Grassley introduces bill on identity theft

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley co-authored a bill being introduced today that would enact stiffer penalties for the crime of identity theft, which he says is devastating hundreds of thousands of people nationwide every year. He says the crimes are an invasion of privacy and destroy the credit of hard working Americans.Grassley, a Republican, says the punishment needs to be more severe for those who steal the identities of others, as the damage inflicted can have a severe impact on a person’s life.Grassley says he’s also concerned about privacy issues stemming from the Defense Department’s program called Total Information Awareness, or T-I-A. He says the developing technology could invade the lives of innocent people in the search for terrrorists. He says the Defense Department is acting like a local law enforcement agency and he’s had some preliminary meetings with officials and hasn’t gotten all the answers he needs.Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has also raised red flags about T-I-A as being badly over budget. Some ten-million dollars was allotted for the project and reports indicate the costs have already hit 137-million.