THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 83, May 11, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
OPPOSITION TO NATIONAL ID CONTINUES TO GROW
By Tom DeWeese
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, TERRORIST INFILTRATION, HOMELAND SECURITY, & THE PROPOSED NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
SYSTEM: CHARACTER OF THE PROPOSED NATIONAL ID SYSTEM -- IF ADOPTED, WOULD THE SYSTEM PROTECT
AMERICA FROM TERRORIST INFILTRATION & ACTS OF TERRORISM? WOULD THE SYSTEM STOP OR SIGNIFICANTLY
REDUCE THE FLOW OF ILLEGAL ALIENS INTO THE U.S.A.? WOULD IT PROTECT INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY?
CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS WITH THE PROPOSED SYSTEM -- WHY THE STATES ARE IN GROWING REVOLT AGAINST THE
PROPOSED NATIONAL ID
FULL STORY:
Five states, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Arkansas and Maine, have enacted legislation informing the U.S. national
government that their states will not comply with the Real ID Act, a law passed by Congress in 2005, a law which will
essentially transform driver's licenses into a national ID Card.
The Act requires each state to change their driver's license system to meet national standards and ensure that their
databases are linked with other states. The Act is set to take effect by May, 2008.
Under the Act, the states and the national government would share access to a vast national database that could include
images of birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, court ordered separations, medical records, and detailed
information on the name, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, address, telephone, e-mail address, and Social
Security Number for more than 240 million, with no requirements or controls on how this database might be used. Many
Americans may not have the documents required to obtain a REAL ID, or they may face added requirements based on
arbitrary and capricious decisions made by DMV employees.
States are in revolt primarily because they simply cannot afford to comply. Estimated costs for full implementation are as
high as $14.6 billion (or $292 million per state. Moreover, individuals will have to cover an additional $7.8 billion in
additional fees, raising the price tag for the Real ID Act to $23 billion. In many cases the technology necessary for
compliance actually does not exist. Moreover, in March, 2007, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released
162 pages of proposed regulations which the states are supposed to implement as part of the Real ID Act.
Under the DHS dictates, the Real ID Act is nothing more than a federal take over of state Departments of Motor Vehicles
(DMVs). Everything for the color of the card backgrounds to the fonts used must conform to federal standards. States
will have to completely overhaul their systems to comply.
The DHS requires states to set up information databases that are shared by all states to allow information verification for
driver's licenses, passports, and foreign documents. Yet, the technology to do that doesn't yet exist. There isn't even a
national database system yet in place to verify birth certificates.
The DHS regulations do nothing to protect individual privacy in its proposed databases. It conveniently says it "would
be outside its authority to address this issue (privacy)." It simply leaves the issue for states to work out.
The DHS regulations require that every citizen applying for a driver's license must present two verifiable documents to
prove identity. That requirement alone will create massive lines and backups in DMVs across the nation, as every single
American will have to provide such information. Worse, the same documentation will be required for RENEWAL as well.
Some estimate the time required to get a new driver's license will be at least four months. Proof of address must be shown
with not just one document, but two. Birth certificates must be verified with state vital records offices, even though, as
stated, there is no database from which to access such information.
And the new system will do absolutely nothing to stop terrorists or illegals from acquiring driver's licenses, nor will it
protect us from identity theft. Because the DHS acknowledges that it needs an exemption allowing individuals to bypass
many of the states' verification and document requirements, identity thieves and terrorists will have huge loopholes to
exploit to obtain Real IDs.
These facts are the reasons why the five states mentioned above have passed legislation refusing to comply. They simply
can't.
In addition to those five states, thirteen more states have passed legislation in one chamber of their legislatures to refuse
compliance, including. These states include Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri,
Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Nine states have introduced legislation that is still waiting action, states including Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois,
Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts.
The national government overstepped its constitutional bounds when it tried to force the creation of a National ID on
Americans. Now the states are doing what they should always do when faced with such a situation; they are saying no.
Hopefully, that will become a habit.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Terrorism & U.S. Homeland Security
United States Immigration, Assimilation, & National Security Policy:
Immigration into the U.S.A., Legal & Illegal Aliens,
& U.S. Border Control
American Government & the U.S. Congress
American Government -- State Government & Politics
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THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
American Government -- Constitutional System
The Constitution of the United States of America
The American Political System -- Politics &
Government in the U.S.A.: Political Science Course
The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
English Antecedents
The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
Colonial & Early American Antecedents
The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787
The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The U.S. Constitution -- Ratification & Adoption
The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The U.S. Constitution -- The Scheme of National Government
The American Constitutional System -- Principal Characteristics:
Constitutionalism, Republicanism, Separation of Powers,
Checks & Balances, Legislative Bicameralism,
& Balanced Government
The American Constitutional System -- Principal Characteristics:
Federalism -- Fedural Union of States
The U.S. Constitution -- Underlying Political Theory:
The Federalist -- Selected Essays
Tom DeWeese is the Publisher and Editor of The DeWeese Report and President of the American Policy Center, a
grassroots activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia. The Center maintains an Internet website at
www.americanpolicy.org.
Copyright 2007 Tom DeWeese
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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