Transcript of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras Announcing the Release of the President's Identity Theft Task Force

    WASHINGTON, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is a
 transcript of remarks by Attorney General Gonzales and FTC Chairman Majoras
 regarding the President's Identity Theft Task Force:
     COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PLAN TO COMBAT IDENTITY THEFT
 
     WASHINGTON, D.C.
 
     1:30 P.M. EDT
     ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO R. GONZALES: Good afternoon. I am pleased to
 be here with Deborah Platt Majoras, chairman of the Federal Trade
 Commission, for this announcement. On April 11th, the Identity Theft Task
 Force, which Deborah and I co-chair, delivered to the president its
 comprehensive plan to fight identity theft, which is a serious problem in
 our country.
     This crime affects millions of Americans every year, costing billions
 of dollars, but it really goes far beyond the loss of money or property. It
 is a personal invasion, done in secret, that can rob innocent men and women
 of their good names. A victim can spend months or years rebuilding a
 damaged credit history and cleaning up the bewildering damage caused by the
 thief.
     Now we have already acknowledged that this is not a new problem, and
 our report builds upon many years of effort by our federal, state and local
 partners, as well as the private sector and nonprofit organizations.
     Much has been accomplished, and there are more protections in place now
 than ever before. But the president and the task force recognize that we
 need to do more. And this new plan represents an important step forward in
 America's efforts to fight back against identity theft.
     The recently reported public exposure of Social Security numbers by a
 federal agency is problematic and does serve as a timely reminder that all
 of us, including the government, must be careful when handling people's
 personal information. This is exactly the type of vulnerability that the
 task force's recommendations are designed to help identify and to prevent.
     The recommendations are a strategic effort to fight this crime, protect
 consumers and help victims put their lives back together. Now several of
 these points were announced last September as interim recommendations, and
 I am pleased that all of those have already been implemented or in the
 process of being implemented.
     Preventing identify theft is about more than just protecting businesses
 and consumers. It also about national security. And one of the task force's
 primary recommendations is the federal government establish a national
 identity theft law enforcement center.
     This effort will increase our ability to analyze ID theft, complaint
 data, and other intelligence from the public and private sectors, and to
 make that information available to our law enforcement partners at all
 levels.
     Identity thieves as we all know, do not respect jurisdictional
 boundaries. In allowing agents and officers across the country to share
 information, will help them connect the dots between seemingly unrelated
 investigations.
     That same level of cooperation is necessary with our foreign law
 enforcement partners as well. A national identity theft law enforcement
 center will make a real difference in our ability to investigate, prosecute
 and punish identity thieves.
     The task force also recognized that many of our current criminal
 statutes have not been updated to allow law enforcement to keep pace with
 new and developing methods used by identify thieves. We therefore are
 recommending a variety of legislative proposals aimed at strengthening
 identity theft enforcement, including ways to close loopholes in existing
 laws so that prosecutors have the appropriate tools for charging these
 crimes.
     These legislative proposals include amendments to the restitution
 statutes, to enable victims to recover the value of time spent attempting
 to make themselves whole. And they include important measures to assure
 federal authority to prosecute the use of malicious spyware, to broaden the
 statutes to criminalize the theft of electronic data, and to permit
 prosecutors to charge aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory
 two-year prison term in a larger number of cases.
     When the president established this task force last May, he met with
 victims of identity theft. He heard their voices, and he asked the task
 force to step up and make a difference. With this report, we have made good
 on that promise.
     I'd like to thank the many law enforcement and victims' rights groups
 here today who will be instrumental in implementing the plan, including the
 National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of
 Attorneys General, the Fraternal Order of Police, the International
 Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Center for Victims of Crime,
 and the Police Executive Research Forum.
     Now we will hear from Chairman Majoras before taking your questions.
     CHAIRMAN DEBORAH PLATT MAJORAS: Thank you very much, General Gonzales.
 Today we take another important step forward in our efforts to combat
 identity theft, recognizing that this is part of a continuing process and
 not a one-time event.
     Identity theft is the misuse of another individual's personal
 information to commit fraud. It is a blight on America's privacy and
 security landscape. It robs consumers of their time and money. It drains
 businesses of finances and efficiency, and it erodes a critical element of
 our economy -- trust in a person's good name and credit.
     A recent survey conducted by Zogby Interactive revealed that 91 percent
 of respondents worry about ID theft. Protecting the privacy and identity of
 consumers has long been a priority at the Federal Trade Commission, and we
 continue to receive 15 to 20 thousand consumer communications about
 identity theft every week.
     More than 1,500 law enforcement agencies now have access to the FTC's
 identity theft data clearinghouse, a central database of more than one
 million victim complaints. And as we continue to learn from our work, one
 thing is clear: only a coordinated approach will have the reach and impact
 necessary to effectively attack this crime.
     Less than one year ago, General Gonzales and I accepted the president's
 assignment to lead the development of a strategic plan to combat identity
 theft and to recommend ways to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency
 of the federal government's activities in the areas of awareness,
 prevention, detection and prosecution of this crime.
     The Department of Justice, the FTC and 15 additional federal
 departments and agencies have worked together since then to meet the
