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Homeland Security chief defends Real ID plan
CNET News.com ^ | 15 Dec 2006 | Anne Broache

Posted on 12/15/2006 11:13:52 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman

WASHINGTON--U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Thursday defended forthcoming national ID cards as vital for security and consistent with privacy rights.

Chertoff said one of his agency's top goals next year is to forge ahead with recommendations for the controversial documents established by a federal law called the Real ID Act in May 2005. By 2008, Americans may be required to present such federally approved cards--which must be electronically readable--to travel on an airplane, open a bank account or take advantage of myriad government services such as Social Security.

"I think this is an example (of) when security and privacy go hand in hand," the Homeland Security chief said in a half-hour speech at George Washington University here. "It is a win-win for both."

The importance of such documents was magnified by an announcement Wednesday, Chertoff said. Federal authorities reported that they had made more than 1,200 arrests related to immigration violations and unmasked criminal organizations stealing and trafficking in genuine birth certificates and Social Security cards belonging to U.S. citizens.

"Do you think your privacy is better protected if someone can walk around with phony docs with your name and your Social Security number, or is your privacy better protected if you have the confidence that the identification relied upon is in fact reliable and uniquely tied to a single individual?" Chertoff asked rhetorically.

The upcoming federally approved IDs are intended to be a secure, tamperproof means of protecting Americans' identities while keeping out terrorists and other wrongdoers, Chertoff said.

The Homeland Security chief, who is nearing his two-year mark with the agency, was likely trying to quell rampant skepticism about the IDs voiced by some privacy advocates, immigrants and other groups. Some have said they fear that the IDs are a stepping stone to a veritable police state, complete with ready surveillance of individuals.

Some have argued that the idea of creating more tamperproof IDs is only a marginally better way to screen out those intent on committing terrorist acts because ID cards don't even begin to tackle a core crime prevention challenge: determining a person's unspoken intentions.

State governments have also been critical of the 2008 deadline and what they have said amounts to an unfunded mandate to switch over their systems. A September study released by the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures and American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators estimated that the overhaul of their identification systems (PDF) would cost states more than $11 billion over five years. The New Hampshire state legislature even considered passing a law earlier this year that would prohibit the state from complying with the federal Real ID law.

Homeland Security has yet to issue congressionally mandated recommendations for the cards, so it's unclear how, exactly, they would work. The cards must contain, at a minimum, a person's name, birth date, gender, ID number, digital portrait, address, "physical security features" to prevent tampering or counterfeiting and a "common machine-readable technology" specified by Homeland Security.

A recent draft report by a DHS advisory committee(PDF) advised against using radio frequency identification technology, or RFID, in tracking humans because of privacy concerns.

The purpose of Chertoff's Thursday morning speech was to reflect on the agency's work during the past year and to outline goals for 2007. For the past year, he focused on three major areas: immigration and border security, Hurricane Katrina recovery and a foiled terrorism plot originating from London in August.

Conspicuously absent was any mention of the department's cybersecurity plans. After more than a year of delay, Chertoff hired Gregory Garcia, who had been working as a vice president at the Information Technology Association of America lobby group, as the department's first assistant secretary for cybersecurity. That step came after the department had sustained repeated bashing of its efforts in that realm from members of Congress.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: aliens; chertoff; dhs; homelandsecurity; immigrantlist; realid
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To: PAR35

Papers, vhere are your papers?!


21 posted on 12/15/2006 12:12:28 PM PST by streetpreacher (RUDY/ROMNEY 2008: Supporting Marriage between a man and a woman, then a woman, then a woman...)
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To: scory

Coming soon... without this nifty new card, you won't be able to purchase firearms.


22 posted on 12/15/2006 12:14:02 PM PST by streetpreacher (RUDY/ROMNEY 2008: Supporting Marriage between a man and a woman, then a woman, then a woman...)
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To: archy

You sound a DUer! Nazi this and Nazi that! /sarcasm


23 posted on 12/15/2006 12:15:11 PM PST by streetpreacher (RUDY/ROMNEY 2008: Supporting Marriage between a man and a woman, then a woman, then a woman...)
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To: Gandalf_The_Gray

LOL!


24 posted on 12/15/2006 12:15:44 PM PST by streetpreacher (RUDY/ROMNEY 2008: Supporting Marriage between a man and a woman, then a woman, then a woman...)
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To: FLOutdoorsman

Well that should keep us all safe from those nasty old people just like the screeners do at the airports.

Just another moronic idea from our ever alert officals in washington.


25 posted on 12/15/2006 12:16:45 PM PST by chiefqc
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To: FLOutdoorsman
Since Chertoff wants to protect our country with only a Virtual wall, we must have Real ID.
26 posted on 12/15/2006 12:17:47 PM PST by Plutarch
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To: FLOutdoorsman

So, now it sounds as though this is a done deal. In the past, this idea was discussed more as 'proposed' ID's. Now it is "...forthcoming national ID cards....". Looks like I will soon be out of work, as my job requires a security clearance and I refuse to be issued such ID. Truly, God Help Us All.


27 posted on 12/15/2006 12:21:47 PM PST by RoadGumby
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To: Plutarch
Since Chertoff wants to protect our country with only a Virtual wall, we must have Real ID.

Yeah, how about a real wall and virtual ID?

Regards.

