2001 Ron Paul 37:1
I wish to thank the subcommittee on
Social Security of the Ways and Means Committee for holding this
hearing on the misuse of the Social Security number. The transformation
of the Social Security number into a de facto uniform
identifier is a subject of increasing concern to the American people.
This is, in large part, because the use of the Social Security number
as a standard identifier facilitates the crime of identity theft.
Today, all an unscrupulous person needs to do is obtain someone’s
Social Security number in order to access that person’s bank accounts,
credit cards, and other financial assets. Many Americans have lost
their life savings and have had their credit destroyed as a result of
identity theft.
2001 Ron Paul 37:2
The responsibility for the misuse of
the
Social Security number and the corresponding vulnerability of the
American people to identity crimes lies squarely with the Congress.
Since the creation of the Social Security number, Congress has
authorized over 40 uses of the Social Security number. Thanks to
Congress, today no American can get a job, open a bank account, get a
professional license, or even get a drivers’ license without presenting
their Social Security number. So widespread has the use of the Social
Security number become that a member of my staff had to produce a
Social Security number in order to get a fishing license!
2001 Ron Paul 37:3
Because it was Congress which
transformed
the Social Security number into a national identifier, Congress has a
moral responsibility to address this problem. In order to protect the
American people from government-mandated uniform identifiers which
facilitate identity crimes, I have introduced the Identity Theft
Prevention Act (HR 220). The major provision of the Identity Theft
Prevention Act halts the practice of using the Social Security number
as an identifier by requiring the Social Security Administration to
issue all Americans new Social Security numbers within five years after
the enactment of the bill. These new numbers will be the sole legal
property of the recipient and the Social Security Administration shall
be forbidden to divulge the numbers for any purposes not related to the
Social Security program. Social Security numbers issued before
implementation of this bill shall no longer be considered valid federal
identifiers. Of course, the Social Security Administration shall be
able to use an individual’s original Social Security number to ensure
efficient transition of the Social Security system.
2001 Ron Paul 37:4
This act also forbids the federal
government from creating national ID cards or establishing any
identifiers for the purpose of investigating, monitoring, overseeing,
or regulating private transactions between American citizens, as well
as repealing those sections of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 that require the Department of Health and
Human Services to establish a uniform standard health identifier. By
putting an end to government-mandated uniform IDs, the Identity Theft
Prevention Act will prevent millions of Americans from having their
liberty, property and privacy violated by private-and-public sector
criminals.
2001 Ron Paul 37:5
In addition to forbidding the federal
government from creating national identifiers, this legislation forbids
the federal government from blackmailing states into adopting uniform
standard identifiers by withholding federal funds. One of the most
onerous practices of Congress is the use of federal funds
illegitimately taken from the American people to bribe states into
obeying federal dictates.
2001 Ron Paul 37:6
Many of our colleagues will claim
that
the federal government needs these powers to protect against fraud or
some other criminal activities. However, monitoring the transactions of
every American in order to catch those few who are involved in some
sort of illegal activity turns one of the great bulwarks of our
liberty, the presumption of innocence, on its head. The federal
government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying
on their relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers. In
fact, criminal law enforcement is reserved to the state and local
governments by the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment.
2001 Ron Paul 37:7
Other members of Congress will claim
that
the federal government needs the power to monitor Americans in order to
allow the government to operate more efficiently. I would remind my
colleagues that in a constitutional republic the people are never asked
to sacrifice their liberties to make the job of government officials a
little bit easier. We are here to protect the freedom of the American
people, not to make privacy invasion more efficient.
2001 Ron Paul 37:8
Mr. Chairman, while I do not question
the
sincerity of those members who suggest that Congress can ensure
citizens’ rights are protected through legislation restricting access
to personal information, the only effective privacy protection is to
forbid the federal government from mandating national identifiers.
Legislative “privacy protections” are inadequate to protect the liberty
of Americans for several reasons. First, it is simply common sense that
repealing those federal laws that promote identity theft is a more
effective in protecting the public than expanding the power of the
federal police force. Federal punishment of identity thieves provides
old comfort to those who have suffered financial losses and the
destruction of their good reputation as a result of identity theft.
2001 Ron Paul 37:9
Federal laws are not only ineffective
in
stopping private criminals, they have not even stopped unscrupulous
government officials from accessing personal information. Did laws
purporting to restrict the use of personal information stop the
well-publicized violation of privacy by IRS officials or the FBI abuses
by the Clinton and Nixon administrations? !
2001 Ron Paul 37:10
The primary reason why any action
short
of the repeal of laws authorizing privacy violation is insufficient is
because the federal government lacks constitutional authority to force
citizens to adopt a universal identifier for health care, employment,
or any other reason. Any federal action that oversteps constitutional
limitations violates liberty because it ratifies the principle that the
federal government, not the Constitution, is the ultimate judge of its
own jurisdiction over the people. The only effective protection of the
rights of citizens is for Congress to follow Thomas Jefferson’s advice
and "bind (the federal government) down with the chains of the
Constitution."
2001 Ron Paul 37:11
Mr. Chairman, those members who are
unpersuaded by the moral and constitutional reasons for embracing the
Identity Theft Prevention Act should consider the overwhelming
opposition of the American people toward national identifiers. The
overwhelming public opposition to the various "Know-Your-Customer"
schemes, the attempt to turn drivers’ licenses into National ID cards,
HHS’s misnamed "medical privacy" proposal, as well as the numerous
complaints over the ever-growing uses of the Social Security number
show that American people want Congress to stop invading their privacy.
Congress risks provoking a voter backlash if we fail to halt the growth
of the surveillance state.
2001 Ron Paul 37:12
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I once
again
thank you and the other members of the subcommittee for holding a
hearing on this important issue. I hope this hearing would lead to
serious Congressional action to end to the federal government’s
unconstitutional use of national identifiers which facilitate identity
theft by passing Hr 220, the Identify Theft Prevention Act.
Note:
This was in a subcommittee, so it does not appear in Congressional Record. The text was taken from a copy that was on Ron Paul’s Congressional website.
This chapter appeared in Ron Paul’s Congressional website at http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr052201.htm
