration shall develop and 
implement a campaign to educate the public with respect 
to the identification described in subsection (a), including 
how an individual can receive and use such an identifica-
tion to satisfy certain identification requirements. 
(h) POSTAL SERVICE APPLICATION PROCESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Post-
master General of the United States Postal Service 
shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of the 
Social Security Administration, develop and imple-
ment a process pursuant to the requirements of 
paragraph (2) that enables individuals to apply for 
the identification described in subsection (a) through 
the United States Postal Service, including a process 
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with respect to an application for a first-time identi-
fication and a renewal of such identification, which 
shall be modeled after the process with respect to 
applications for a passport through the Postal Serv-
ice. 
(2) PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.—The process de-
veloped under paragraph (1) shall include, with re-
spect to an individual, an option to— 
(A) receive full service at a post office loca-
tion, including by providing photography serv-
ices at no cost to the individual; 
(B) submit an application online through 
the website of the Postal Service; 
(C) mail a written application described in 
subsection (f) through the mail service of the 
Postal Service at no cost to the individual; and 
(D) with respect to an approved identifica-
tion of an individual, receive such identification 
through mail service to the individual’s address 
or a post office location, at the option of the in-
dividual. 
(i) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 
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States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
SEC. 3. TASK FORCE ON FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Task 
Force on Federal Identification Cards (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) for the purpose of deter-
mining the requirements to produce and make available 
the identification described in section 2(a). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall be com-
posed of at least 9 members as follows: 
(1) The Commissioner of the Social Security 
Administration. 
(2) At least 1 representative from the Election 
Assistance Commission. 
(3) At least 1 representative from the Domestic 
Policy Council. 
(4) At least 1 representative from the United 
States Postal Service. 
(5) At least 1 representative from the Con-
sumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
(6) At least 1 representative from the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development. 
(7) At least 1 representative from the Depart-
ment of Education. 
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(8) At least 1 representative from the Depart-
ment of Labor. 
(9) At least 1 representative from the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs. 
(10) The Commissioner of the Social Security 
Administration, in collaboration with the representa-
tives described in paragraphs (2) through (9), may 
appoint such other individuals with relevant exper-
tise or experience as the Task Force shall determine 
appropriate and the Task Force shall, with respect 
to any such appointees, make efforts to ensure that 
populations that have been disproportionately af-
fected by the lack of access to identification are rep-
resented. 
(c) DEADLINE
FOR APPOINTMENT.—All appoint-
ments to the Task Force shall be made not later than 8 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Task Force 
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint-
ment. 
(e) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL 
EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Task Force who are full- 
time officers or employees of the United States may not 
receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason 
of their service on the Task Force. 
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(f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Except as provided in sub-
section (e), each member shall receive travel expenses, in-
cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 
title 5, United States Code. 
(g) SUPPORT STAFF; ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.— 
(1) SUPPORT STAFF.—The Commissioner of the 
Social Security Administration, any representatives 
from the Election Assistance Commission, and any 
representatives from the Domestic Policy Council 
shall provide support staff for the Task Force. 
(2) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.—Upon the re-
quest of the Task Force, the Commissioner of the 
Social Security Administration, any representatives 
from the Election Assistance Commission, and any 
representatives from the Domestic Policy Council 
shall provide any information, administrative serv-
ices, and supplies that such Commissioner and rep-
resentatives jointly consider necessary for the Task 
Force to carry out its duties under this section. 
(h) NONAPPLICABILITY
OF
FEDERAL
ADVISORY 
COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task Force. 
(i) REPORT
ON REQUIREMENTS
FOR PRODUCING 
AND MAKING IDENTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE.— 
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(1) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Task Force 
shall issue a report regarding the requirements to 
produce and make available the identification de-
scribed in section 2(a). 
(2) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE 
OF INFORMATION.—The Task Force shall include in 
the report issued under this subsection a require-
ment that the Commissioner of Social Security and 
the Postmaster General shall establish procedures to 
prevent the unauthorized disclosure of any informa-
tion obtained with respect to individuals who seek 
assistance in obtaining the identification described in 
section 2(a). 
(j) DEVELOPMENT
OF VOLUNTARY BEST PRAC-
TICES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Task Force shall develop and publish 
recommendations for voluntary best practices for non-
profit organizations and entities that provide services to 
vulnerable populations with respect to how such organiza-
tions and entities can assist individuals to obtain the iden-
tification described in section 2(a), which shall include— 
(1) recommendations with respect to how such 
organizations and entities can provide full service to 
individuals to obtain such identification; and 
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(2) recommendations to minimize the barriers 
faced by such individuals, including individuals from 
groups which have been disproportionately affected 
by the lack of access to identification, in obtaining 
documentation of the information necessary to ob-
tain the identification. 
(k) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall terminate 
on the date the identification is made available to individ-
uals under section 2(a). 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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