From: Misty
Subject: SNET: The Fed's Deadbeat Database by Declan McCullagh
Date: 5 May 2001 08:53:33 -0400
To: SNET ,
Armageddon or New Age?
-> SNETNEWS Mailing List
The Fed's Deadbeat Database
by Declan McCullagh
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32435,00.html
Links on url
4:00 p.m. Nov. 9, 1999 PST
A vast federal database will be used to identify Americans who default on
student loans or who should not be receiving unemployment benefits,
according to a bill scheduled for debate Wednesday by the US House of
Representatives.
The measure would require the Department of Health and Human Services to use
a national list of current public and private-sector employees to track
people suspected of cheating the government out of money.
The American Civil Liberties Union and some conservative groups are trying
to rally last-minute opposition to the measure, which proponents say would
reduce fraud by as much as US$800 million a year.
"This legislation would help turn employers' gates into government
checkpoints: Today the check is whether they owe child support. Tomorrow the
check is whether they can collect workman's comp. In the future the check
could be even more intrusive," says Greg Nojeim, ACLU legislative counsel.
As part of a sweeping 1996 welfare reform law, Congress created the
"Deadbeat Dad" database to track fathers who did not pay child support.
Beginning in 1997, it required HHS to set up a computer system to record
names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and employers.
Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum says it hopes to defeat the "Fathers Count
Act", which is sponsored by Representative Nancy Johnson (R-Connecticut) and
expands the use of the database.
"We're opposed to expanding the use for any reason. When it was created we
were told it would only be used for the purpose of tracking deadbeat dads,"
said the Eagle Forum's Lori Cole.
The bill is designed to thwart "borrowers of loans made under title IV of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 that are in default" or owe other grant
money. It says information will be turned over to the Department of
Education and Justice Department prosecutors.
State unemployment agencies may submit a name and SSN to check if that
person receiving benefits is employed or not.
Under existing law, the Social Security Administration verifies that correct
SSNs are listed in the database. The Treasury Department and the IRS also
have full access.
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