Photos and as im painting turner, im thinking about what that might be like in his mind. For more, go to booktv. Org. Next a hearing on preventing Identity Theft by reducing the federal governments use of secretary of state numbers. This 90minute hearing was hosted by two house ways and means subcommittees. Good afternoon and welcome to todays hearing on the federal governments use of Social Security numbers. U unfortunately sam johnson was unable to be here today. I know everyone here joins me in wishing chairman johnson a speedy recovery. I would like to welcome chairman hurd of the oversight and government reform committees, i. T. Subcommittee and all of the i. T. Subcommittee members for joining us in the ways and Means Committee hearing room today. Back in 1936 when Social Security began issuing Social Security numbers, they were only used to track earnings and administer the Social Security program. Back then, it wasnt much thought about keeping your number a secret. But today, Social Security numbers are the key to the kingdom for identity thieves. Social security and Identity Security experts make a point of telling american, how important it is to protect their numbers. Social security numbers are valuable targets for Identity Theft because of their regular use by both federal government and private sector as a unique identifier, especially by the financial industry. Time and again were reminded to protect our Social Security cards in order to avoid Identity Theft and to be careful with what documents we throw away in the trash. Our Social Security numbers are connected to so many personal aspects of our lives from our Social Security benefits and finances to our medical histories and our education. But in recent years, privacy concerns have become more and more critical. When i was in law school back in the dark ages, our grades used to be posted on the wall to keep secret whose grades they were by Social Security. Unfortunately, they were posted alphabetically. So it wasnt hard to figure out whos was whose. One of my friends in law school was ziegler. He was the smartest guy in class and blew the curve but its his Social Security number was always the one at the bottom of the list. And i probably could recite you mr. Zieglers Social Security number. While colleges and universities have since changed their ways, the federal government has yet to fully catch up. Just over ten years ago, the office of management and budget issued a memorandum for the safeguarding of personally identifying information, including the Social Security number. The memo called for federal departments and agencies to reduce or replace the use of Social Security numbers across the federal government. Unfortunately, while some progress has been made in reducing the use of Social Security numbers, ten years later, theres still much work to be done. This hearing is about making sure that Social Security numbers are only used when necessary and that the federal government is doing what it can and what it should to make sure that when Social Security numbers are used and collected they are kept safe. The office of Personnel Management hack in 2015 is an example of what happens when the federal government collects Social Security numbers but does not keep them safe and this negligence comes with a cost to both the affected individuals and to the taxpayers. The American People rightly deserve and expect that the federal government protect their Social Security numbers and only uses them when necessary. I thank all of our witnesses for being here. I look forward to hearing from you about how your agencies are working to tackle this challenge and what more needs to be done. I now recognize mr. Larson for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman and we join with you in certainly wishing our dear friend and colleague sam johnson a speedy recovery. And would like to add how fortunate we are on the ways and Means Committee to have two iconic american heroes serving on the same committee. When you think about sam johnson and his service to this country and all that he endured on behalf of this nation, nearly beaten to death by the vietcong and you think about john lewis and being nearly beaten to death in his own country. We have these two iconic legends. Im so proud to serve with sam and i was happy that he asked me to present this with him,hr 1315 to remove Social Security numbers from mailed notices. And mr. Johnson, as i think everybody on the committee knows is such an incredible gentleman. We have also taken every opportunity in the subcommittee to renew a request, a, that i hope that the committee will travel to plano, texas and we have an opportunity to have a meeting there in plano, texas to honor mr. Johnson and this committee and this topic area he is so vitally concerned about. I also want to recognize chairman hurd who is with us and the lead democrat, robin kelly, for being here in our meeting room as well. Since 2014 hundreds of millions of americans have lost their personally identified information including their Social Security numbers to largescale cyberattacks. The number was originally created in 1936 for the purpose of running the nations new Social Security system. However its usefulness as a unique governmental identifier has made it near ubiquitous in the government and private sector. To date, Social Security administration has not suffered any largescale data breach but ongoing vigilance is needed. For updading the i. T. Structure. Altogether, Social Security administration has been able to remove the ninedigit ssn from about onethird of the mailings it sends out. Moving forward they have committed to removing them from the remaining notices wherever they revise a notice which requires computer upgrades. The severe constraints on the Social SecurityAdministration Budget are preventing the agency from moving numbers from all notices right away as they estimated it would cost 14 million to do so immediately rather than piecemeal. More alarmingly since 2010 the number of beneficiaries have grown 13 but Social Securitys operating budget has fallen by more than 10 in that same period. The Social SecurityAdministration Simply cannot serve more and more people with less and less money each year. Social Security Administration is already struggling to serve its beneficiaries at the level they deserve. My constituents are experiencing multiyear wait times on disability appeals and hearings. Their gophone calls are going unanswered and face delays in correcting errors in their benefits and payments. The president s fiscal 2018 budget released today also attacks Social Security benefits for those with disabilities as much as 70 billion over ten years. I would like to submit for the record the 13 times that trump promised not to cut Social Security, medicare and medicaid. President trump has promised repeatedly and explicitly throughout the campaign not to cut Social Security or medicare. This broken promise should be especially alarming to millions of people who voted for the president who spent their working lives paying premiums into the system believing those benefits would be there for them in retirement and or should they become disabled. Bottom line is this, Social Security is the nations