05/10/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/10/2021 20:00
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democrats' expanded unemployment benefits are subjecting the American people to rampant fraud, according to experts at a public Ways and Means panel hosted by Republican Leader for the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN).
Rep. Walorski introduced the panel by saying: 'Generous unemployment benefits put in place by the CARES Act, including the additional $300 federal supplement are discouraging work and making it hard for employers to hire- and they have become an easy target for criminals.'
Read Rep. Walorski's full opening remarks HERE.
The roundtable featured six experts on unemployment fraud. Key excerpts of their testimony are below.
Watch the full meeting HERE.
Eva Casey Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, said: 'Unemployment identity theft was the most prevalent [case type last year] … We saw a 4800 percent increase - I'm not misspeaking - that's a 4800 percent increase in just that case type.'
Amy Simon, Chief of Staff and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration stated: 'After the CARES Act was passed, the unemployment system became a rich target in a way that it had never been previously.'
Doug Swetnam, who serves as Indiana Attorney General's Section Chief for Data Privacy and Identity Theft, said: 'Even before the pandemic struck, identity theft was considered one of, if not the fastest growing crimes in the United States. The billions of dollars pumped into a previously nonexistent distribution system created a once in a lifetime opportunity for every scammer, fraudster, and thief in the world.'
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Republican Committee Members Have Sounded the Alarm on COVID-Related Fraud for Months
More Than $60 Billion (and Counting) in Improper Payments Have Gone Out Already
Democrats' War on Work Will Sabotage our Economic Recovery