I am concerned about legislation that Congress has apparently
slipped into the newly ratified Intelligence Bill that would
mandate all U.S. citizens and residents to carry a national ID
card.
Dear Editor,
I am concerned about legislation that Congress has apparently slipped into the newly ratified Intelligence Bill that would mandate all U.S. citizens and residents to carry a national ID card.
Many of us recall oppressive regimes such as Hitler’s Germany and the communist Soviet Union who used these types of ID cards for years as a way to monitor and track the movements of citizens for undeniably heinous purposes. If this dangerous legislation is passed, every citizen and resident must have an ID card and present it upon demand of any authority – regardless of whether a crime has been committed or regulation violated. These cards would be linked to a database that could contain private information about a person.
This could pose an enormous risk of fraud if it were to wind up in the wrong hands. It’s bad enough when someone steals your credit card: can you imagine how one smart criminal could wreak your entire life if they tamper with a person’s national identification?
Privacy is one of the rights we are supposed to enjoy when we live in a free and democratic society. All citizens to write your legislators urging them to do all that is legally possible to prevent this dangerous legislation from passing and becoming law.
Suzanne Rodriguez
