In the course of any given day, Long Islanders take advantage of technology to conduct business. Using a credit card, paying a utility bill online or even writing a check has become habit for so many of us that we can easily overlook the perils of letting our personal financial information fall into the wrong hands. Identity theft has become an all too common problem for many Long Islanders. By possessing a seemingly meaningless piece of personal information, identity thieves can easily gain access to your Social Security number, credit card accounts, bank accounts, home address and phone numbers.

Fortunately, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has taken action to combat this steadily increasing threat to our personal finances. Last month, the Committee approved the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act. This bill would stiffen criminal penalties for identity theft. The bill creates a new crime of "aggravated identity theft" applying to bank, wire or mail fraud. Those convicted of aggravated identity theft would be sentenced to two additional years beyond the sentence for the original crime, and those who steal identities in connection with a terrorist act would get an extra five years in prison.

I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill and look forward to it coming to the House floor for a full vote. I am confident the stiff penalties applied by the bill will be an effective deterrent to would-be identity thieves.

However, there is still plenty we can do to prevent identity theft from occurring. The Federal Trade Commission offers a useful list of preventative measures you can take to minimize the risk of identity theft. For a copy of this report, visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft or call my office at 739-3008 and my staff will send you a copy of the FTC's report.