Free Republic

Not long ago, Americans feared and ridiculed the police states cursing too many parts of the world. We worried that they might one day conquer us despite their poverty and general misery even as we mocked their totalitarian tactics — especially their “Papers, please” mentality.  Indeed, being forced to prove one’s identity to a bureaucrat on demand, having to carry and produce documents with personal information for his approval — or condemnation — seemed especially horrifying. One of our classic films, Casablanca, revolved around the deadly hassles of obtaining or forging such papers under the Nazis; episodes of Mission Impossible...

Note: The following text is a quote: Statement by DHS Press Secretary Sara Kuban on Markup of the Pass ID Bill by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Release Date: July 29, 2009 For Immediate Release “On the same day that Secretary Napolitano highlighted the Department’s efforts to combat terrorism and keep our country safe during a speech in New York City, Congress took a major step forward on the PASS ID secure identification legislation. PASS ID is critical national security legislation that will break a long-standing stalemate with state governments that has prevented the implementation of a...

REAL ID or Pass by: Anthony Kang, July 24, 2009 In 2005, REAL ID was enacted in direct response of, and to comply with the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. 18 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the September 11th attacks obtained numerous driver’s licenses and state identifications (many of them duplicates), thereby convincing the Commission of a long overdue, stricter and stringent identification standards. “Americans understand today that the 9/11 hijackers obtained 30 drivers licenses and ID’s, and used 364 aliases,” said former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff upon releasing a finalized 2008 REAL ID report. “For...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ____________________________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 25, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AFTER MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION State Dining Room 3:17 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We have just finished what I consider to be a very productive meeting on one of the most critical issues that I think this nation faces, and that is an immigration system that is broken and needs fixing. We have members of Congress from both chambers, from parties, who have participated in...