,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bgbj ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #ah1 #bjac ,mr4 ,sam ,johnson of ,texas 7for himself and ,mr4 ,becerra7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means ,a ,,bill ,to amend title ,,ii of the ,social ,security ,act to provide for the treatment of death information furnished to or maintained by the ,social ,security ,administration1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,alexis ,agin ,identity ,theft ,protection ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,limitation on distribution of death information furnished to or maintained by the ,social ,security ,administration 7a7 ,in general ,section #bje7r7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7r77 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#b71 by inserting 1 and to ensure completeness1 timeliness1 and accuracy of1 after transmitting2 7#b7 by striking paragraph 7#c7 and inserting the following3 7#c7 ,the ,commissioner of ,social ,security shall1 to the extent feasible1 provide for the use of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the ,commissioner1 subject to such safeguards as the ,commissioner of ,social ,security determines are necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or disclosure1 to any ,federal or ,state agency providing or administering ,federally funded benefits to individuals1 other than benefits under this ,act1 through a cooperative arrangement with such agency designed to ensure proper payment of those benefits with respect to such individuals if-- 7,a7 under such arrangement the agency provides reimbursement to the ,commissioner of ,social ,security for the reasonable costs of carrying out such arrangement1 including the reasonable costs associated with the collection and maintenance of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to the ,commissioner pursuant to paragraph 7#a72 and 7,b7 such arrangement does not conflict with the duties of the ,commissioner of ,social ,security under paragraph 7#a74 2 7#c7 in paragraph 7#d71 by inserting or in benefit and pension plans for employees of the ,states or local governments after by the ,states2 7#d7 by striking paragraph 7#e7 and inserting the following3 7#e7 7,a7 ,the ,commissioner of ,social ,security may use or provide for the use of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to or maintained by the ,commissioner1 subject to such safeguards as the ,commissioner of ,social ,security determines are necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized use or disclosure1 provided the requirements of subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 of paragraph 7#c7 are met and such information is provided-- 7i7 to any ,federal agency through a cooperative agreement with such agency for the purpose of law enforcement or tax administration2 or 7ii7 for statistical and research activities conducted by ,federal and ,state agencies4 7,b7 ,a ,federal or ,state agency may disclose death information obtained from the ,commissioner to a contractor for the purposes of assisting with such law enforcement1 tax administration1 or statistical and research activities1 provided that the agency ensures1 at a minimum1 that the contractor fulfills the requirements of clauses 7ii7 and 7iv7 of paragraph 7#g77;,e74 2 7#e7 by striking paragraph 7#g7 and inserting the following3 7#g7 7,a7 ,for purposes of this paragraph1 death information shall consist of information regarding deceased individuals maintained by the ,commissioner of ,social ,security1 except for information furnished to or maintained by the ,commissioner pursuant to paragraphs 7#a7 or 7#b71 and the death information to be provided shall consist only of the name1 social security number1 date of birth1 and date of death of a deceased individual40 7,b7 ,the ,commissioner may disclose death information under this paragraph to the ,secretary of ,defense provided that-- 7i7 the ,secretary uses the information provided solely for the purpose of assisting in the identification of unidentified remains1 and 7ii7 the ,secretary enforces requirements similar to those in clauses 7i71 7ii71 7iv71 7v71 7vi71 and 7vii7 with respect to any contractor the ,secretary hires to assist in such identifications4 7,c7 ,the ,commissioner of ,social ,security may disclose death information1 except for information furnished to or maintained by the ,commissioner of ,social ,security pursuant to paragraphs 7#a7 or 7#b71 provided the requirements of this paragraph and the requirements of subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 of paragraph 7#c7 are met4 7,d7 ,the ,commissioner may disclose-- 7i7 to any entity1 information maintained by the ,commissioner concerning individuals whose date of death occurred at least #c calendar years prior to the year that the entity requests such information pursuant to a written agreement2 and 7ii7 to any entity certified by the ,commissioner under subparagraph 7,e71 information maintained by the ,commissioner concerning individuals whose date of death does not satisfy the requirements of clause 7i71 pursuant to a written agreement between the ,commissioner and the entity4 7,e7 ,for purposes of this paragraph an entity is certified only if the ,commissioner-- 7i7 establishes procedures to certify and decertify entities eligible to obtain such information2 7ii7 includes in the agreement with such an entity provisions to require such entity to safeguard the information provided1 assure that the information is used only for the purpose which was the basis for the certification1 assure that the information is not disclosed by the entity to any other entity1 and include contractual penalties1 including monetary penalties and loss of certification1 for the violation of any requirements imposed by the ,commissioner as a condition of receiving the information2 7iii7 requires that the entity demonstrate that-- 7,i7 it has a legitimate business need for the information1 which shall include a requirement that the information regarding a deceased individual will aid in preventing financial harm to the entity or to a customer or client of the entity or will aid in permitting the entity to fulfill an obligation to a beneficiary of an individual that is contingent upon the death of such individual2 or 7,,ii7 it has a legitimate interest in preventing fraud or unauthorized financial transactions2 7iv7 requires that the entity demonstrate that it has infrastructure and procedures in place to prevent wrongful access to or the disclosure of information provided by the ,commissioner2 7v7 determines that the entity has adequate experience and expertise in maintaining the confidentiality and security of information2 7vi7 includes such other requirements and restrictions as the ,commissioner deems appropriate to assure the confidentiality of the information2 and 7vii7 requires that the entity permit periodic and unscheduled audits of the entity to assure compliance with the requirements established by the ,commissioner4 7,f7 ,the ,commissioner shall establish application and other fees to be paid by entities seeking to be certified or to maintain certification under this paragraph so that the ,commissioner is fully reimbursed for all costs associated with development of the certification process1 evaluating applications1 auditing compliance with the requirements established by the ,commissioner1 inspecting records and assuring compliance with contract requirements1 and any other costs associated with assuring continuing eligibility for certification under this paragraph4 7,g7 ,for purposes of this paragraph1 the terms entity or entities includes individual and individuals respectively4 7,h7 ,the ,commissioner may delegate any of the activities under this paragraph to another agency and may perform any activity through a contractor1 provided that the delegation or contract requires such agency or contractor to comply with all requirements of this section and of the implementing policies developed by the ,commissioner4 2 7#f7 by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#aj7 ,information related to a deceased individual received by the ,commissioner of ,social ,security other than as described in paragraph 7#a7 shall be treated for purposes of paragraph 7#f7 in the same manner as information received as described in paragraph 7#a74 4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act and each year thereafter through #bjai1 the ,commissioner of ,social ,security shall submit to the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate and the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of the ,house of ,representatives a report describing the entities certified by the ,commissioner under section #bje7r77#g7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7r77#g77 during the preceding year and their compliance with the requirements of subparagraph 7,e7 of such section4 7c7 ,effective dates 7#a7 ,in general ,except as provided in paragraph 7#b71 the amendments made by this section take effect on the date that is #fj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7#b7 ,exception ,the amendment made by subsection 7a77#f7 shall take effect on ,january #a1 #bjad4 7d7 ,sunset ,subparagraphs 7,c7 through 7,h7 of section #bje7r77#g7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7r77#g77 7as amended by subsection 7a77 shall cease to be effective on ,january #a1 #bjai1 except that-- 7#a7 clauses 7ii7 and 7iv7 of subparagraph 7,e7 of such section shall continue to apply for purposes of section #bje7r77#e77;,b7 of such ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7r77#e77;,b77 7as amended by subsection 7a774