One “quick fix” would help America solve its monumental problems with potential terrorists, illegal immigrants and the falsifications and thefts of identities:

A national identification card with “biometric identifiers" that defy forgery.

Americans already must have photo ID cards to drive vehicles, carry concealed weapons, cash checks and enter secured areas.

And Social Security cards are require for employees and dependents for tax purposes.

The armed forces already issue ID cards with computer-readable strips and bar codes, digitized thumbprints and photos and other embedded personal data quickly read and verified by special scanners tied to central data banks.

While political and civil-rights pooh-bahs have scuttled major pushes for national ID cards since 1971, Sept. 11’s massacres produced poll results showing that 70 per cent of Americans now favor the idea.

Most European and many Asian countries now employ national ID cards. America should provide them for all legal residents.

Now. (30 SEPTEMBER 2001)

E-mail: higgens@aol.com