Congress Considering National ID Card

The American Conservative Union ^ | October 18, 2004 | aculistmanager@laptoplobbyist.com

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

 

 

Dear Friend of the ACU:

Kiss your civil liberties and right to privacy goodbye!

Do you believe that you should be compelled to carry a National ID Card that is imprinted with your fingerprint or your DNA imprint or other highly personal and private information?

Do you believe that you should be required to produce this ID card on demand -- when you go to the grocery store or cross state lines or pay your taxes or at the whim of some petty government bureaucrat?

This is not science fiction folks -- nor is it a scene out of a futuristic "B-movie" -- the technology exists and if Congress gets its way -- it's going to be a reality.

Unless -- of course -- you join with me to take a stand today and urge the Senate and House Conference Committee to kill the National ID Card provisions from S.2845 and H.R. 10.

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

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Show Me Your Papers Please

"We beat the Germans in World War II. We don't want to be a show-us-your-papers kind of country."  Those are the words of author David Kopel.

But perhaps Congressman Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said it best.

"The much-hailed 9/11 Commission report released in July recommends a federal identification card and, worse, a 'larger network of screening points' inside the United States. Does this mean we are to have 'screening points' inside our country where American citizens will be required to 'show their papers' to government officials? It certainly sounds that way!"

Paul goes on to say, "A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and transactions of every American. History shows that governments inevitably use the power to monitor the actions of people in harmful ways. Claims that the government will protect the privacy of Americans when implementing a national identification card ring hollow."

I don't know about you -- but the prospect of being told to produce my papers evokes visions of living in the former Soviet Union and -- even now -- I have a hard time believing our Congress is seriously considering it.

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

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What Is Congress Saying?

In case you still don't think National ID Cards are a reality -- Here's what some Members of Congress are saying ...

 

Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) said, "I think people are going to have to recognize that some of their conveniences are going to be gone...  I'm glad to show my identification where I need to go."
 

Rep. George Gekas (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, has told the press that "proposals to mandate national ID cards should not be dismissed out of hand."

 

These are REPUBLICANS  -- the folks who are suppose to take our civil liberties seriously!

 

Ron Paul in criticizing the measure said, "Congress has embraced the 9/11 Commission report uncritically since its release in July. Now Congress is rushing to write each 9/11 Commission recommendation into law before the November election."

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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National ID Cards Have Several Disadvantages

Proponents of the measure say that a National ID Card is essential in the wake of 9-11 and an increased terrorist threat. But that argument is simply a red-herring.

Of the 25 nations that have been the most frequent targets of terrorists attacks, 80 percent of them have a national identification card.

Furthermore, a National ID Card tells law enforcement nothing about a person's intent.  Timothy McVeigh, the D.C. Beltway sniper and a host of other criminals and terrorists would have no problem obtaining a National ID Card.

The program will cost billions of dollars; money that could be spent on tightening border security or beefing up law enforcement.

Identity theft will literally go through the roof.  Many of us have experienced the unfortunate situation of having a credit card or a Social Security number stolen.  Imagine what would happen if someone stole your entire identity.

Is a false panacea worth giving up your civil liberties? 

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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[Political Junkie Too]

Then the surveillance state will merely require us to show our passports hither and yon (an internal passport system). Who says those cannot be faked by crooks?

Anything can be faked. The stakes would be a lot higher for the federal government to crack down on fake passports than they might for fake national ID cards.

-PJ

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

And do you really think it is a good idea for states to issue drivers licenses to people who may not be either citizens, or who they claim to be?

I don't think that's a good idea. However, will they stop there? From another FR article:

The Senate version would allow the Homeland Security secretary to decide what data should be provided on driver's licenses -- that could include fingerprints and iris scans. (From U.S. National ID Card May Become Reality.)

[Doctor Stochastic]

I think with the technology available today we can produce a card that cannot be replicated.

How specifically? I know lots of people in the security business who disagree with you.

Of course, just because a card cannot be replicated doesn't preclude someone from owning several. Undercover cops (and friends of politicians) will need such cards so as not to blow their cover; it wouldn't do for John Gotti to be able to just check the number of an employee to find out this employee is just a nark. Thus the system will be compromised from the start.

How does one protect against loss or theft of card; if the card is that valuable, it becomes a target of theft for extortion.

Likewise, how would you keep a database up to date? Must one wait for the database to be updated before someone can move? be buried? be born?

[BufordP]

Wanna bet Bush will sign it?

Hehe. No!

[monday]

"Do you understand now why such actions by Congress are constitutional?"

The Federal government should not be in a position to hand out funds for anything to the states. By doing so they overstep the original intent of the constitution which was for the Federal government to provide for defense and foreign policy and little else.

I realize that federal politicians have manipulated the constitution adding amendments giving themselves more and more power, so that technically what they are doing is constitutional, but only a lawyer would argue that that makes what they are doing right. Federal politicians are traitors to the concepts of freedom and self determination upon which this country was founded.

[monday]

"I just don't want it coded with information that violates my civil rights. I do not think it is important which religion I practice, what my medical records may say or for that matter what I do for a living."

I guarantee that it will have all that information and more. It will have your tax records, your bank statements, employment history, credit history, education, your family info., EVERYTHING. You will have to have it every time you buy a pack of gum, or start your car, or rent a movie, or enter a building.

