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Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act

Public Law 108-275 · H.R. 1731 · 108th Congress · began in the House

Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Jul 15, 2004 · Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor: Rep. John Carter (R-TX-31)

Cosponsors (26): Rep. Adam Schiff,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for aggravated identity theft. Prescribes sentences, to be imposed in addition to the punishments provided for the related felonies, of: (1) two years' imprisonment for knowingly transferring, possessing, or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person during and in relation to specified felony violations (including theft of public property, theft by a bank officer or employee, theft from employee benefit plans, various fraud and immigration offenses, and false statements regarding Social Security and Medicare benefits); and (2) five years' imprisonment for knowingly taking such action with respect to a means of identification or a false identification document during and in relation to specified felony violations pertaining to terrorist acts. Prohibits a court from: (1) placing any person convicted of such a violation on probation; (2) reducing any sentence for the related felony to take into account the sentence imposed for such a violation; or (3) providing for concurrent terms of imprisonment for a violation of this Act and a violation under any other Act.

(Sec. 3) Expands the existing identify theft prohibition to: (1) cover possession of a means of identification of another with intent to commit specified unlawful activity; (2) increase penalties for violations; and (3) include acts of domestic terrorism within the scope of a prohibition against facilitating an act of international terrorism.

(Sec. 4) Modifies provisions regarding embezzlement and theft of public money, property, or records to provide for combining amounts from all the counts for which the defendant is convicted in a single case for purposes of determining which penalties apply.

(Sec. 5) Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements to ensure that the guideline offense levels and enhancements appropriately punish identity theft offenses involving an abuse of position.

(Sec. 6) Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for the investigation and prosecution of identity theft and related credit card and other fraud cases constituting felonies.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

2 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • H.R. 858Related bill

    Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act

  • S. 153Identical billRelated bill

    Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 22 actions.

  1. Jul 15, 2004Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 108-275.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Jul 8, 2004FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Jun 25, 2004FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Jun 24, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. Jun 23, 2004FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  9. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1731.
  10. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  11. FloorFloor · Mr. Sensenbrenner moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  12. Jun 8, 2004CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 306.
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 108-528.
  14. May 12, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  15. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  16. Mar 30, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  17. CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  18. Mar 23, 2004CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Hearings Held.
  19. CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  20. May 5, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
  21. Apr 10, 2003CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  22. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.