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2005 Ron Paul Chapter 2
Ron Paul’s Congressional website
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Congressional Record [.PDF]
Introducing The Identity Theft protection Act
4 January 2005
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
2005 Ron Paul 2:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Identity Theft Prevention Act. This act protects
the American people from government-
mandated uniform identifiers that facilitate private
crime as well as the abuse of liberty. 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
5 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 Social
Security administration. 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
administration of the Social Security system.
2005 Ron Paul 2:2
Mr. Speaker, Congress has a moral responsibility to address this problem because it was
Congress that transformed the Social Security
number into a national identifier. Thanks to
Congress, today no American can get a job,
open a bank account, get a professional license,
or even get a driver’s license without
presenting his 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.
2005 Ron Paul 2:3
One of the most disturbing abuses of the Social Security number is the congressionally
authorized rule forcing parents to get a Social
Security number for their newborn children in
order to claim the children as dependents.
Forcing parents to register their children with
the State is more like something out of the
nightmares of George Orwell than the dreams
of a free republic that inspired this Nation’s
Founders.
2005 Ron Paul 2:4
Congressionally mandated use of the Social Security number as an identifier facilitates the
horrendous crime of identity theft. Thanks to
Congress, an unscrupulous person may simply
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 had their credit destroyed as a result
of identity theft. Yet the Federal Government
continues to encourage such crimes by mandating
use of the Social Security number as a
uniform ID.
2005 Ron Paul 2:5
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 among American citizens.
At the very end of the 108th Congress, this
body established a de facto national ID card
with a provision buried in the “intelligence” reform
bill mandating Federal standards for drivers’
licenses, and mandating that Federal
agents only accept a license that conforms to
these standards as a valid ID.
2005 Ron Paul 2:6
Nationalizing standards for drivers’ licenses and birth certificates creates a national ID system
pure and simple. Proponents of the national
ID understand that the public remains
wary of the scheme, so proponents attempt to
claim they are merely creating new standards
for existing State IDs. However, the “intelligence”
reform legislation imposed Federal
standards in a Federal bill, thus creating a federalized
ID regardless of whether the ID itself
is still stamped with the name of your State.
It is just a matter of time until those who
refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied
the ability to drive or board an airplane. Domestic
travel restrictions are the hallmark of
authoritarian States, not free republics.
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The national ID will be used to track the movements of American citizens, not just terrorists.
Subjecting every citizen to surveillance
diverts resources away from tracking and apprehending
terrorists in favor of needless
snooping on innocent Americans. This is what
happened with “suspicious activity reports” required
by the Bank Secrecy Act. Thanks to
BSA mandates, Federal officials are forced to
waste countless hours snooping through the
private financial transactions of innocent
Americans merely because those transactions
exceeded $10,000.
2005 Ron Paul 2:8
The Identity Theft Prevention Act repeals those sections of Federal law creating the national
ID, as well as 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 — an identifier
which could be used to create a national database
containing the medical history of all
Americans. As an OB/GYN with more than 30
years in private practice, I know the importance
of preserving the sanctity of the physician-
patient relationship. Oftentimes, effective
treatment depends on a patient’s ability to
place absolute trust in his or her doctor. What
will happen to that trust when patients know
that any and all information given to their doctors
will be placed in a government accessible
database?
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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.
2005 Ron Paul 2:10
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.
2005 Ron Paul 2:11
Some 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 jobs of government
officials easier. We are here to protect
the freedom of the American people, not to
make privacy invasion more efficient.
2005 Ron Paul 2:12
Mr. Speaker, while I do not question the sincerity of those Members who suggest that
Congress can ensure that 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
a couple of reasons.
2005 Ron Paul 2:13
First, it is simply common sense that repealing those Federal laws that promote identity
theft is more effective in protecting the public
than expanding the power of the Federal police
force. Federal punishment of identity
thieves provides cold comfort to those who
have suffered financial losses and the destruction
of their good reputations as a result of
identity theft.
2005 Ron Paul 2:14
Federal laws are not only ineffective in stopping private criminals, but these laws have not
even stopped unscrupulous government officials
from accessing personal information.
After all, laws purporting to restrict the use of
personal information did not stop the well-publicized
violations of privacy by IRS officials or
the FBI abuses of the Clinton and Nixon administrations.
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In one of the most infamous cases of identity theft, thousands of active-duty soldiers and
veterans had their personal information stolen,
putting them at risk of identity theft. Imagine
the dangers if thieves are able to obtain the
universal identifier, and other personal information,
of millions of Americans simply by
breaking, or hacking, into one government facility
or one government database?
2005 Ron Paul 2:16
Second, the Federal Government has been creating proprietary interests in private information
for certain State-favored special interests.
Perhaps the most outrageous example of
phony privacy protection is the “medical privacy”’
regulation, that allows medical researchers,
certain business interests, and law
enforcement officials access to health care information,
in complete disregard of the Fifth
Amendment and the wishes of individual patients!
Obviously, “privacy protection” laws
have proven greatly inadequate to protect personal
information when the government is the
one seeking the information.
2005 Ron Paul 2:17
Any action short of repealing laws authorizing privacy violations is insufficient primarily
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.”
2005 Ron Paul 2:18
Mr. Speaker, those members who are not persuaded by the moral and constitutional reasons
for embracing the Identity Theft Prevention
Act should consider the American people’s
opposition to national identifiers. The numerous
complaints over the ever-growing uses
of the Social Security number show that Americans
want Congress to stop invading their privacy.
Furthermore, according to a survey by
the Gallup company, 91 percent of the American
people oppose forcing Americans to obtain
a universal health ID.
2005 Ron Paul 2:19
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I once again call on my colleagues to join me in putting an end
to the Federal Government’s unconstitutional
use of national identifiers to monitor the actions
of private citizens. National identifiers
threaten all Americans by exposing them to
the threat of identity theft by private criminals
and abuse of their liberties by public criminals,
while diverting valuable law enforcement resources
away from addressing real threats to
public safety. In addition, national identifiers
are incompatible with a limited, constitutional
government. I, therefore, hope my colleagues
will join my efforts to protect the freedom of
their constituents by supporting the Identity
Theft Prevention Act.
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