The Democrats won't be the only ones who vote to include all that information either. Power is impossible for politicians to resist so many Republicans will line up to vote for it just as eagerly as the Democrats.

[monday]

"How does this help? How do you keep the database up-to-date? What about those who lost or damaged their ID?"

Since it would be government run you can bet that the database would not be up to date. In fact it would have all sorts of mistakes, omissions, and other stuff for you to worry about. If you thought keeping your credit history accurate and private was difficult, imagine a database that contained everything about you. One that you have to depend on inept lazy bureaucrats to update and keep accurate.

Have any enemies? You better hope they, or no one they know, works for the federal government and has access to your file. If they do, you can expect, arrest warrants issued for imaginary parking tickets, or being flagged for tax audit, or drivers license suspended for failure to pay child support, even though you have no children.

Think it will be easy to straighten out problems like this? Remember, this is the government we are talking about. Every bureaucrat you talk to will assume that you are lying and you could spend months, and thousands on lawyers trying to straighten it out.

Did you lose your ID? Go to jail until a replacement is issued, then pay a fine. Is your DNA similar to that of the criminal who raped the little girl down the street? Expect a surprise midnight visit from your local SWAT team. Consider yourself lucky if you survive. Is your ID stolen by a bank robber who uses it to rent a get away car and then enter the bank building? Expect another midnight visit from the SWAT team.

[Doctor Stochastic]

You're being optimistic about the problems.

[Chemist_Geek]

If thousands of years of governmental abuse of power is not enough to convince you

...then why even have governments at all?

Oh, yes, that's right, governments are OK when they're beating up on people you don't like.

[steve-b]

I think that you are engaging in ACLU type of hysteria.

ACU, not ACLU. Please try to keep up with the class.

[steve-b]

As I told a group of state legislators from around the country, two years ago, they have only two options. 1) The states themselves will tighten up their drivers license procedures, so only people who are actually US citizens can get drivers license, OR, 2) the federal government will pass a law requiring states to get proof of citizenship before issuing licenses.

The suggestion that legal resident aliens should not be permitted to drive is the most idiotic notion I've seen on FR so far this month (and that's saying something).

[steve-b]

You're making the assumption that such an expansion is inevitable. It's not, despite historical evidence.

If you're going to argue positions that fly in the face of the available evidence, you might try a forum where rational study of the facts is held in lower regard.

[monday]

"Oh, yes, that's right, governments are OK when they're beating up on people you don't like."

Not at all. I believe in civil liberties for all. Even those who disagree with me. As Thomas Paine stated at the founding of America, "Government is a necessary evil, at best; at worst, an intolerable one." and to quote Thomas Jefferson, "the government which governs least, governs best."

Unfortunately, todays politicians have forgotten that wisdom. They have a plan for everything and believe in the power of government to create a Utopian society. This has failed every time it has been tried, but unfortunately politicians are slow learners. With few exceptions such as Rep. Ron Paul, most are either retarded or brain dead.

[Political Junkie Too]

The Senate version would allow the Homeland Security secretary to decide what data should be provided on driver's licenses -- that could include fingerprints and iris scans.

Why should all of that be required on a document that gives one the privilege of driving?

What they're doing is overloading the driver's license with other identifying information, presumably because the license is a document that many people already have and seek. However, the personal identification information will be required for more and more things, and by bundling it all on a driver's license will only put pressure on issuing the license to more and more people (which is bad).

What they really need to do is issue a separate ID from the driver's license that can be used for all national and international identification purposes. We already have that -- the passport. It has a barcode for scanning. We can build cross-reference databases linking driver's licenses to passports. It can have smart chips added when people renew their passports. We do not need a new document with another government bureauracracy to manage it.

-PJ

[monday]

"We do not need a new document with another government bureauracracy to manage it."

You are confusing what is best for us as citizens for what is best for politicians. The two rarely if ever coincide. Creating large government bureaucracies gives politicians more power so that is exactly what they will ultimately do.

[Chemist_Geek]

the original intent of the constitution which was for the Federal government to provide for defense and foreign policy and little else.

Err, actually, the federal government was to "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity".

You missed a few purposes in there.

[R. Scott]

Do you believe that you should be required to produce this ID card on demand -- when you go to the grocery store or cross state lines or pay your taxes or at the whim of some petty government bureaucrat?

We already have to produce State ID on demand. This line isn’t much of an argument.
I will say that I am opposed to a National ID card. It will do nothing for added security as even the most elaborate card will be counterfeited if needed by a terrorist organization. High Tech State licenses are faked in many print shops and college arts departments for under aged bar hoppers. It isn’t much of a stretch to see a well financed and organized terrorist group having them. Hackers could even have them listed in the federal database.

[Chemist_Geek]

You will have to have it every time you buy a pack of gum, or start your car, or rent a movie, or enter a building.

Really? Hahaha. You're overheating. Take a breather before you get the vapors.

I'd sure like to see the citation to the provision of the bill which has all of the above in it.

[R. Scott]

And if you traveled on an American passport, it eliminates fake passports.

There are no fake American passports floating around? The new National ID can’t be faked?

[R. Scott]

The ID would be inserted into a machine with a national database that could bring up a photo and other pertinant info. It's our only hope against voter fraud.

Of course no hacker would ever think of adding data to the database.