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    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    Real ID: A License to Kill

    www.mensnewsdaily.com

    Real ID: A License to Kill

    May 18, 2005
    by Jonathan David Morris

    Well, congratulations, America, you finally did it. You finally collapsed into absolute tyranny.

    Last week, Congress defended freedom bysneaking the Real ID Act into an $82 billion military spending bill. The Real ID Act establishes a new set of federal standards for all state driver’s licenses, creating what some call a “de facto� national ID card. Ostensibly, this measure will aid Homeland Security in the war against terrorism. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who authored the act, notes that all but one of the September 11th hijackers “deliberately used valid driver’s licenses and state IDs,� because these documents allowed them to “avoid suspicion� at the airport. “Real ID would require all states to confirm… that visas are valid for foreign visitors,� Sensenbrenner says. It would also require that “a foreign visitor’s license term ends when the visa expires.�

    Which is great. Unless, of course, a foreigner decides to kill Americans the first six months he’s here.

    Everywhere you look, it seems immigration is in the news these days. As Neil Diamond put it, “They’re coming to America.â€? Last week, the Washington Times reported that U.S. Border Patrol agents had been ordered not to arrest illegal immigrants in the area of Arizona being monitored by the freelance Minuteman Projectâ€â€
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    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    www.mercurynews.com/

    Posted on Wed, May. 18, 2005

    Real ID Act mostly helps identity thieves

    Mercury News Editorial

    Something as important to America's security and way of life as a national identification card ought to be thoroughly and thoughtfully debated. At a minimum, lawmakers would hear expert testimony and consider the costs and the impact on states, on privacy and on civil liberties.

    Instead, a bill that creates a de facto national ID was rammed through Congress without debate, attached to a spending measure for the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. It's called the Real ID Act, for real identification -- but real idiotic is more like it.

    President Bush is expected to sign the law. The only remaining hope is that the nation's governors and state legislatures, who overwhelmingly oppose it, will persuade Congress to reconsider.

    On the surface, the Real ID Act seems reasonable. It creates strict standards that states must follow to grant driver's licenses. State motor vehicle departments will be required to verify at least four pieces of identification, and only U.S. residents and legal immigrants will be allowed to get licenses. If a state doesn't comply with the act, its licenses won't be accepted for access to airplanes or federal buildings or for opening a bank account.

    There are good reasons to make driver's licenses more secure. But contrary to claims by its supporters, this law will do little to prevent terrorism. Instead, it will dramatically increase the danger of fraud and identity theft, already a serious and escalating crime for which law enforcement has inadequate remedies.

    The rules wouldn't have stopped the Sept. 11 hijackers, who were in the United States legally. And they do nothing to combat the sale of fake licenses, which often are produced by insiders at state DMVs. In fact, it will make fake IDs more valuable, creating a greater incentive for DMV workers to turn bad.

    The people who will benefit most from this law are snoops and identity thieves. The requirement that all personal information be encoded in a machine-readable form will be a gift to them. Already bars, athletic clubs and other commercial establishments swipe driver's licenses. With a national format, every retailer will swipe the IDs to collect valuable information that will be sold to data aggregators, such as ChoicePoint. They, in turn, will resell the information to marketers and other customers.

    Pretty soon, not just the government but scores of private businesses will have databases packed with information about every adult in America. Identity theft will become so common that virtually everyone's personal information could be compromised.

    The irony is that the Real ID Act was wholly unnecessary. Just five months ago, Congress approved a bill that required the federal government and states to work together on sensible national standards for driver's licenses. That work, which has already begun, now will be scrapped.

    Congress reversed itself once. It has to do so again.
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