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12/4/97

EXISTING AND PROPOSED NEW USES FOR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

By: Scott McDonald

TAX CREDITS FOR CHILDREN

The requirement to supply a SSN in order to receive the federal child tax credit has been steadily tightened over the years. And this year Congress passed the "Taxpayer "Relief Act of 1997" - (HR2014) which certainly will "relieve" you of more of your money if you don't use numbers to identify your children. Again our "conservative Congress," as part of the continuation of the "Contract on America," has imposed a new tax stipulation designed to force all parents who haven't done so already to number their children. What this in effect amounts to is a HUGE TAX INCREASE for those parents who do not want to number their children.

The law, which goes into effect this year (1997) states:

"(e) No credit shall be allowed under this section to a taxpayer with respect to any qualifying child unless the taxpayer includes the name and taxpayer identification number of such qualifying child on the return of tax for the taxable year."

The IRS Code states that the "taxpayer identification number" is a social security number. Many people are opposed to numbering their children based religious objections (see: I Chronicles 21:1-14). And there simply is no requirement that everyone must have a social security number in the first place.

How much more "relief" can we stand? And how much more numbering can we stand? We may find out soon enough. Two bills currently being considered by Congress will add still more requirements for using social security numbers in order to...... VOTE...... or to OWN A FIREARM!

THE PROPOSED NATIONAL VOTER ID BILL

The federal "Voter Eligibility Verification Act" - House Bill H.R. 1428 - (there's a corresponding one in the Senate), if enacted into law, will create a requirement that all voters must submit a social security number in order to be approved to vote. One of the bill's stated purposes is:

"to amend the Social Security Act to permit States to require individuals registering to vote in elections to provide the individual's Social Security number."

The national voter identification and verification legislation, if passed, will establish a "Voter Eligibility Confirmation System" to be maintained by the Attorney General's Office in cooperation with the Social Security Administration. The confirmation system will provide the capability to:

"respond to inquiries made to verify the citizenship of an individual who has submitted a voter registration application, by Federal, State, and local officials with responsibility for determining an individual's qualification to vote in a Federal, State, or local election; and maintain a record of the inquiries that were made and of verifications provided (or not provided). [comment in parentheses in original]

Perhaps you can be comforted by the following statement which is mockingly included as part of the Act.

Section 2(h)(2) states:

"Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of national identification cards or the establishment of a national identification card."

This very same comment about "not establishing a national ID card" is also included in the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996" - P.L.104-208. No, it doesn't establish the card.... it establishes the National Identification SYSTEM! Why has our "conservative Congress" already passed one and is now considering another piece of major legislation within a year of each other for which they feel a need to include a statement denying that it is the establishment of a National ID System? The reason is that it actually IS the establishment of a National Identification System - and they know it - but they think that telling the American People that it is NOT will make it so... Classic "Double Speak".

Section 3 of the Act permits the States to require social security numbers from people registering to vote.

Some states, mine (Alabama) included, are beginning to beat the drum for state-wide "voter identification" requirements. Strong arguments can be made for voter identification as a method to cut down on vote fraud. But the same arguments can be made, and even more strongly stated, for a National Voter ID - and all the same arguments can be made even more strongly still, for a National Identification System. Why limit it to the individual states? If voter IDs are good, wouldn't a National ID be better? If not - Why not?

The States that are pushing for voter ID requirements, along with the States that already have it, are furthering the cause and the argument for a "de facto" National Registration and Identification System.

PROPOSED NATIONAL FIREARM REGISTRATION

Not enough numbering for you yet. Then perhaps you'll cotton, (that's an Alabama term), to the other bill being considered that, like the Voter ID bill, includes a requirement that you must supply a social security number..... when you REGISTER YOUR FIREARMS!

House Bill HR 1998, (that's the bill number, not the date), proposes to "disarm lawless persons and assist State and Federal law enforcement agencies in preventing and solving gun crimes by requiring registration of all firearms and firearm transfers, and addtionally requiring permits for ammunition."

The Act is called the "Yates Firearm Registration and Crime Prevention Act of 1997". The proposed Act states "any person who owns a firearm in the United States on the effective date, must register the firearm with the Secretary within 1 year after the effective date of the Act". It also states that "it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer, or receive a firearm in the United States without registering the firearm transfer within 7 days."

To register a firearm a person must submit to the Secretary: "The name, age, address, and social security number (if any), of the person; or in the case of a firearm transfer, the transferor and the transferee. The name of the manufacturer, the caliber or gauge (as appropriate), the model and type, and the serial number identification (if any) of the firearm." [parentheses are in original - interestingly, the Act recognizes that not everyone has a SSN] And, the application for a firearm permit must be "on a written application that contains a photograph and fingerprints of the applicant."

The bill also states that if a person loses a firearm or that a firearm has been stolen from the person they must submit to the Secretary, within 48-hours from when the person discovers the loss or theft, a report of the loss or theft.

The Act will prohibit the Secretary from issuing a permit to anyone who has been "dishonorably discharged" from one of the services; has been "indicted"; "uses controlled substances"; or has ever "threatened an intimate partner".

I wonder if this bill could be said to also "not establish a National ID System"? I may be from Alabama but..... if we have to use social security number to get a driver's license, register an automobile, establish credit, get a job, get tax relief, obtain a professional business license, get a hunting license, get utility service, etc., and now potentially to register a gun and vote - don't we already have a National ID in the form of a social security number?

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