Thread: GOP tries to force agenda on state

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GOP tries to force agenda on state
November 15,2005
BY BARRY SMITH
FREEDOM NEWS SERVICE
RALEIGH - I used to think that the Republican Party was the one that didn't like the folks in Washington tying strings to federal appropriations.

Now I'm beginning to wonder.

A few years ago, the administration got Congress to approve the No Child Left Behind bill. That bill tied a lot of things to the receipt of federal education dollars.

It imposes guidelines on states receiving certain federal dollars for things such as teacher standards and testing.

You can argue - and many have - the merits of No Child Left Behind. But you have to acknowledge that the program is a major federal mandate on the states.

Now five of North Carolina's seven Republican U.S. House members are pushing a different mandate on the state: They want to cut off federal highway dollars to the state unless the state makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to get a driver's license in North Carolina.

"Our feeling is that a driver's license is a privilege for citizens and legal aliens and it shouldn't be something given to somebody who broke the law," U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., said in an Associated Press report. The other four GOP congressmen are Walter Jones, Charles Taylor, Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx.

I have to tell you that the thought of government granting a privilege to anybody makes me tense up. I know. I know. We learned in driver's ed that driving is a privilege. I guess it's the libertarian nature in me that causes me to have that reaction.

In any event, if it's a privilege, then it's a privilege of the state, not the federal government.

State governments set the standards for driving tests, hire the driver's license examiners and enforce the laws. And it should be up to them to decide who gets a license.

One could make an argument - and many have - that illegal immigrants shouldn't get a driver's license. But that's an argument to be made in Raleigh, not in Washington.

Immigration policy, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the federal government, not the state. And there are very few people I've talked to who believe that the federal government has a good immigration policy.

Some think that we should have stricter enforcement of our immigration laws. Some even think we should build a wall along the Mexican border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants crossing over into the United States.

Others believe that we should loosen our laws so that people who want to come here to better themselves and their families wouldn't have an illegal status.

Instead of the federal government deciding on a clear immigration policy, it wants to dictate what the state government does on its driver's license policy.

The federal government isn't doing its job right; yet it wants to tell the states how to do theirs.

Barry Smith writes on state issues for Freedom Communications Inc.'s Raleigh bureau. He can be reached via e-mail at: bsmith@link.freedom.com.

Frankly, I was glad to see that Congressman Coble didn't join that group. That seems like we're cutting our noses off to spite our faces.

The federal government was delegated the authority to make and enforce immigration policy by the Constitution. Therefore, it would seem reasonable to me that the federal government should have the power to prevent states from circumventing the authority it was given by the states. States handing out drivers licenses to illegal aliens legitimizes the presence of those aliens and only the federal government has the authority to do that. Also, one could interpret giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens as aiding and abetting illegal aliens which is against federal law. The law would only prohibit licensing for those who shouldn't be here in the first place to get the license, it doesn't really interfere with states rights to determine qualifications otherwise. If the author is worried about states rights in this area, it would be more logical to complain about withholding federal highway funds based on seat-belt laws because the federal government wasn't ever given the power to control buckling up as it was to control entry into the country.

However, I don't know if what these congress folks are doing is necessarily good strategy because if the Real ID Act is enforced that should prevent the issuing of licenses without proper identification anyway -- Matricular Consular cards wouldn't be sufficient.

That's what I think too. I think it's grandstanding myself.

I know the author of this piece, Barry. I think his view is a bit unfortunate.

It is unfortunate that NC lawmakers would have to turn to the Fed route to get the NC Democratic leadership to do the right thing in the first place.

W

That's true, William. I just don't see the point in sabotaging the state in order to make a point. We just need to keep pushing our State representatives to ACT.