Tommy 'the Chip' Thompson
Tommy 'the Chip' Thompson
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Posted: April 10, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
I won't be voting for recently announced presidential candidate Tommy Thompson for two reasons. The first? Former Health and Human Services Secretary Thompson wants unborn children to be used for spare parts. Slapping pro-lifers who supported him in the face, Thompson promoted embryonic stem cell "research" to the point of insubordination – publicly opposing the policy of his former boss, the president.
Destroying the donor. If we did that with blood drives, there wouldn't be a Red Cross. And the research scoreboard at a glance? Adult stem cells success: treating 72 conditions (and counting); embryonic stem cells: zero. It's actually a negative number since embryonic stem cells have a propensity to form cancerous tumors, but that doesn't seem to bother those blinded by their desire to cannibalize the very young. Even Mitt Romney says he "gets" that. (he just wants abortion as a "health benefit.") And, as I've written in previous columns, Rudy Giuliani wants to force us to pay for killing kids up until their birthday. After that, we're supposed to buy them a present.
But there is another reason I won't be voting for Tommy Thompson: He wants us all to be "chipped" with Radio Frequency Identification and sits on the board of the VeriChip Corp., a company currently talking to the Pentagon about inserting the grain-sized microchip into American citizens, beginning with our soldiers.
(Column continues below)
High-tech stuff like that you can find in the book of … Revelation – written 2,000 years ago. Here's what I remember from Sunday School: In the end times, there's a one-world government and a good-looking charismatic leader who seems like a really great guy, except for the fact that he happens to be the Antichrist. He talks all about peace and requires that everyone take this mark in order to buy and sell. The upside of taking the mark: you get to buy and sell; the downside: you go to hell forever. Not really a difficult choice, but a lot of people are going to get it wrong.
According to the original Greek, the "mark" comes from the word Chixi-stigma, or "stizo" which means to "stick" or "prick." Here's how Strong's Concordance defines it:
4742, stigma, stig'-mah; from a primary stizo (to "stick," i.e. prick); a mark incised or punched (for recognition of ownership), i.e. (fig) scar of service: - mark {1x}
"Sticking" or "pricking" an identification mark into someone for "recognition of ownership" – strikingly similar to a microchip inserted with a needle under the skin, wouldn't you say?
But first they'll put it in stuff like … driver's licenses and passports. Jerome Corsi reported last week the state of Washington just announced its intention to put the RFID chip in driver's licenses. Under the congressional "Real ID Act," look for it everywhere by May of next year, linked to state and national databases – ready to reject you at airports and federal buildings (for starters) if you don't comply. Neat-o.
But the Bible says it isn't just for "recognition of ownership"; you're going to need this mark to buy and sell (Revelation 13:16-17). As I wrote about in my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," a wave of an implanted hand buys you drinks in Barcelona, Spain. Now it's being used to buy groceries and clothes.
But the mark in Revelation is "required," just like in Mexico where many government workers are required to be chipped – all brought to you by Tommy Thompson's VeriChip Corp. And now it's in Ohio where workers in Cincinnati are being chipped by CityWatchers – a government video surveillance contractor. Big Brother full scale.
Now, I'm not saying that people who get "chipped" at this stage are taking the Mark of the Beast – that would take a software change. But, I can tell you that I'm not going to let anyone put anything in my hand (or forehead), period. No matter how "logical," "reasonable" or "practical," if it's inserted into the hand (or forehead) to identify, buy or sell, you can say whatever you'd like, but I'm out. I don't care if it means I can't buy anymore. I don't care if it means I can't fly anymore. I don't care if it means I die. You can make your case, but I already made that decision – when I was about 10 – before any of this technology even existed.
By the way, if you're running commercials to pitch this nifty little mark, the first thing you need do is rename it. Don't tell Tommy, but here's how I envision the Mark of the Beast television commercial:
Voice-over: You're not still carrying around that heavy purse are you?
[VIDEO: Grandma hunched over by heavy pocketbook while would-be thieves give each other the nod for the post-purchase mugging.]
V.O. Don't you know that makes you an easy target for crime?
[VIDEO: Grandma lugs heavy purse on the fast food counter while very attractive teens walk in, rolling their eyes at Grandma as they wave their hands and are already eating while she's still looking for her change.]
Voice-over: Don't listen to the kooks who think there's something wrong with being smart, safe and secure.
