Number:        118-2   
Date:             June 13, 2023

House Committee on Ways and Means Passes H.R. 3784,
the “Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act of 2023”

On June 7, 2023, the House Committee on Ways and Means voted 43-0 to favorably report H.R. 3784, the Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act to the full House. No further action has been scheduled yet.

Introduced by Representatives Drew Ferguson (GA) and John Larson (CT) on June 1, 2023, H.R. 3784, as amended by the Committee, would amend Title VII of the Social Security Act to—

• require the Commissioner to provide a single point-of-contact to any individual—
  
  
• whose SSN has been misused (such as to fraudulently obtain Social Security or SSI benefits, or in a manner that affects an individual’s SSA records, or in a manner that prompts the individual to request a new SSN),
  
  
• or whose card has been lost in the course of transmission to the individual;
  
  
• require the single point-of-contact to consist of a team or subset of specially trained employees who are required to:
  
  
• track SSN misuse cases to completion and coordinate with other units to resolve cases as quickly as possible; and
  
  
• be accountable for the case until it is resolved.

 

The bill provides flexibility for the accountable contact to change if needed, provided there is continuity of record-keeping, and the individual is notified when appropriate. 

The bill would be effective 180 days after enactment. The version reported out of committee is here.

There is no Senate companion bill.  A prior version of this bill was passed by the Senate in the 116th Congress – see the legislative bulletin here.