 president's challenge. Each of the task force member agencies and
 departments has played an important role in developing this strategic plan,
 but real work remains not only for the task force members, but for the
 entire federal government and state and local government partners, for the
 entire private sector, and for each and every one of our citizens.
     While we as a nation have eagerly embraced new technologies and modes
 of communication in this Information Age, we were perhaps slower to grasp
 how adeptly criminals also would adopt these same avenues to seal personal
 information.
     We are catching up. Many federal agencies, businesses and other
 organizations have increased their efforts to safeguard sensitive data.
 Consumers have been better educated about how to guard against and then how
 to respond to ID theft.
     As the Attorney General has remarked, of course, strong criminal
 enforcement is key in these efforts, and it has been increasing. But we are
 not yet satisfied. Data security breaches remain too common, and schemes
 for committing ID theft are growing more sophisticated.
     Protecting the security of consumers' personal data cannot be an
 afterthought. It must be organically incorporated into every organization's
 procedures and into every American's habits.
     The strategic plan we are releasing today recommends 31 measures
 containing scores of more specific recommendations. Some are already in
 place, others we will implement within the next year. The recommendations
 span all sectors of the economy, and they target the entire life cycle of
 identity theft, from access to sensitive consumer data, to its acquisition,
 to its misuse, to the investigation and prosecution of the criminals, and
 to the victims' recovery.
     And to provide a few examples in general terms, the plan calls for us
 to reduce the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers in the public
 sector; to better protect data that must be held by federal government
 agencies; to establish national safeguards to require private sector
 entities to protect consumers' personal data, and to notify consumers of
 certain breaches; implement a broader and better coordinated campaign to
 educate consumers, who are often the first line of defense; and the public
 and private sectors on how to deter, detect and defend against ID theft.
     And finally, as Attorney General Gonzales mentioned, creating a
 national identity theft law enforcement center to allow more efficient and
 effective law enforcement against this crime.
     I am proud to be a part of this comprehensive federal effort, and I am
 committed to continuing to work with my colleagues to implement the
 recommendations within the timeframes we have outlined.
     Before we take your questions, I'd like to acknowledge and thank all of
 our task force colleagues. I also thank all of the stakeholders, including
 those the attorney general mentioned and also we heard from identity theft
 victims on this report, and they offered -- they and other stakeholders
 offered very useful and productive suggestions for our plan.
     And finally, but especially, I thank Ron Tenpas and Mythili Raman from
 the Department of Justice, and Lydia Parnes and Betsy Broder of the FTC for
 their tremendous efforts on this report.
     Thank you.
     Questions.
     QUESTION: Mr. Attorney General, we haven't heard from you since your
 testimony on Thursday. Could we ask you --
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Wasn't that enough?
     QUESTION: Well, several senators since have raised questions. Senator
 Specter said yesterday your testimony was very, very damaging to your
 credibility, and several senators have raised the question of whether you
 can be credible and whether or not you can be an effective attorney
 general. Do you still believe you can, and have you offered your
 resignation to the president?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: No. I'm focused on making sure our kids are
 safe, making sure our neighborhoods are safe, making sure consumers are
 safe, and that's one of the reasons I'm here today. So, you know, I'm
 focused on doing the job for the American people.
     QUESTION: How long do you plan on staying at the Justice Department? Do
 you plan on staying throughout the rest of the term?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I will stay as long as I feel I can be
 effective, and I believe I can be effective. Obviously, we'll be working
 with the Congress to reassure them that we've identified the mistakes that
 have been made here and that we are taking steps to address them. But I
 can't just be focused on the U.S. Attorney situation. I've also got to be
 focused on what's really important for the American people.
     QUESTION: Judge, a question, please, sir. As my colleagues have said,
 you've lost the confidence of a lot of the people on Capitol Hill.
 Virtually nobody has defended you. At the Department of Justice, morale, by
 all accounts, is plummeting amongst career prosecutors and U.S. Attorneys.
 My question to you, sir, you seem like you're disagreeing with me, but my
 question is, do you acknowledge that your continued leadership in the
 Department of Justice has been harmed or hurt its operations at such an
 important time when the Department is trying to keep us all safe?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Of course I -- it's something that I always
 take into consideration. I think a cabinet secretary or the head of an
 agency every day should wake up and ask themselves that question. Am I
 still effective in this position? I think that's a question that all of us
 should ask every day. And as long as I think that I can be effective and
 the president believes that I should continue to be at the head of the
 Department of Justice, I'll continue serving as the Attorney General.
     QUESTION: Mr. Attorney General, in light of the tragedy at Virginia
 Tech, are you looking into whether state laws are effective enough in
 preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Well, what we're looking at, Mike Leavitt is
 leading an effort to work with Margaret Spellings, the Education Secretary,
 Mike Leavitt being the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
     And from my perspective, what we're looking at is to see whether or not
 this information, what information about mental health should law
 enforcement officials have, and what are the barriers that prevent law
 enforcement from having that information.
     So, that's what I will be looking at from the perspective of the
 Department of Justice, and of course, Secretary Leavitt will be looking at
 it from his vantage point, as will Secretary Spellings.
     QUESTION:  I'm asking you and the chairman on identity theft.
 
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES:  Good.  Thank you.
     QUESTION: Yes, exactly. But I think it deserves a lead story. A lot of
 the victims the president heard from had problems because their credit
 reports were disclosed to thieves who used their Social Security number.
 The states are coming up with a fairly clean solution to this called the
 Credit Freeze, to freeze the disclosure of a credit report.
     My quick perusal of the report does not show that issue addressed, and
 I think that if you're going to have a comprehensive solution, my question
 is, is that addressed in here? If not, why not? And, you know, shouldn't
 that be something looked at and to have a policy position by the
 administration because the issue is going to be before Congress as well?
     MS. MAJORAS: Well, we do address it in this way. You are right. States
 over time have been passing laws that permit consumers to put what's called
 a credit freeze on their reports. Now they started doing that shortly after
 the FACT Act was signed at the end of 2003. The FACT Act, of course, put in
 place a lot of federal protections for consumers.
     And so we've wanted to see, quite frankly, what's working and what's
 not. So what the report contains is a recommendation that we do a careful
 examination of what has happened in the states in which the credit freeze
 statutes have passed, how effective those have been, also looking at how
 effective the protections in the FACT Act have been, and then we can
 formulate a better position to assist Congress or any other policymaker.
     QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: And let me just emphasize, this is not the
 end of the analysis or the discussion. This is a serious problem. It's a
 serious problem for consumers, it's a serious problem for businesses, and I
 think this provides an important step forward, as I indicated in my
 remarks.
     But I worry about this as Attorney General. I know the chairman is
 likewise very concerned about this issue. And we need to do more to educate
 the American public, the American consumer about the dangers of identity
 theft. It's serious, it's prevalent, and it's increasing.
     QUESTION: Going back to the Topic A. You used the word "effective." How
 do measure if you're effective? And how -- what in your mind means
 "ineffective?"
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Well, listen. What I'm -- there are a series
 of priorities, a series of objectives that I want to see accomplished as
 attorney general. I think we've done a lot of good things in the last two
 years. And I think moving forward, the question is whether or not can those
 objectives be achieved. And I continue to believe that they can be
 achieved.
     And we are working as hard as we can to achieve those objectives.
 Obviously, you know, as head as of an agency, like every head of an agency,
 you worry about questions about morale.
     You address those specific concerns, and the way I do is by speaking
 directly to U.S. attorneys, by speaking directly to the component heads and
 talking about my vision for the department moving forward, and encouraging
 them to understand and realize the importance of staying focused on the
 mission.
     That's what the American people expect from the Department of Justice,
 to stay focused on the mission. Because what we do as a department is too
 important to ignore that. And so that's the mission that I'm delivering to
 the folks in our department.
     MODERATOR: We'll take one more question.
     QUESTION: Mr. Attorney General, can you list some of the priorities you
 want to carry out in your office, and how do you think -- do you think
 you'll be able to do them without the confidence of many in Congress or--
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Well, sure. I'll talk about the things that
 I worry about. I worry about protecting our kids from predators on the
 Internet. That's something that I'm very concerned about -- that we rolled
 out, Project Safe Childhood, to work with state and local partners to make
 parents, to make people in communities aware of the dangers of the Internet
 use, and that's where many predators are targeting our kids.
     I worry about the safety of our neighborhoods, particularly gangs, gun
 crimes, and drugs. I worry about public corruption. I think our record with
 respect to going after public corruption, those who breach the public
 trust, is outstanding.
     I worry about the enforcement of civil rights. As a minority, I
 understand the importance of our civil rights laws and the importance of
 insuring that those laws are in fact enforced.
     I worry, of course, about the safety of our country from terrorism. I
 receive intelligence briefings every morning. I realize that they're still
 serious threats to our country. There are serious threats to our interests
 overseas. And so these are the issues that I'm focused on. I think we've
 made good progress on many of these issues in the past two years, and I'm
 confident we can continue to make progress.
     QUESTION:  Do you think you can -- with Congress or the public?
 
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES:  Pardon me?
 
     QUESTION:  Can you make progress if Congress --
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I'm intent on working with the Congress to
 reassure the Congress that we are identifying what happened here. We're
 going to correct mistakes that have been made. I've accepted responsibility
 for the mistakes that I've made. And so, yes, I have an obligation to work
 with Congress, and I will continue to work with Congress like I have in the
 past two years.
     QUESTION: Do you think the -- was unfair, sir?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I've already said -- indicated that I have
 made mistakes, and I accept responsibility for that.
     Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, 202-514-2007, or TDD, 202-514-1888
 
 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice