I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2720 
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for the treatment 
of death information furnished to or maintained by the Social Security 
Administration, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 18, 2013 
Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas (for himself and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide 
for the treatment of death information furnished to or 
maintained by the Social Security Administration, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Alexis Agin Identity 
Theft Protection Act of 2013’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFOR-
MATION FURNISHED TO OR MAINTAINED BY 
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(r) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, and to en-
sure completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,’’ 
after ‘‘transmitting’’; 
(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(3) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to 
the extent feasible, provide for the use of information re-
garding deceased individuals furnished to or maintained 
by the Commissioner, subject to such safeguards as the 
Commissioner of Social Security determines are necessary 
or appropriate to protect the information from unauthor-
ized use or disclosure, to any Federal or State agency pro-
viding or administering Federally funded benefits to indi-
viduals, other than benefits under this Act, through a co-
operative arrangement with such agency designed to en-
sure proper payment of those benefits with respect to such 
individuals if— 
‘‘(A) under such arrangement the agency pro-
vides reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social 
Security for the reasonable costs of carrying out 
such arrangement, including the reasonable costs as-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
sociated with the collection and maintenance of in-
formation regarding deceased individuals furnished 
to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) such arrangement does not conflict with 
the duties of the Commissioner of Social Security 
under paragraph (1).’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘or in benefit 
and pension plans for employees of the States or 
local governments’’ after ‘‘by the States’’; 
(4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(5)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security may 
use or provide for the use of information regarding de-
ceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the Com-
missioner, subject to such safeguards as the Commissioner 
of Social Security determines are necessary or appropriate 
to protect the information from unauthorized use or dis-
closure, provided the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (3) are met and such information 
is provided— 
‘‘(i) to any Federal agency through a coopera-
tive agreement with such agency for the purpose of 
law enforcement or tax administration; or 
‘‘(ii) for statistical and research activities con-
ducted by Federal and State agencies. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) A Federal or State agency may disclose death 
information obtained from the Commissioner to a con-
tractor for the purposes of assisting with such law enforce-
ment, tax administration, or statistical and research ac-
tivities, provided that the agency ensures, at a minimum, 
that the contractor fulfills the requirements of clauses (ii) 
and (iv) of paragraph (7)(E).’’; 
(5) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(7)(A) For purposes of this paragraph, death infor-
mation shall consist of information regarding deceased in-
dividuals maintained by the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity, except for information furnished to or maintained by 
the Commissioner pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2), and 
the death information to be provided shall consist only of 
the name, social security number, date of birth, and date 
of death of a deceased individual.’’ 
‘‘(B) The Commissioner may disclose death informa-
tion under this paragraph to the Secretary of Defense pro-
vided that— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary uses the information provided 
solely for the purpose of assisting in the identifica-
tion of unidentified remains, and 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary enforces requirements simi-
lar to those in clauses (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (vi), and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(vii) with respect to any contractor the Secretary 
hires to assist in such identifications. 
‘‘(C) The Commissioner of Social Security may dis-
close death information, except for information furnished 
to or maintained by the Commissioner of Social Security 
pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2), provided the require-
ments of this paragraph and the requirements of subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) are met. 
‘‘(D) The Commissioner may disclose— 
‘‘(i) to any entity, information maintained by 
the Commissioner concerning individuals whose date 
of death occurred at least 3 calendar years prior to 
the year that the entity requests such information 
pursuant to a written agreement; and 
‘‘(ii) to any entity ‘certified’ by the Commis-
sioner under subparagraph (E), information main-
tained by the Commissioner concerning individuals 
whose date of death does not satisfy the require-
ments of clause (i), pursuant to a written agreement 
between the Commissioner and the entity. 
‘‘(E) For purposes of this paragraph an entity is ‘cer-
tified’ only if the Commissioner— 
‘‘(i) establishes procedures to certify and decer-
tify entities eligible to obtain such information; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(ii) includes in the agreement with such an en-
tity provisions to require such entity to safeguard 
the information provided, assure that the informa-
tion is used only for the purpose which was the basis 
for the certification, assure that the information is 
not disclosed by the entity to any other entity, and 
include contractual penalties, including monetary 
penalties and loss of certification, for the violation of 
any requirements imposed by the Commissioner as a 
condition of receiving the information; 
‘‘(iii) requires that the entity demonstrate 
that— 
‘‘(I) it has a legitimate business need for 
the information, which shall include a require-
ment that the information regarding a deceased 
individual will aid in preventing financial harm 
to the entity or to a customer or client of the 
entity or will aid in permitting the entity to ful-
fill an obligation to a beneficiary of an indi-
vidual that is contingent upon the death of such 
individual; or 
‘‘(II) it has a legitimate interest in pre-
venting fraud or unauthorized financial trans-
actions; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(iv) requires that the entity demonstrate that 
it has infrastructure and procedures in place to pre-
vent wrongful access to or the disclosure of informa-
tion provided by the Commissioner; 
‘‘(v) determines that the entity has adequate 
experience and expertise in maintaining the con-
fidentiality and security of information; 
‘‘(vi) includes such other requirements and re-
strictions as the Commissioner deems appropriate to 
assure the confidentiality of the information; and 
‘‘(vii) requires that the entity permit periodic 
and unscheduled audits of the entity to assure com-
pliance with the requirements established by the 
Commissioner. 
‘‘(F) The Commissioner shall establish application 
and other fees to be paid by entities seeking to be certified 
or to maintain certification under this paragraph so that 
the Commissioner is fully reimbursed for all costs associ-
ated with development of the certification process, evalu-
ating applications, auditing compliance with the require-
ments established by the Commissioner, inspecting records 
and assuring compliance with contract requirements, and 
any other costs associated with assuring continuing eligi-
bility for certification under this paragraph. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:10 Jul 20, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2720.IH
H2720
tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS