I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 137 
To require an employer to take action after receiving official notice that 
an individual’s Social Security account number does not match the indi-
vidual’s name, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2009 
Mr. GALLEGLY (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MCCAUL, 
and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 
and Means and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require an employer to take action after receiving official 
notice that an individual’s Social Security account num-
ber does not match the individual’s name, 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 ‘‘Employment Eligibility 
Verification and Anti-Identity Theft Act’’. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
SEC. 2. REQUIRING AGENCIES TO SEND ‘‘NO-MATCH’’ LET-
TERS. 
(a) SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The Com-
missioner of the Social Security Administration shall send 
a written notice to a person or entity each time that the 
combination of name and Social Security account number 
submitted by the person or entity for an individual does 
not match Social Security Administration records. 
(b) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—The 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall send a written no-
tice to a person or entity each time that such Secretary 
determines that an immigration status document or em-
ployment authorization document presented or referenced 
by an individual during the process of completing the at-
testations required by the person or entity for employment 
eligibility verification was assigned to another person, or 
that there is no agency record that the document was as-
signed to any person. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRING EMPLOYERS TO TAKE ACTION UPON 
RECEIPT OF A ‘‘NO-MATCH’’ LETTER. 
Beginning on the date that is 6 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, a person or entity that has 
received a written notice under section 2 shall, within 3 
business days of receiving such notice, verify the individ-
ual’s employment authorization and identity through the 
verification system established under section 4. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
SEC. 4. VERIFICATION SYSTEM. 
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in con-
sultation with the Commissioner of the Social Security Ad-
ministration, as appropriate, shall establish and admin-
ister a verification system through which persons or enti-
ties that have received written notice under section 2 shall 
verify an individual’s employment authorization and iden-
tity. 
SEC. 5. DESIGN AND OPERATION OF SYSTEM. 
The verification system established under section 4 
shall be designed and operated— 
(1) to maximize its reliability and ease of use, 
consistent with insulating and protecting the privacy 
and security of the underlying information; 
(2) to respond to all required inquiries under 
this Act regarding whether individuals are author-
ized to be employed and to register all times when 
such inquiries are not received; 
(3) with appropriate administrative, technical, 
and physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized dis-
closure of personal information; and 
(4) to have reasonable safeguards against the 
system’s resulting in unlawful discriminatory prac-
tices based on national origin or citizenship status, 
including— 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
(A) the selective or unauthorized use of the 
system to verify eligibility; 
(B) the use of the system prior to an offer 
of employment; or 
(C) the exclusion of certain individuals 
from consideration for employment as a result 
of 
a 
perceived 
likelihood 
that 
additional 
verification will be required, beyond what is re-
quired for most job applicants. 
SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF TIME. 
If a person or entity in good faith attempts to make 
an inquiry during the time period specified and the 
verification system established under section 4 has reg-
istered that not all inquiries were received during such 
time, the person or entity may make an inquiry on the 
first subsequent working day in which the verification sys-
tem registers that it has received all inquiries. If the 
verification system cannot receive inquiries at all times 
during a day, the person or entity merely has to assert 
that the entity attempted to make the inquiry on that day 
for the previous sentence to apply to such an inquiry, and 
does not have to provide any additional proof concerning 
such inquiry. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
SEC. 7. RETENTION OF PROOF OF VERIFICATION COMPLE-
TION. 
After completion of the verification process estab-
lished under section 4, a person or entity shall retain a 
paper, microfiche, microfilm, or electronic version of the 
form received through the verification process (or, in the 
case of a telephonic verification, a paper, microfiche, 
microfilm, or electronic 
record 
of 
the 
telephonic 
verification code number) and make it available for inspec-
tion by officers of the Department of Homeland Security, 
the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Em-
ployment Practices, or the Department of Labor for 3 
years after the date on which the form or telephonic 
verification code number was received. 
SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) BURDEN
ON INDIVIDUAL TO RESOLVE ER-
RORS.—If a person or entity has received an initial 
nonverification 
regarding 
an 
individual 
from 
the 
verification system established under section 4, the person 
or entity shall notify the individual in writing within 1 
business day of such receipt. In such notice, the person 
or entity shall advise the individual that the burden is on 
the individual to resolve any error in the verification mech-
anism not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
notice is issued. Such notice shall also state that the per-
son or entity shall be required to verify once again the 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
individual’s 
employment 
authorization 
and 
identity 
through the verification system established under section 
4, and to terminate any employment in the United States, 
and any recruitment, hiring, or referral for employment 
in the United States, of the individual, if a final 
nonverification is received. 
(b) ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION.—A person or entity 
that has issued a notice under subsection (a) shall, within 
33 business days of such issuance, verify once again the 
individual’s 
employment 
authorization 
and 
identity 
through the verification system established under section 
4. Sections 6 and 7 shall apply to such final verification 
in the same manner as such sections applied to the initial 
verification. 
SEC. 9. FINAL VERIFICATION. 
(a) Within 7 days of receiving final nonverification 
for an individual, the person or entity issued a notice 
under section 8(a) of this Act shall provide the Commis-
sioner of Social Security with a copy of such individual’s 
verification form as described in section 274A(b)(3) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(3)) 
in addition to any other information regarding the last 
known name, address, and location of such individual. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
(b) Within 3 business days of receiving such notifica-
tion, the Commissioner of Social Security shall provide 
such information to the Secretary of Homeland Security. 
SEC. 10. EMPLOYER VIOLATIONS. 
A person or entity shall be considered to have violated 
section 274A(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1)(A)) if the person or entity— 
(1) continues to employ in the United States, or 
recruits, hires, or refers for employment in the 
United States, an individual after receiving a final 
nonverification regarding an individual from the 
verification system established under section 4; or 
(2) otherwise fails to take an action required 
under this Act. 
SEC. 11. REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN PILOT PRO-
GRAM. 
Section 402(e)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform 
and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
1324a note) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) Any person or entity that, in a cal-
endar year, receives written notice under section 
2 of this Act with respect to more than 20 indi-
viduals, shall elect to participate in the basic 
pilot program described in section 403(a) and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
shall comply with the terms and conditions of 
such election.’’. 
SEC. 12. LIMITATION ON USE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, nothing in this Act shall be construed to per-
mit or allow any department, bureau, or other agency of 
the United States Government to utilize any information, 
data base, or other records assembled under this Act for 
any other purpose other than as provided for under this 
Act. 
(b) NO NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.—Nothing 
in this Act shall be construed to authorize, directly or indi-
rectly, the issuance or use of national identification cards 
or the establishment of a national identification card. 
SEC. 13. FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT REMEDY. 
If an individual alleges that the individual would not 
have been dismissed from a job but for an error of the 
verification mechanism, the individual may seek com-
pensation only through the mechanism of chapter 171 of 
title 28, United States Code (popularly known as the Fed-
eral Tort Claims Act), and injunctive relief to correct such 
error. No class action may be brought under this Act. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
SEC. 14. PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR ACTIONS 
TAKEN ON THE BASIS OF INFORMATION. 
No person or entity shall be civilly or criminally liable 
for any action taken in good faith reliance on information 
provided through the employment eligibility verification 
mechanism established under this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
20:24 Jan 10, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H137.IH
H137
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS