Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 10:03:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Matthew Belmonte Message-Id: <199807191403.KAA27748@ts.cns.nyu.edu> To: nita.lowey@mail.house.gov Subject: privacy of Social Security numbers Rep. Barr of Georgia recently announced plans for the State Sovereignty Act of 1998, a bill that would bolster states' sovereignty against an increasingly prying federal government. Among other provisions, this bill would block the Clinton Administration's current plan to implement what amounts to a national identification card. Barr's effort is supported by a broad coalition including the ACLU of Georgia. It is important that the national ID be blocked. Twenty years ago, we in the United States were criticising Brezhnev's Soviet Union for its system of internal passports. Now we're about to implement the same invasion of personal privacy. Plans for a national system of identification rest heavily on the use of the Social Security Number as a unique identifier. This is despite the fact that the original language of the Social Security Act was designed to ensure that the SSN was used only for the purposes of administration of Social Security and taxation. Rep. Paul's H.R. 3261 would restore this limit on the purposes for which SSN's are used. H.R. 3261 has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee and to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Rep. Tom Campbell's H.R. 2581 would complement the Paul bill by prohibiting trade in SSN's by private companies. This bill also has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee. I urge you to consider becoming a co-sponsor of these bills, and to speak out and to vote in favour of them should they come to the House floor.