insurance program. It is not an entitlement. It is the insurance that individuals have paid for throughout a lifetime. The problems with Social Security at its core, this issue that were taking up today especially as it relates to theft is violently important to protect peachs identity but equally important and the responsibility of this committee is the actuary soundness. Ask any private sector Insurance Company if they could have a 99 loss ratio . They would die for that. And theres no product on the open market where you can produce old age and survivors benefits, disability and a pension plan and survivors benefits. That is the uniqueness of Social Security. That is why is it americas Insurance Plan that our citizens have paid for. This is not an entitlement and well continue to make that point and i hope later this year mr. Chairman and mr. Johnson has been very gracious about saying that well get an opportunity to have hearings on our bills that will look at expanding and making solvent well into the next century, Social Security for all of its american citizens. Its the nations insurance program. Thank you. I now recognize mr. Hurd for his opening statement. Thank you, chairman. Two years plus i have been in congress i learned one thing and that is americans expect the federal government to protect their personal information. Sadly as evidenceddy the data breach at opm this is not the case. The American People deserve better from the government. If stolen, Social Security numbers can be used to perpetuate Identity Theft or worse wlchlt they are looking to steal money or threat the National Security of our nation. The Oversight Committee held a hearing on the irs data breach where they stole income information from Financial Aid applications and used that to file fraudulent tax returns with the irs. All of the agencies appearing before us today retain a wealth of information about americans, particularly Social Security numbers. We must reduce the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers on printed forms and electronically in transition and at rest. In. Tomorrow, the house has considering the Social Security numbers Fraud Prevention act of 2017 which prohibits agencies sending Social Security numbers by mail unless absolutely necessary. The Social Security administration has records on everybody living and dead. Its a treasure trove of information that must be protected. Veterans administration has held records on 8 million veterans and their families. I can imagine few other records as intimate as a health record. The v. A. Uses Social Security numbers as a patient identifier. Protecting the numbers is critically important for all americans but given that Social Security numbers are exchanged with the most at risk members of society we must take utmost precaution to prevent the unnecessary risk of exposures for these populations. Agencies reduce their use of Social Security numbers in order to mitigate the risk of Identity Theft. As agencies undertake this precipitation that he rethink how they use, collect and store Social Security numbers and all pieces of personal information they collect. Im proud to be here with my colleagues from the Oversight Committee taken ways and Means Committees in this important joint hearing to examine what is working and what we can do better. Today i hope to learn more about what efforts the federal government is taking to reduce the collection, use and storage of Social Security numbers. Thank you for being here today and i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. I know recognize ms. Kelly for her opening statement. Thank you for holding this important hearing. Originally created to track the earnings of individuals and determine eligibility for Social Security benefits the Social Security number has become the principle number to verify an individuals identity. But the proliferation of their use poses channels to Data Security and identity threat protection. In 2007 when the office of management and budget recognized reducing the use of the number could reduce identity thread, omb directed agencies to reduce their use of Social Security numbers by examining where their collection was unnecessary and creating plans and such collection within 18 months. Now on the tenyear anniversary of the guidance we have a chance to look at the things that have stymied the efforts. The Social Security administration no longer prints Social Security numbers on statements, cost of living notices or benefit checks the centers for medicaid and Medicare Services is removing the numbers from all Medicare Cards by 2019. The department of Veterans Affairs has ceased printing Social Security numbers on prescription bottles and kroe correspondence and working on finding a new way to identify people. These steps are Real Progress but barriers that still exist to full uimplementation, up with o those is a lack of strong approach from omb itself. Gao found that the 2007 memorandum did not define unnecessary use or outline time line or performance goals. As a result many agencies were vague and subject to varied interpretation of the years. And they did making it difficult to determine if they were reducing collection and use. Omb must strengthen its monitoring of compliance. Federal efforts to reduce Social Security numbers use has faced other challenges. Agencies are legally required to collect Social Security numbers for Identity Verification in a number of programs and Social Security numbers remain the standard for Identity Verification across government programs. Opm worked to create an alternate identifier in 2008 and again in twae2015. But a lack of funding prevented these empties from going forward. Significant reductions in Social Security numbers use seems unlikely. Outdated i. T. Systems cause agencies to struggle to attain their goals. Agencies dont have the funds to start anew. The subcommittee has spoken about the need to update the i. T. Infrastructure and we must put our money where our mouth is. Im concerned that cuts proposed by the Trump Administration will take us in the opposite direction. I hope my colleagues will keep this and the need to protect americans from Identity Theft in mind. I look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today and yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. Thank you. As is customary, any member is welcome to commit a statement for the hearing record. Before we move on to testimony today i want to remind our witnesses to please limit their oral statements to five minutes. However, without objection, all of the written testimony will be made part of the hearing record. We have five Witnesses Today. Seated at the table are gregory wilshusen, from the Government Accountability office. Mary office of requirement and disability policy. David devries, office of Personnel Management and karen jackson, deputy chief operating office, centers for medicare and Medicaid Services and finally john oswalt executive director of Privacy Department of Veterans Affairs. Welcome to you all and thank you for being here. Pursuant to the committee on oversight and government reform rules, all witnesses will be sworn in before they testify. Please rise and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole