Congress Goes On Summer Recess With Pending Bills
Threatening PIs & Security Companies
Colleagues,
Congress has left town for its summer recess and will return to
Washington
on September 8, two weeks before the NCISS "Hit the Hill"
blitz on the nation's capital. As the headlines show, Congress
has spent the first year of the Obama Administration on broad
issues including
economic stimulus, health care, energy and a
Supreme Court nomination. However, issues of concern to
private
investigators and security companies have recently ramped
up.
On the day the Senate finished its legislative business before
leaving town, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced S1618, a
bill which would set the rules for how
Social Security numbers should be truncated. Earlier this
year that issue was the subject of a hearing in the
House Committee
on Oversight & Government Reform. Also, the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science and Transportation passed S-30, the "Truth in
Caller ID Act" Thursday. And as recently reported, the new
Chairman of the
Social Security Subcommittee,
John Tanner
(D-TN) has taken up the cause of the previous Chairmen of that
subcommittee and reintroduced HR 3306 the "Social Security
Number Privacy &
Identity Theft Protection Act", which would severely
restrict the ability to access SSN's or the data they help
develop. Other
Social Security bills have also been introduced,
including Senator Feirnstein's S-141, "Protecting the Privacy of
Social Security Numbers Act" and
Representative Frelinghuysen' s HR 122, the House version
of S-141.
Two major bills are under consideration regarding data breaches.
Although neither one of them currently includes restrictions on
the use of SSN's, they could serve as vehicles for amendments to
do so as they have in the past. But in addition to these issues
with which NCISS has been involved for years, a few new ones
have been introduced that merit our concern. Representative
Charlie Rangel
(D-NY), Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has introduced
HR 1529, the "Second Chance for Offenders Act" which would make
it easier to expunge federal criminal records. And recently,
Representative Stephen Cohen (D-TN) introduced the "Equal
Employment for All Act", which would ban most uses of credit
reports in the employment context. A more institutional issue
that could affect our membership is HR 3126, the "Consumer
Financial Protection Act". It is part of President Obama's
effort to regulate financial institutions in order to avoid
another economic crisis. But it would move many functions from
the
Federal Trade Commission to the new agency. This includes
the
Fair Credit Reporting Act and many privacy issues. It is
not certain what the impact on NCISS members would be, but it
increases the risk of additional restrictions on
private
investigators.
Security companies and many other businesses are awaiting
possible "compromise" proposals regarding the "Employee
Free Choice Act". Several Democratic Senators have been
meeting to try to come up with an amendment to the bill to
enable them to get the 60 votes usually required to get
controversial bills through the Senate. The measure would permit
unions to organize a company without the need for a
secret ballot
election. It would also mandate that if a contract is not
agreed to by a date certain, binding arbitration would set wages
and work rules. Another concern is a supposedly "voluntary"
certification program being developed by the
Department of
Homeland Security regarding emergency response and
business
continuity planning. Working through industry coalition
Security Companies Organized for Legislative Action (SCOLA),
NCISS has been participating in DHS meetings on the matter.
As you have just read, the NCISS Legislative Committee is
actively monitoring and communicating with Congressional
representatives to voice the concerns of our profession. Now,
you can help!
The NCISS "Hit the Hill" is scheduled for
September 24. It is critical that our membership make
itself heard and felt on these major issues. Make your voice
heard and come join us in
Washington, DC.
Register TODAY for the NCISS Hit
the Hill
Campaign in Washington, DC
on September 24th. You can get detailed information on
this and other NCISS events by going to
www.nciss.org.
Thank you for your continued loyalty and support.
Sincerely,
Jimmie Mesis
NCISS Legislative Chairman
jim@nciss.org
(Permission granted to repost to other email lists and
association
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NCISS Legislative Fund
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Baltimore, Maryland 21219
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