I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 50 
To protect seniors from identity theft and strengthen our national security 
by providing for the issuance of a secure Social Security card. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2009 
Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. ROSKAM) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To protect seniors from identity theft and strengthen our 
national security by providing for the issuance of a se-
cure Social Security card. 
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 ‘‘Social Security Iden-
tity Theft Prevention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. UPDATED AND SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(G) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(G)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(G)’’; 
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(2) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘shall be 
made of banknote paper, and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clauses: 
‘‘(ii) A social security card issued pursuant to clause 
(i) of this subparagraph to an individual described in sub-
paragraph (B)(ii) shall— 
‘‘(I) be made of tamperproof and wear-resistant 
material; 
‘‘(II) have clearly marked on its face the name 
and social security account number of the individual 
to whom the card is issued; 
‘‘(III) in the case of a card issued to an indi-
vidual after attaining age 16, display a digital 
image, captured directly by an officer or employee of 
the Social Security Administration acting in his or 
her official capacity, of the person to whom the so-
cial security account number was issued and the 
date on which that image was captured; and 
‘‘(IV) contain an encrypted, machine-readable 
electronic record which shall include records of bio-
metric identifiers unique to the individual to whom 
the card is issued, including a copy of any digitized 
facial image printed on the face of the card pursuant 
to subclause (III). 
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‘‘(iii) The Commissioner shall take such actions as 
are necessary to ensure that replacement cards meeting 
the requirements of clause (ii)(III) are issued to individ-
uals upon attaining age 16. 
‘‘(iv) The Commissioner may charge a reasonable fee 
to the recipient as a condition for issuance of a social secu-
rity card under this subparagraph to an individual de-
scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii). Fees charged under this 
clause shall be in amounts not greater than amounts nec-
essary to meet the administrative costs attributable to the 
requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii) of this subparagraph. 
Amounts received by the Commissioner under this clause 
shall be deposited in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 
Insurance Trust Fund and shall be available for use by 
the Commissioner solely for purposes of meeting such re-
quirements.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) of this section shall apply with respect to 
social security cards issued after 2 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. Nothing in this Act or the 
amendments made thereby shall be construed to require 
the reissuance of a social security card that has been 
issued during or prior to such 2-year period in a form that 
meets the standards established in such amendments, un-
less the reissuance of such card is determined by the Com-
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