Free Congress on REAL ID

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Stephen Lilienthal,
Policy Analyst
Free Congress Foundation; Coalition for Constitutional Liberties
slilienthal@freecongress.org

4.27.05

The United States Senate has essentially passed the REAL ID Act.

Now the legislation is in conference setting the stage for possible further modifications. In attaching the REAL ID Act to a supplemental appropriations bill covering expenses for the Iraq War and tsunami relief, the measure’s sponsors pulled a fast one because the REAL ID Act never had a hearing in the relevant House or Senate committees on its cost or its implications for privacy. The conference committee gives the Congress the chance to make a bad bill from the privacy and constitutional liberties standpoint better because the REAL ID Act moves us that much further to a national ID card. Here’s what the conference committee could do.

Real danger with Real ID

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Letter to the editor, Washington Times, April 30

Real danger with Real ID

The article in Wednesday's edition about the so-called Real I.D. Act ("White House 'strongly' supports Real I.D.," Nation) missed the point on the chief objections privacy advocates have to the bill.

Real I.D. wouldn't just "set national standards" for state driver's licenses. The intelligence-reform bill signed into law in December already did that, and the Transportation Department's negotiated rule-making to set those standards is already under way.

Real I.D. would cancel that negotiated rule-making process, which includes state and local officials and privacy watchdogs, and would give the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security unilateral power to design state driver's licenses.

Additionally, and perhaps more ominously, Real I.D. calls for all states to link their license databases under a separate document called the Drivers License Agreement. States of Mexico and provinces of Canada also are eligible to join the DLA.

Databases full of sensitive identity information — which could include fingerprints and retina scans if the DHS secretary wishes — have no business being linked to Mexican departments of motor vehicles.

Under Real I.D., poor information-security practices and corrupt foreign officials would leave Americans more open to the threat of identity fraud than ever before. Such a situation surely would endanger our national security, despite what proponents of this trinational un-American ID-card scheme would have you believe.

JAMES PLUMMER
Alexandria

Protecting soldiers from ID theft

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From Mike Stollenwork,  the president of the Faifax County Privacy Council, a Liberty Coalition partner.

New Hampshire vs. REAL ID

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Every once in a while, our legislators do something to make us proud. And New Hampshire’s House has done just that -– by telling Washington’s Big Government crowd to take its National ID Card and stuff it.

Liberty Coalition supports ban on RFID in Calif. drivers' licenses

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Secret and remote reading of personal data embedded in driver’s licenses puts Californians at risk of stalking, kidnapping, identity theft, tracking and surveillance.   Any person or entity with a reader could scan and collect the personal information of Californians without their knowledge and consent.

States Challenge National ID

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A revolt against the REAL ID has begun in many states

Coalition Urges States to Fight National ID System

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“The Federal Government may have used a procedural end-around to slip REAL ID past the American People, but the battle is not over,” said Liberty Coalition National Director Michael Ostrolenk. “Citizens across the nation know that a national identification card is unacceptable and that the REAL ID Act is unconstitutional. The Liberty Coalition calls on defenders of freedom across the country to block the implementation of this national identification system.”

Transpartisan Coalition Praises Montana’s Rejection of REAL ID

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The bill, originally introduced by Rep. Brady Wiseman, states that REAL ID Act would be an unfunded federal mandate of over $2.5 billion dollars on Montana taxpayers while creating a serious danger of identity theft due to the collection of citizens personal information in one centralized, federal database. The legislation goes on to state that REAL ID is a violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and the principles of American federalism.

Stop REAL ID TODAY ! Submit comments to the Dept. of Homeland Security by May 8th!

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  • UPDATE: DHS has released an e-mail address where you can submit REAL ID comments. The subject line must include the Docket No. DHS-2006-0030. Send your comments to oscomments@dhs.gov. Click here to open an e-mail window with the sample comments included.
  • A broad coalition of organizations across the United States is urging the public to submit comments rejecting the illegal national identification system created under the Department of Homeland Security's REAL ID program.
  • Five states and several members of Congress have rejected the scheme, which creates a massive national ID system without adequate security or privacy safeguards, which makes it more difficult and costly for people to get licenses, and which makes it easier for identity thieves to access the personal data of 245 million license and cardholders nationwide.
  • To take action and submit comments against this fundamentally flawed national ID system, click here! Comments are due by 5pm EST on May 8, 2007.

Comments to DHS on REAL ID

Posted May 8th, 2007 by Michael D Ostrolenk
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The REAL ID is basically an internal travel passport which gives the false sense of improving security while diminishing it in the process.
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