Identity Theft Plagues Innocent Victims (Sen. Wayne Allard)

When the 1,000 page Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 reached my desk last week I was pleased to find a provision I originally introduced earlier this year to help curb identity theft was included in bill.

Protecting the identity of hard working Americans is of the utmost importance to me. Identity theft plagues innocent victims across the country, and we cannot take a comprehensive look at immigration reform without addressing this critical issue.

My amendment tears down the wall that prevents the sharing of existing information among government agencies and will help prevent identity theft before the damage to the innocent victim is already done.

We simply must begin to share information between the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security in relation to the fraudulent use of names and social security numbers in connection with employment.

Under current law, government agencies are prevented from sharing information with each other, even in cases where communication could lead to the discovery of identity theft.

This wall between agencies concerns me a great deal and I am pleased that my amendment to provide a legislative fix to this problem has been included in the immigration bill we are debating.