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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7270 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7270
To establish a government-wide approach to stopping identity fraud and
theft in the financial services industry, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 27, 2026
Mr. Sessions (for himself and Mr. Foster) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a government-wide approach to stopping identity fraud and
theft in the financial services industry, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Identity Fraud and Identity
Theft Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The lack of an easy, affordable, and reliable way for
organizations, businesses, and government agencies to identify
whether an individual is who they claim to be online creates an
attack vector that leads to millions of Americans being
victimized by China and North Korea, and other hostile nation-
states, as well as organized crime gangs, all of whom steal and
compromise identities to commit cybercrime and fraud.
(2) Incidents of identity theft and identity fraud continue
to rise in the United States, where more than 353 million
people were impacted by data breaches in 2023.
(3) The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated
that the Federal Government could lose between $233 billion and
$521 billion annually to fraud; GAO estimated that the amount
of fraud in unemployment insurance programs during the COVID-19
pandemic was likely between $100 billion and $135 billion and
found that the majority of this fraud occurred because
compromises of identity.
(4) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the
Department of the Treasury reported that $212 billion worth of
suspicious financial transactions in 2021 was tied to some form
of identity compromise; in 2024, they revealed that this number
had exploded in 2023, covering over 70 percent of all
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by banks, tied to $394
billion of transactions.
(5) In 2024, the Department of the Treasury report on
``Managing Artificial Intelligence-Specific Cybersecurity Risks
in the Financial Services Sector'' flagged the threat of new
``deepfake'' attacks powered by artificial intelligence and
noted ``The volume of these types of exploitations or cyber-
enabled attacks is likely to rise as technological developments
like Generative AI reduce the cost, complexity, and time
required to leverage gaps in our digital infrastructure.''.
(6) The inadequacy of current digital identity solutions
degrades security and privacy for all Americans, and as
``deepfake'' attacks become more prevalent, next generation
solutions are needed that can protect consumers, businesses,
and government agencies from identity-related cybercrime.
(7) Government entities, as authoritative issuers of
identity in the United States, are uniquely positioned to
deliver critical components that address deficiencies in our
identity infrastructure and augment private sector identity and
authentication solutions.
(8) State governments are particularly well suited to play
a role in enhancing digital identity solutions used by both the
public and private sectors, given the role of State governments
as the issuers of driver's licenses and other identity
documents commonly used today.
(9) The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) was directed in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to
launch new work to develop a framework of common definitions
and voluntary guidance for digital identity management systems,
including identity and attribute validation services provided
by Federal, State, and local governments, and work is underway
at NIST to create this guidance. However, State and local
agencies lack resources to implement this new guidance, and if
this does not change, it will take decades to harden
deficiencies in identity infrastructure.
(10) It should be the policy of the Government to use the
authorities and capabilities of the Government to enhance the
security, reliability, privacy, and convenience of digital
identity solutions that support and protect transactions
between individuals, government entities, and businesses, and
that enable Americans to prove who they are online.
SEC. 3. IDENTITY FRAUD PREVENTION INNOVATION GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, establish
a grant program to provide identity fraud prevention innovation grants
to States.
(b) Use of Amounts.--
(1) In general.--States shall use amounts provided under
this section to--
(A) develop digital versions of driver's licenses
and other identity credentials that comply with the
guidelines for identity and attribute validation
services developed by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology under section 504 of the
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014;
(B) protect the privacy and security of
individuals, including guarding against ``deepfake''
attacks powered by artificial intelligence;
(C) catalyze the development, deployment, and use
of more resilient, interoperable solutions Americans
can use to protect and assert their identity online;
(D) reduce identity theft and fraud by replacing
legacy identity systems that are highly vulnerable to
attack from organized criminals and hostile nation-
states with more robust solutions that can defeat these
attacks;
(E) ensure the integrity of Government benefit
programs paid through the Department of the Treasury;
(F) protect the United States financial system from
abuse by illicit actors; and
(G) enable more trusted transactions online.
(2) Requirement.--Not less than 10 percent of any amounts
provided to a State under this section shall be used by such
State to provide services designed to assist individuals with
obtaining any identity credentials or identity verification
services that are required to obtain a digital driver's license
or other digital identity credential offered by such State
physical.
(c) Limitations.--A State may not use any amounts provided under
this section to--
(1) require a person to obtain or use a digital driver's
license or digital identity credential;
(2) support any by such State to eliminate the issuance of
physical driver's licenses and physical identity credentials;
or
(3) support the issuance of drivers licenses or identity
credentials to unauthorized immigrants.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
to require any State to develop or issue digital versions of driver's
licenses or other identity credentials.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Treasury.
(2) Identity credential.--The term ``identity credential''
means a document or other evidence of the identity of an
individual issued by a State that conveys the identity of the
individual, including a driver's license, State-issued
identification card, or birth certificate.
(3) Unauthorized immigrant.--The term ``unauthorized
immigrant'' means a person who is not--
(A) is not citizen or national of the United
States;
(B) is not an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
or temporary residence in the United States;
(C) does not have conditional permanent resident
status in the United States;
(D) does not have an approved application for
asylum in the United States; and
(E) did not enter into the United States in
refugee status.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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