[VIDEO: Airport security line of all the attractive "chipped" people smiling as they go through the express security lane while all the nerds, geeks, old and ugly finger-pointing people stand in long, winding lines while the security people shake their heads at the antiquated, outdated extremists.]
Voice-over: Secur-a-chip. It's smart, safe and secure … and so small, you'll forget you have it!
[VIDEO: Shows man looking for his wallet until he realizes that he has the chip and waves it by the scanner, as his attractive wife looks at him smiling, shaking her head playfully. They both laugh while the "Secur-a-chip" image appears on the screen.]
Voice-over: (Read very low and very fast) Those with high blood pressure, pacemakers, pregnant women or those planning to become pregnant should consult with their doctor before implantation. Possible side effects of the "Secur-a-chip" include: infection, allergic reaction, boils and burning in hell forever.
You may not believe a single word of any of this. That's why I'm writing it before you see this on TV and it seems so "practical" and "so logical" that you find yourself being swayed (more on this in "The Criminalization of Christianity").
"Sticking" or "pricking" for "recognition of ownership," "to buy and sell," in the "right hand or forehead." If this chip is truly a pre-curser to the Mark of the Beast, it may happen soon anyway, but the way I see it, it doesn't have to happen "on our watch." And we don't have to play a role in expediting it. Just another reason why Tommy Thompson's not getting my vote.
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Janet L. Folger is president of Faith2Action: turning people of faith into people of action to WIN the cultural war TOGETHER for life, liberty and the family. Author of "The Criminalization of Christianity," she hosts a daily radio program from 2-3 p.m. Eastern and a daily radio commentary heard in 100 markets and at www.f2a.org.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.a ... E_ID=55104
Minnesota joins states bucking plan for a national ID
Minnesota joins states bucking plan for a national ID
By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune
Last update: April 09, 2007 – 9:59 PM
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The federal government would like you to have the driver's license of the future, which will double as a national ID card and be required for boarding airplanes or entering a federal building.
The cost of the new system: $11 billion. Federal support for it: $40 million.
So Minnesota and two dozen other states are fighting back against the federal law, the Real ID Act of 2005. In Minnesota, officials estimate a $31 million price tag over five years.
"It's an irresponsible use of resources," said state Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, one of the sponsors of a bill that would prohibit Minnesota from complying with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. "They're imposing a whole system that may be less effective than what we have now."
Maine and Idaho already have passed laws opposing participation, and Minnesota is among 25 states that have legislation in the works, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, based in Arlington, Va. In Missouri, Republican state Rep. James Guest has started a coalition of state legislators in 34 states who oppose the federal plan.
The opposition is directed toward the expensive steps required to comply with the Real ID Act. To get a license, drivers will need documents such as a certified copy of a birth certificate, and motor vehicle workers will have to verify each Social Security number, immigration document and passport.
Besides verifying identities, states would have to securely store the resulting personal data, set up computer systems to share the data with other states, pay for FBI background checks on state workers with access to the information and manufacture new licenses with unspecified "machine readable" technology. (Current Minnesota licenses already are machine readable, so the new ones might look quite similar.)
Upgrading state computers would be expensive, as would conducting about 1,000 additional background checks on state workers and suppliers, said Pat McCormack, director of the state's driver and vehicle services division of the Department of Public Safety.
The cost would be $14.5 million in the first year of the program and $4.2 million a year for the next four years, she said. And the state might have to hire more workers and open more facilities to handle the number of people getting the new licenses, she said. Otherwise long lines are likely.
But Minnesota faces less of a financial burden than other states that haven't already upgraded their driver's license programs, McCormack said. Minnesota already meets strict requirements for verifying the identity of people getting licenses and for secure production of licenses.
In addition to the cost, states are rebelling against the already extended Dec. 31, 2009, deadline for complying with the Real ID program. They argue it's not realistic because the Department of Homeland Security won't issue final requirements for the new licenses until the fall, just a little over two years before the deadline.
"It's not just the money," McCormack said. "Complying with this would take a long time."
Homeland Security officials have said that if states don't go along with the program, their driver's licenses won't be accepted as identification for boarding airplanes, McCormack said. That might mean citizens could use a passport instead, she said.
"But that puts the onus on every state's citizens to meet the federal requirements," she said. "A lot of us are hoping that there will be some congressional action to help with funding part of it and to make some changes in the rules so it would be more workable."I think my bill will pass," Moua said, because the Real ID Act impinges on the states' rights to handle issuing of driver's licenses, is unfunded by the federal government and isn't practical.