28 posted on 12/15/2006 1:06:49 PM PST by ARE SOLE (I thought the Party was supposed to court the voters and not the other way around?)
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To: FLOutdoorsman
Funny, Sensenbrenner and Company such as Tom Davis who pushed hard for this got p*ssed when people called it as it was, a National ID Card.

The Real ID Act of 2005 is bad law, time for ts demise. It was passed without discussion, debate. It was a rider on a must pass piece of legislation. The same method used to pass unpopular legislation that the democrats used to pass their crap. Too bad the Republican House didn't do this to make tax repeal permanent such as the getting rid of the death tax.

The democrats are talking about repealing this. It makes sense.... The Real ID Act is a complex prescription and it micromanages the states on licensing way beyond the idea of keeping licenses out of illegal alien's hands. A simple law would to be withhold highway money if states issues licenses to illegals.
29 posted on 12/15/2006 1:10:10 PM PST by CORedneck
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To: streetpreacher
You sound a DUer! Nazi this and Nazi that! /sarcasm

Nah. Just that when I was in the Army in the mid-1960s, I only lived a few miles from the old German Konzentrationslager at Dachau. Which at the time, a portion of which was still in use as a U.S. military prison.

And I got to know some of the Germans who'd worked at the place during the war, and their families. They were no more monsters than most of the guys with whom I was serving. And no less capable of brutality or inhumanity.

30 posted on 12/15/2006 1:11:58 PM PST by archy (I am General Tso. This is my Chief of Staff, Colonel Sanders....)
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To: archy

I wasn't disagreeing with you BTW.


31 posted on 12/15/2006 1:46:17 PM PST by streetpreacher (RUDY/ROMNEY 2008: Supporting Marriage between a man and a woman, then a woman, then a woman...)
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To: streetpreacher
Coming soon... without this nifty new card, you won't be able to purchase firearms.

No problem. There'll be plenty just lying around, very near their previous owners, who'll have no more requirement for things of this world.

You'd do well to pick up something with which you're familiar and comfortable to tide tide you through the initial period, however, which will likely be both messy and noisy.

32 posted on 12/15/2006 2:04:24 PM PST by archy (I am General Tso. This is my Chief of Staff, Colonel Sanders....)
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To: FLOutdoorsman

>>>>>a core crime prevention challenge: determining a person's unspoken intentions.

Tell me there's not some advanced MRI type device in the works.

Sir, your brainwave pattern shows you are about to........

Kick a puppy

Smoke a joint or worse, a cigarette

Drink after your drive, oops, drive after you drink

Riding your bicycle without your helmet

Hell, just implant the damn chips.


33 posted on 12/15/2006 2:08:26 PM PST by swarthyguy
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To: swarthyguy
Hell, just implant the damn chips.

Be VERY careful what you wish for...

34 posted on 12/15/2006 2:42:44 PM PST by Brad’s Gramma (Get right with God....eternity is a long time.....)
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To: Brad's Gramma

They're coming.

First, the guilt response will be invoked upon moms and their kids, "Don't you want to know where your kids are at all times" followed by "If you care about your kids, you'll have them implanted", also appealing successfully to a Keeping up with the Jones' mindset - Sara next door has little Jimmy chipped, and for only a 1000 bucks; isn't your peace of mind worth a thousand bucks.

Safety, fear, security and convenience.

The kids, the older ones will be sold on the convenience of it - pay by chip, and by the time they grow up, they won't even have an idea of a society where everyone isn't chipped.


35 posted on 12/15/2006 2:48:23 PM PST by swarthyguy
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To: swarthyguy

Oh, I KNOW they're coming....it's been planned since before the beginning of the world.

I'm coming from a Spiritual aspect...this WILL happen, and each and every one of us will have to make one and only one choice between that chip (mark), ie worshipping the anti-christ, or our physical lives.

I pray that everyone reading this is prepared for that day....


36 posted on 12/15/2006 2:57:41 PM PST by Brad’s Gramma (Get right with God....eternity is a long time.....)
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To: PAR35
Let's call it what it is - an internal passport.

Pretty much. Had this been under Clinton (actually Clinton and his people did want something similar but knew it would be shot down), Republicans would be freaking out.

Apparently, when it's a Republican in the White House, it's okay! Hypocrisy, it's not just for liberals anymore!
37 posted on 12/15/2006 4:02:38 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: Brad's Gramma
I pray that everyone reading this is prepared for that day....

They are not. I can post a thread about Tom Cruise saying something bad about Bush, and there'll be a thousand responses within 12 hours. You can post a thread about government-mandated IDs that would sound like the beginnings of 1984, and you'll see maybe 50-100 responses, tops. Apparently, people have their priorities. Tom Cruise saying something bad is more important than tools that the liberals would run wild with, and that could help further our journey down the road towards a socialist/police state.
38 posted on 12/15/2006 4:10:02 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: beltfed308
But that just sounds so com/bloc.

How about

Personalausweis

Instead of

идентификационная карточка

Courtesy of BabelFish, of course.

39 posted on 12/16/2006 2:03:36 AM PST by PAR35
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To: Brad's Gramma
Just to make a point, there's only been one more post in the past day on this thread.

If this Real ID stuff were going on under Clinton, there would be thousands of posts against Real ID (and what if Hillary gets elected in 2008, Real ID, PATRIOT Act, will all be in her hands, and with a wannabe-Janet Reno, people will be rethinking everything that Bush wanted).
40 posted on 12/16/2006 4:29:19 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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