Real ID Act guarantees a National ID card is on the way

12 May 2005
DOJgov.net newswire

On May 10th, a small group of Senators stood up to criticize legislation that was carefully tucked into a military appropriations bill.  This is standard operating procedure for hiding "Pork Barrel" or in this case, controversial legislation for a uniform national standard driver's license, in unrelated but popular legislation. 

For all intent and purposes, it was an attempt at controlling illegal immigration while being "politically correct."  By curbing the privacy rights of all Americans, nobody could accuse the government of being anti illegal immigrant.  And it meant that to vote against this uniform and highly intrusive national driver's license standard would mark a Senator as voting against support for our troops.

This hidden legislation backed a Congressional call for standardizing driver's licenses by 2008 to comply with federal "antiterrorist" standards.  It allowed Federal employees to reject licenses or identity cards that didn't comply and deny American citizens access to everything from airplanes to national parks and even the court system.

In an almost empty Senate chamber, ten senators claimed that the Real ID Act was dangerous and poorly conceived.  They objected to the Conference Committees improperly adding the act to a military appropriations bill.  They objected to the fact that the Real ID Act was never open to debate.

Then, on May 11th and along with all other US Senators, they unanimously voted to create what many feel is a big step towards an electronically invasive National ID card and make the Real ID Act the law of the land.  Any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens.  They will probably not be able to fly or take a train.

In the future, you will need the following to obtain a driver's license:

1. You will have to provide four approved proofs of identity to renew your driver's license.

2. Your driver's license will include an increasing amount of private information, including a possible tracking device.  These global tracking devices are already planned for implantation in new passports.

3. You can expect your personal information placed in a central database clearinghouse, available to corrupt or intrusive government employees and creative hackers.

National ID Cards are not new in the world.  Failure to show one on demand results in arrest and possible imprisonment.

House approves a de facto National ID Card

dojgov.net newswire 11 Feb 2005

In apparent recognition that Federal agencies are incapable of targeting or tracking terrorists and illegal aliens, on Thursday 10 Feb 2005, The U.S. House of Representatives approved a sweeping set of rules aimed at forcing states to issue all adults federally approved electronic ID cards, including driver's licenses.

Federal employees would instructed to reject any licenses or identity cards that don't comply with government specifications.  In effect, this would give the Federal Government power to completely control Americans' access to airplanes, trains, national parks, federal courthouses and other areas controlled by the federal government.

The bill was approved by a 261-161 vote.

The measure, called the Real ID Act, says that driver's licenses and other ID cards must include a digital photograph, anti-counterfeiting features and undefined "machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements" that could include a magnetic strip or RFID tag.

The Department of Homeland Security would be charged with drafting the details of the regulation, placing unelected government officials in command of the actions and mobility of American Citizens.

Republican politicians argued that the new rules were necessary to thwart terrorists, saying that four of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers possessed valid state-issued driver's licenses. "When I get on an airplane and someone shows ID, I'd like to be sure they are who they say they are," said Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, during a floor debate that started Wednesday. 

They made no mention of the fact that most of the September 11th terrorists should have had their visa applications rejected (see www.justice-denied.net).  They also neglected to mention that if Immigration Services (formerly a bureau of the US Department of Justice and now a part of Homeland Security) had done their job in the first place, the terrorism of September 11th would not have occurred.

States would be required to demand proof of the person's Social Security number and confirm that number with the Social Security Administration. They would also have to scan in documents showing the person's date of birth and immigration status, and create a massive store "so that the (scanned) images can be retained in electronic storage in a transferable format" permanently.

Another portion of the bill says that states would be required to link their DMV databases if they wished to receive federal funds. Among the information that must be shared: All data fields printed on drivers' licenses and identification cards, and complete drivers' histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions and points on licenses.

The Bush administration threw its weight behind the Real ID Act, which has been derided by some conservative and civil liberties groups as tantamount to a national ID card.

Civil libertarians and firearm rights groups condemned the bill before the vote. The American Civil Liberties Union likened the new rules to a "de facto national ID card."

Because an ID is required to purchase a firearm from a dealer, Gun Owners of America said the bill amounts to a "bureaucratic back door to implementation of a national ID card." The group warned that it would "empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license--and under what conditions."

Update: October 21, 2004 - The 911 Commission recommends a National ID Card with armed checkpoints around America and a National Driver's License.  And Congress seems to be going along with the recommended legislation.

October 12 2004 DOJgov.net Newswire ©

UPDATE: The House of Representatives has passed HR10 with the national ID database provisions in tact and mandating a standardized National Drivers License throughout the United States.  The national identification system has begun.  This falls in line with recommendations of the 911 Commission that called for a National Identification Card and armed checkpoints throughout America.

In accition, provisions of what was previously known as the Patriot Act II are being passed under the guise of implementing the 911 Commission's findings.  Many of the legislative measures, particularly S. 2845 introduced in the Senate by Senators Collins (ME) and Senators Lieberman (CT) are bi-partisan efforts in response to the 911 Commission.  They include:

Establishment of a national ID card, disguised as national standardization of drivers licensing;

Establishment of a national electronic database for birth and death certificates, with permanent identifying information assigned to each individual, such as a national ID number;

Biometric identifiers - including fingerprints, face recognition software photos, iris or retinal scans, and other private physical identification - for travel documents which would be used for security in domestic air travel as well as overseas travel;

Expanded secret eavesdropping and search powers to be used against individuals suspected of terrorist activity.  At the same time, "terrorist activity" is so broadly defined as to include virtually anybody critical of government.  There will be no federal court oversight.

Enhanced "material support" provisions allowing guilt by association.

May 1, 2002 DOJgov.net Newswire ©

Legislation to standardize state-issued driver's licenses across the United States and use them as virtual national IDs is looming over the horizon.  The Card will be mandated to hold a programmable ID chip with biometric patterns as yet undefined.  The bill would also mandate that state databases be linked.

The Driver's License Modernization Act of 2002, sponsored by Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Tom Davis, R-Va., directs that the chip be capable of accepting software for other applications, including those of private companies.   By doing this, it paves the way for becoming "the only card you'll ever need," as it could replace ATM cards, credit cards, employment ID, library cards and virtually all other plastic ID media.

The stated object of the legislation is to prevent identity fraud and enhance national security by making driver's licenses a better way to establish identity.  "The intent of this legislation is to correct flaws in the driver's license standard that states currently have," Moran's spokesman, Dan Drummond, stated.

"Right now there are inconsistent requirements between the states for initial identity verification. There's also insufficient verification of identity documents that people present when they go to get a license."

The bill would earmark an initial $315 million in taxpayer funds to help pay for the transition to the new licenses and to set up links between state computer systems.  It also opens the way towards linking to hundreds of national information databases, exposing all personal, financial, medical and other information to one source of law enforcement and corporate retrieval.

In theory the cards could also be structured in such a way that revocation of driving privileges would be done electronically without damaging other uses.  On the other hand, having a driver's license reviewed through a scan by law enforcement could reveal an enormous amount of personal information.  And confiscation of a "universal" card in the future world could render the former holder invisible to features needed for simple survival.