Thanks Lisa. I found it was easy to setup an account and verify it and then sign the petition. Sandy On 2/8/2012 9:02 PM, Lisa Pemberton wrote: > This was posted on another board I subscribe to. > > Lisa > > > - > > Please see the announcement below from the Records Preservation and Access > Committee headed by Federation of Genealogical Society regarding the SSDI. Thanks. > > Link to the WhiteHouse.gov petition: http://wh.gov/khE > > Instructions for signing up at WhiteHouse.gov and signing the petition can > be found at http://fgs.org/pdf/rpac_petition.pdf. > > 25000 signatures are needed by March 8. Your choice to sign or not, but you must create a user account to be able to sign the petition. > > =========================================================== > > For Immediate Release > February 7, 2012 > > RPAC ANNOUNCES STOP ID THEFT NOW! CAMPAIGN WITH WHITE HOUSE PETITION > > Genealogy Community Responds To Efforts To Remove Access to Social Security > Death Index and Other Records > > February 7, 2012- Austin, TX: The Records Preservation& Access Committee > (RPAC) - a joint coalition of international genealogical societies > representing millions of genealogists and family historians - announces the > launch of its Stop ID Theft NOW! campaign with its We The People petition > posted at WhiteHouse.gov. > > Call To Action For IRS To Do Its Job > > Each year, fraudulent tax refund claims based upon identity theft from > recently deceased infants and adults are filed with the Internal Revenue > Service (IRS). The current target is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) > or Death Master File since this file, as found on numerous > genealogy-oriented websites, could possibly be the source of identity > thieves acquiring a deceased person's Social Security number. > > The IRS could close the door to this form of identity theft if, in fact, it > were to use the Death Master File for the purpose for which it was created: > to reduce fraud. If returns claiming a tax refund were screened against the > Master Death File and matching cases identified for special processing, the > thief should receive a rejection notice for the filing. > > Tax Fraud and Identity Theft: Genealogists Are Not To Blame > > The House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security is > proposing to ***completely shut down*** use of the SSDI by genealogists as well as > other industries such as banking and insurance that rely upon its > information. Such an attempt is short-sighted and runs counter to the > original purpose of the SSDI: to actually combat fraud. > > Loss of Access to SSDI Affects More Than Genealogists > > The SSDI is accessed by many different companies, non-profits and other > entities besides individuals researching their family history. Forensic > specialists utilize the SSDI when reuniting remains of military veterans > with their next-of-kin and descendants. Law offices, banks and insurance > companies utilize the SSDI to resolve probate cases and to locate heirs. > > All of these entities would be required to spend more money and more time > leveraging other resources of information when the SSDI has served this > purpose, uninterrupted, for over a decade. > > RPAC Petitions Obama Administration > > The We the People petition, now posted at http://wh.gov/khE and accepting > signatures, has a simple yet effective mission: > > Take immediate steps that would curtail the filing of fraudulent tax refund > claims based upon identity theft from recently deceased infants and adults. > [Note: Visitors to the WhiteHouse.gov website must log in to sign the > petition, or click Create an Account to register. Once registered, return > tohttp://wh.gov/khE to sign the petition.] > > No need for lengthy hearings in front of a Congressional committee. No need > for filing statements for or against any House action. No need to waste time > and effort which could be directed to more pressing national issues. In > fact, the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2011 issued suggestions which do not > require additional legislation but can be implemented collaboratively > between the IRS and Social Security Administration (SSA) almost immediately > in time to impact the current tax filing season. > > About Records Preservation& Access Committee (RPAC) > > The Records Preservation& Access Committee (RPAC) was formed to advise the > genealogical community on ensuring proper access to historical records of > genealogical value in whatever media they are recorded, on means to affect > legislation, and on supporting strong records preservation policies and > practices. > > The genealogical community works together through The Records Preservation > and Access Committee (RPAC), which today includes The National Genealogical > Society (NGS), the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the > International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) as voting > members. The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Board for > Certification of Genealogists (BCG), the American Society of Genealogists > (ASG), ProQuest and Ancestry.com serve as participating members. > > > To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org/rpac/. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILSTCLAI-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > List admin: ilhamilt-admin@rootsweb.com > Info/Archives: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/IL/hamilton.html > USGenWeb site: http://hamilton.ilgw.org > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILHAMILT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Sandy (Whalen) Bauer