"This isn't a partisan issue," she said. "It's about something that's just not fair."
Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553 • alex@startribune.com
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1110277.html
Thales Joins Smart Card Alliance Leadership Council
Thales Joins Smart Card Alliance Leadership Council
WESTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thales, a leading provider of cryptographic security products securing value based transactions over global payment networks and high performance network encryption, announced today that it has joined the Leadership Council of the Smart Card Alliance.
The Smart Card Alliance is the world's largest smart card industry association which strongly advocates the use of smart card technology in a way that protects privacy and enhances data security and integrity. Its membership includes leading companies in the banking, financial services, computer, telecommunications, technology, healthcare, retail, and entertainment industries. Thales has been a member of the Smart Card Alliance since September 2002 and through the Leadership Council now takes a larger role in the shaping of alliance policy and activities, which accelerate the adoption of smart cards throughout the world.
As this industry grows, the leadership provided by Smart Card Alliance members and the educational tools they develop, is highly influential in proper adoption of smart card technology for critical needs. “We are pleased to commit broader support of the Smart Card Alliance through the Leadership Council and elected roles on its councils,” said Cynthia Provin, President of e-Security activities of Thales in the Americas.
Thales is increasing its presence in the United States with its SafeSign product line, providing flexible, Federated ID services for FIPS 201 compliant solutions, Real ID and airport access control and credentialing to these markets. The Smart Card Alliance’s councils on Identity, Physical Access Control Systems, Transportation and Contactless payments provide thought leadership and solid educational materials enabling the use of smart card technology in solutions that are secure, sensitive to privacy concerns, scalable and reliable.
About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, serving defense, aerospace and security markets worldwide, supported by a comprehensive services offering. Thales offers unmatched capability in the development and deployment of critical information systems. The group’s civil and military businesses develop in parallel to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Thales group employs 70,000 people in 50 countries and generated revenues of $13 billion in 2006.
The new Security Solutions & Services Division, operational since 5 January 2007, combines the businesses of Thales’s former Security and Services divisions with those of Alcatel-Lucent’s Transport Systems Division and Integration & Services Division. The new division makes Thales a world market leader in transport and security markets. Our security solutions and services activities around the world now generate revenues of about 4 billion dollars, with 20,000 employees in 35 countries.
Thales is a world leader in the provision of cryptographic security products and solutions for all critical infrastructures including governments, the military, satellite networks, enterprises and the finance industry. Thales has 40 years of unrivalled track record in protecting networks up to TOP SECRET and a complete portfolio of products which includes network encryption, access control and remote user solutions. In the financial world, Thales secures value bearing transactions, data preparation for card and PIN issuing, and provides advanced user and message authentication solutions supported by secure identity management and token issuing. Over half of the world’s banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology and services. Visit Thales e-Security on the Web at: www.thalesesec.com.
About the Smart Card Alliance
The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information, please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.
http://link.toolbot.com/businesswire.com/75644
Group tries to counter efforts against ID act
Group tries to counter efforts against ID act
The Associated Press
Jefferson City — A group representing families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is defending a federal law setting national standards for driver's licenses as an essential homeland security tool.
Peter Gadiel, of 9/11 Families for a Secure America, was at the Missouri Capitol on Tuesday to try to counter efforts by Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, to get states to refuse to enforce the 2005 federal Real ID Act.
Guest's resolution already has passed the Missouri House and is to be considered today by a Senate committee.
He contends the license standards would be costly for states to implement, could invade personal privacy and would do little to deter terrorists.
Missouri passed a law a couple of years ago requiring people to prove they are lawfully in the country when they obtain or renew a driver's license, which could help it meet at least part of the Real ID requirements.
But Gadiel said many other states have not yet implemented such policies. He came to Missouri this week with Neil Berro, director of the New York-based Coalition for a Secure Driver's License. They said a standard driver's license criteria was essential, because easy-to-obtain licenses can open the door for terrorists to also get bank accounts and rent cars.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 007/NEWS01
What’s Wrong With A One-Size Fits All Identity?
What’s Wrong With A One-Size Fits All Identity?
By Jim Harper
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Plenty. A private market in identity services is long overdue.
The REAL ID Act is a federal law passed in May 2005 under which the federal government seeks to standardize state-issue ID cards and drivers’ licenses. The bill says that as of May 11, 2008, “a Federal agency may not accept, for any official purpose, a driver's license or identification card issued by a state to any person unless the state is meeting the requirements” of the law.
