Press Releases

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today spoke in an Oversight and Government Reform Committee business meeting about Rep. David Valadao’s (R-Calif.) Social Security Fraud Prevention Act that prohibits agencies from including Social Security numbers on documents sent by mail.

Transcript of Grothman’s remarks:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for granting me this time to speak today on the Social Security Fraud Prevention Act.

“The Social Security Fraud Prevention Act prohibits agencies from including Social Security numbers on documents sent by mail.

“This bill, sponsored by Representative Valadao of California, is a commonsense solution to the large-spread problem of identity theft.

“Social Security numbers are more important now than ever before.

“We use them to apply to college, get a credit card and open bank accounts.

“But as Social Security numbers are used more and more in our society, identity theft becomes more common.

“For awhile now, the IRS has been sending Social Security information on postcards and in see-through envelopes unchecked.

“Recently, it was discovered that more than 1 million Americans had their Social Security numbers stolen by illegal immigrants – an issue that the IRS has known about for more than five years and has not worked to fix.

“In fact, many taxpayers were not even notified that their Social Security numbers had been stolen.

“Both of these situations are unacceptable and downright alarming.

“Given the lasting and devastating impact identity theft can have on American families and seniors, it’s incredibly important that we don’t allow such sensitive information to fall into the hands of the wrong people.

“Mr. Valadao’s bill is an important first step in reaching the bipartisan goal of making sure our government does a better job of protecting Americans’ sensitive information.”

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his second term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.