TNT letters to the editor, 6/26/2021
Voter fraud
Re: “GOP voting restrictions don’t pass ‘my grandma’ test,” ( TNT, 6/11).
US Rep. Derek Kilmer writes about how his grandmother became a US citizen at age 87 and had no picture identification. She had her citizenship papers to use as ID.
Nowadays picture ID is required by banks, hospitals, pharmacies, airports, etc. It is unreasonable to oppose positive ID for voting.
He supports HR1, which prohibits picture ID while allowing ballot harvesting and other practices that allow fraud.
Over half a million illegal immigrants have entered the US in the last three months. If this trend continues, over 3 million will be in our country by November 2022, encouraged by the present administration.
Will many lie in order to vote? If the government lies to us by saying the border is closed, why would immigrants not also lie?
Kilmer says Congress should protect the rights of every American citizen to vote, and quoted the late Civil Rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair ... you have to say something ...”
I am saying something now: It is not right for non-citizens to vote.
Curtis Anderson, Tacoma
Tacoma rezoning
Re: “Tacoma pumps brakes on massive residential rezoning proposal,” ( TNT, 6/13).
The housing shortage in Tacoma has been defined. The solution is to provide more housing. The Planning Commission has provided City Council with proposals.
There are passionate responses, some from those who will financially gain (Realtors, business owners, developers) and some from those who may be overshadowed by four-story multiplexes.
Some of the concerns posed include lack of parking, design standards, tax incentives for developers not committed to low income, affordable housing, overbuilding in some neighborhoods while not building in others and devaluation of homes penned in by taller buildings.
I’ve heard many say their voices don’t count and the City Council will do whatever they see fit. I say, give your voice a chance.
Review the Home in Tacoma proposals on cityoftacoma.org., then write your council representative. Listen in on council study sessions and meetings.. Participate in neighborhood council meetings.
We should get this right; there will be no turning back.
Oh, and when the Planning Commission says they already reached out to us with 80,000 mailers months ago? I somehow missed that, as did many Tacomans.
Mary Hause, Tacoma
Global COVID fight
The emergence of the Delta strain of COVID-19 from India underlines a harsh truth about the fight against the coronavirus: It’s not over ‘til it’s over.
Vaccination may be steadily underway in the United States, but if lower-income countries cannot vaccinate their citizens, the virus will continue running rampant across the globe.
COVID in any country has a negative impact on people in every country, as the Delta strain has recently proved.
The truth is, there are countries out there who need vaccines more than we do, and it is in the US’s best interests to make sure all vulnerable communities have access.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently remarked that the Delta strain will likely become the dominant strain in the US.
Would we be facing this challenge today if India had the necessary resources to fight COVID before it spiraled out of control?
I urge Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to facilitate COVID relief across the globe by supporting the COVAX initiative and any pandemic-relief funding for lower-income countries.
Vera Rousseff, Tacoma
This story was originally published June 26, 2021 at 1:07 PM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 6/26/2021."