Posted on 02/14/2005 9:43:53 AM PST by jmc813
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a national ID bill last week that masqueraded as “immigration reform.” The bill does nothing to address immigration policy, however, nor does it propose deporting a single illegal alien already in our country. It does nothing to address the porous border between the U.S. and Mexico, which is the fundamental problem. In reality, the bill is a Trojan horse. It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to con a credulous Congress into sacrificing more of our constitutionally protected liberty.
Supporters claim the national ID scheme is voluntary. However, any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens. The citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their ID will not be accepted. They will not be able to fly or to take a train. In essence, in the eyes of the federal government they will cease to exist. It is absurd to call this voluntary, and the proponents of the national ID know that every state will have no choice but to comply. Federal legislation that nationalizes standards for drivers’ licenses and birth certificates creates a national ID system pure and simple.
It is just a matter of time until those who refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied the ability to drive or board an airplane. Such domestic travel restrictions are the hallmark of authoritarian states, not free republics.
This bill establishes a huge, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number, and physical and possibly other characteristics. The bill even provides for this sensitive information of American citizens to be shared with Canada and Mexico! Imagine a corrupt Mexican official selling thousands of identity files, including Social Security numbers, to criminals!
This legislation gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand required information on drivers’ licenses, potentially including such biometric information as retina scans, finger prints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology. Including such technology as RFID means the federal government, as well as the governments of Canada and Mexico, could know where American citizens are at all times.
What will this mean for us? When this new program is implemented, every time we are required to show our drivers’ license we will, in fact, be showing a national identification card. We will be handing over a card that includes our personal and likely biometric information, information which is connected to a national and international database. This will further degrade our precious privacy, which is the hallmark of a civilized society. As Ayn Rand said, the “Savage’s whole existence is public.”
A national ID card will have the same effect as gun control laws: criminals will ignore it, while law abiding people lose freedom. A national ID card offers us nothing more than a false sense of security, while moving us ever closer to a police state. The national ID proposal should die a well-deserved death in the Senate, and it should be denounced as authoritarian and anti-American.
Then why does this bill require "Proof of the person's social security account number" for a _driver's_license_? I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with your federally-mandated retirement plan...
Ping.
There is much more to the law. #29 above just lists what is required to get such a card, what shall be printed on it, what databases it shall be linked to and who has access to that information. Go to http://www.thomas.loc.gov and look up the bill number there.
yes, i use Thomas.gov all the time.
between this and the crud at sd legistlature i have been staying pretty well PO'd at both the Fed Reps and my State Reps.
seems it is the law abiding citizen who must constantly be burdaned with more and more laws, rules and regulations for a bunch of worthless congress numbskulls trying to pass the buck and cover their hineys for past (percieved?) mistakes. someone please tell me how this law would have prevented all the 9/11 hijackers from carrying out ther act? i don't see it.. i just see our personal freedoms and privacy going further down the tubes.
As to what SD is proposing, that has no correlation to this Bill.
By the way, Dr. Paul is correct that this information is to be shared with Mexico and Canada. Section 203(a) requires that "To be eligible to receive any grant or other type of financial assistance made available under this title, a State shall participate in the interstate compact regarding sharing of driver license data, known as the 'Driver License Agreement', in order to provide electronic access by a State to information contained in the motor vehicle databases of all other States."
This "Driver License Agreement", contrary to the impression contained in the bill, includes not only states of the USA but also any "territory of Canada or any state of the Republic of Mexico or the federal district of Mexico." Source
Bad idea! Repercussions are endless. Reminds a person of the unfolding of Revelations.
In addition, it looks like the insurance companies have had their way with the senate on this. Can anyone come up with an actual "security" purpose for the above?
Let me assure you that information IS shared. I got a normal speeding ticket near Ottawa Canada, and New York nearly pulled my license for it. (Ain't that sweet? NY punishing a US citizen for a traffic violation in another COUTNRY!)
Thanks for posting that inquest. What say ye Condor51?
all he needed was one.
look, the Feds screwed up on Atta. mainly because of the Clinton era "wall" in place. that is a fact.
making new rules, regs, and laws that infringe on the privacy and freedoms of LAW ABIDING citizens is nothing but a cop out for the Reps and paying hommage to the allmighty 9/11 Committee.
as to the SD bill... i disagree. the SD HB 1209 is to make it possible for LE to have a data base on gun permit owners. before, if you forgot your permit, you had so many hours to bring it in to the local LE for proof. much like our 'proof of insurance' law.
but with this bill, that info will be in a LE data base connected with your DL. so if pulled over for a traffic violation and the LE runs a check on you DL it will show that you are a permit owner (gun owner). so when this Fed bill makes all that DL data available to all the states and to the Feds etc..... that makes it a connections between the two.
and it's dead wrong and unconstitutional.
self-ping
"computers run everything"
Nope, people run everything, computers just do what the people tell them.
Steven must be some kind of drive-by bomb thrower.
Yep, and I'm one of them.
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