Why did Congress pass the federal Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act? Congress did not pass the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act; it is a state statute To provide federal law enforcement with the authority to take over state-level investigations into cyberstalking and identity theft To provide federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. attorney with the statutes and penalties necessary to investigate, prosecute and convict those engaged in stealing the identities of others for financial gain To provide U.S. attorneys throughout the country the justification necessary to investigate identity theft