States Challenge National Driver’s License Mandated for Security
February 20, 2007
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
A revolt against a national driver’s license, begun in Maine last month, is quickly spreading to other states. This uprising is part of a continuing battle between federal bureaucrats and the average citizen over national identify papers such as the German Nazi regime imposed and used in its effort to exterminate Jews, Gypsies and other minorities.
The Maine legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005, a federal law that sets a national standard for driver’s licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
Within a week of Maine’s action, lawmakers in Georgia, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington state also balked at Real ID. They are expected soon to pass laws or adopt resolutions declining to participate in the federal identification network.
“It’s the whole privacy thing,” said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “A lot of legislators are concerned about privacy issues and the cost. It’s an estimated $11 billion implementation cost.”
The law’s supporters say it is needed to prevent terrorists and illegal immigrants from getting fake identification cards.
May 2008 Deadline
States will have to comply by May 2008. If they do not, driver’s licenses that fall short of Real ID’s standards cannot be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building or open some bank accounts.
About a dozen states have active legislation against Real ID, including Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
Missouri state Rep. James Guest, a Republican, formed a coalition of lawmakers from 34 states to file bills that oppose or protest Real ID.
“This is almost a frontal assault on the freedoms of America when they require us to carry a national ID to monitor where we are,” Guest said in an interview with Leslie Miller of Associated Press (AP) on Feb. 3. “That’s going too far.”
Guest has a resolution opposing Real ID and said he expects it quickly will pass the Missouri legislature. “This does nothing to stop terrorism,” he said. “Don’t burden the American people with this requirement to carry this ID.”
Though most states oppose the law, some, such as Indiana and Maryland, are looking to comply with Real ID, Sundeen said, according to AP.
The issue may be moot for states if Congress takes action.
Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, along with Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, filed a bill last year to repeal the law. Sununu expects similar legislation will be introduced soon.
“The federal government should not be in charge of defining and issuing drivers’ licenses,” Sununu said in a statement.
Photo & Fingerprints
Privacy advocates say a national driver’s license will promote identity theft.
Barry Steinhardt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said the Real ID ordered by Congress would require a digital photo and probably a fingerprint on each driver’s license or state-issued ID card. That, he said, will make it more valuable to identity thieves because the ID card will be accepted as much more than a driving credential.
“It’s going to be a honey pot out there that’s going to be irresistible to identity thieves,” Steinhardt said.
An identity thief, he said, could buy a Real ID from a rogue motor vehicle department employee with his or her own photo and fingerprint on it.
“The victim is never going to be able to undo this,” Steinhardt said.
Other criticisms listed by AP include:
- Some states will have to invest millions in new computer systems that can communicate with federal databases. That is something they probably will not accomplish by the deadline.
- It will be difficult to comply with the requirement that license applicants prove they are in the country legally. There are more than 100 different immigration statutes, Steinhardt said, which will pose problems for motor vehicle clerks unfamiliar with immigration law.
- It does not solve the problem of terrorism. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and some of the hijackers from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had legitimate driver’s licenses.
- Even the requirement that applicants’ full legal names appear on licenses will pose problems because some states limit the number of characters on the face of the card.
I mentioned earlier in this column that this is the latest skirmish in a continuing battle between federal bureaucrats and the average citizen over the right to privacy and the right to travel.
The fight between the people and the federal government over the creation of a system of national identity cards goes back a long way. It spans several presidencies—Democrat as well as Republican, and it has always been justified in the name of national security.
Back during the Clinton Administration (I hope I never have to refer to it as the first Clinton Administration) there were attempts by Justice Department bureaucrats to create a system of national ID cards and its was linked then to security and the Oklahoma City bombing. One of the champions of national ID back in 1994 and ’95 was Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and I was one of many writing and speaking out against Americans being required to carry national ID cards.
Perhaps some readers may have forgotten, but immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, government agencies and the media were quick to point the finger of blame at shadowy Middle Eastern figures and to conjure up a boogey man of terrorists to justify Bill Clinton’s version of an anti-terrorism bill than ran roughshod over individual rights.
Later blame for the bombing was shifted to home-grown American terrorists, and the Clinton Anti-Terrorism bill was largely defanged.
Just a few years later, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks—this time really involving Middle Eastern terrorists, and with the Republicans in control of the White House and Congress, the same Justice Department and other federal bureaucrats were back with more proposals for a national ID card. As might be expected, the justification was again national security.
One way or another, there are people in our government who really don’t pay much attention to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and our American traditions. Secretly, because they are afraid to admit it publicly, they admire more tyrannical systems of government. I’m sure that there are a host of functionaries at the Justice Department, the CIA, the NSA and Homeland Security Department who would like every person in the country identified by biometric information, photos, iris scans, fingerprints, health history and a Social Security number so that any person can be stopped and have their identity confirmed at any hour of the day or night.
Shades of Nazi German police, Gestapo or other government agents stopping people at any time to demand to see their ID papers. Bear in mind that many governments today have similar systems for their legal residents. The illegals anywhere—including terrorists—still get by some how.
The right to travel freely is slowly being eroded by many government initiatives. Living within a couple of minutes of the Canadian border, I am aware that I can no longer use Canadian airlines even if they do save me money because I do not have a US passport. I can get one, of course, provide the photos and other identification papers and pay about $100, but I haven’t done so.
Travel Initiative
But beginning this year, American citizens traveling in Canada or Mexico by air will need a US passport to get back into the United States. Next year, the same provision will apply to American citizens traveling by car, train or bus.
It’s all about closing down some rights and eliminating privacy.
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