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National ID Will Not Improve Security
By Brad Taylor
Posted on: February 25, 2005
There are times when this great nation would benefit tremendously from a good case of congressional gridlock. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a national ID bill, which is a proposal that masquerades as immigration reform. We need immigration reform to stop our country from being overrun by illegal immigrants almost as much as we don't need this bill.
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) stated, "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. The bill does nothing to address immigration policy, however, nor does it propose deporting a single illegal alien already in our country."
Advocates for the plan are trying to force standardization upon U.S. citizens in order to "increase security." In truth, a national ID card will not make use safer, plug our porous borders, or protect us in any way.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 261-161 to send H.R. 418, the so-called "REAL ID Act of 2005," over to the Senate. This bill will federalize the issuance of drivers' licenses, an activity that usually is considered a state function. Because no American will be able to fly, take a train or buy a gun from a dealer without a driver's license that meets the federal standards in the bill, H.R. 418 has effectively created a National ID card.
Representative Paul took the House floor in opposition to legislation, saying the bill gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand the required information for driver's licenses. Such information would include "biometric information as retina scans, fingerprints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology." This would institute a de facto tracking system where the federal government could track you at any time.
"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.'"
Worse, H.R. 418 requires our government to share our personal information with Canada and Mexico! "There are no limits on what happens to the database of sensitive information on Americans once it leaves the United States for Canada and Mexico -- or perhaps other countries," he said. Paul wondered if crooked Mexican officials would soon be able to sell thousands of identity files, including our Social Security numbers, to alien criminals.
A national ID card will not increase our security in any way. Criminals will not stand in line to receive their ID cards before committing their crimes. Also, ordinary citizens will risk a visit from jack-booted security squads if they should refuse to conform by forgoing all of their liberties in the name of security.
I am a rocket scientist working for a government contractor. This means I already possess a national identification card, having submitted to numerous background checks. There is no valid reason we should subject our citizens to such nonsense for a driver's license.
The Top 10 Reasons To Enforce Our Immigration Laws, Friday, April 22, 2005.
Schwarzenegger Changes "Close" to "Secure", Thursday, April 21, 2005.
Gingrich: Lack of Border Control 'absurd.' , Thursday, April 21, 2005.
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