But opposition to the law at the state level is strong and growing. Three state legislatures have already passed resolutions declining to participate in the REAL ID system (which the law says they are free to do, at some inconvenience to their citizens, who may need other forms of identification, such as a passport or birth certificate, for federal purposes). More than half the states have legislation in the works to reject this unfunded surveillance mandate. It may turn out that no state will comply with REAL ID by the law’s May 2008 deadline.
Opposition to REAL ID is well founded. The Department of Homeland Security estimates at least $17 billion in costs to get REAL ID up and running. There are huge, and probably incurable, privacy and data security problems with the nationally accessible databases of sensitive personal information, and with the nationally uniform card system, called for by the law.
The nominal purpose of REAL ID was protecting national security, but this justification continues to fade as people learn the weaknesses of identity-based security. The remaining support for REAL ID comes from anti-immigrant groups who have yet to realize what a small margin of immigrant control they would get for the price they would pay. REAL ID would exact a heavy toll in dollars, convenience, privacy, and liberty from law-abiding, native-born American citizens.
Granted, something must change with identification. The growth of large institutions over the last century and the explosion of remote commerce in the last few decades have overwhelmed the identification systems we have. The Social Security number and the driver’s license were not designed for the purposes we now put them to. They are accidental identifiers, and it shows: They fail to provide institutions sufficient proof of identity, and they fail individuals by depriving us of information control.
So what is the way forward? We should start by actually devising some identification polices, rather than stumbling forward on our current path merely because it’s the path we’re on.
If a variety of private identification providers were to compete in terms of price, quality, ease-of-use, and even privacy, we'd get a lot better than we're getting from the DMV.Think of identification as an economic service like payments or telecommunications. There are a plethora of payment systems, each with strengths along certain dimensions and weaknesses along others. Most of us choose among cash, checks, credit cards, and other methods as they fit our purposes. So it is with telecommunications: mobile phones, instant messaging, email, landlines—each meets the different needs we have in different communications.
What about identity and credentialing? Proving who someone is, or proving a particular qualification, are essential parts of transacting that are somewhat difficult over long distances or with strangers. But here’s how we deal with it: Need to prove your age? Show government-issued ID. Need to prove that credit card is yours? Show government-issued ID. Need to prove you’re not a security risk? Show government-issued ID. The list goes on.
Identification has long been assumed a government function, but that’s only because, at some point, government assumed that function. Alternatives to government-issued ID are needed—and they're coming.
At the Orlando, Florida airport, for example, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration accepts the Clear Card issued by New York's Verified Identity Pass as proof that a person is part of the TSA's Registered Traveler program. The Clear Card comes with a key anti-surveillance feature: Users aren't identified to the government and their uses of the cards aren't recorded and stored. Biometric data stored on the Clear Card (but not in a database) ensure that only the owner can use it, and the proof that a person is a Registered Traveler is enough information for the TSA. That's all the information TSA gets. No database of Americans’ travels is created.
Future identification cards and credentials could act as proof of age when that is needed, as movie tickets or other bearer documents when that is needed, or as payment cards when that is needed. They could provide identity information only when identity is actually relevant, which is not as often as people often think. This would bring information about us under our control—privacy protection by design. If a variety of private identification providers were to compete in terms of price, quality, ease-of-use, and even privacy, we'd get a lot better than we're getting from the DMV.
Government isn't always part of the problem. It can be part of the solution. Governments should accept, and permit businesses to accept, identification cards and credentials that meet sufficient standards. They should stop requiring "government-issued ID" by rote.
There is an alternative to the REAL ID Act and the national ID on our near horizon. It's identification systems and credentials that are high in quality, easy to use, and privacy protective. This idea isn't just a feel-good. These systems will be huge enablers of secure but private commerce. Identification and credentialing is a multi-billion dollar market if governments can be made to relinquish control of it.
Jim Harper is Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, the author of "Identity Crisis: How Identification is Overused and Misunderstood," and the Webmaster of WashingtonWatch.com.
Image credit: Photo by Flickr user hyku
http://www.american.com/archive/2007/ap ... l-identity
REAL ID, the bureuacrat’s wet dream
REAL ID, the bureuacrat’s wet dream
By Michael Hampton
Posted: April 12, 2007 6:00 pm
The REAL ID Act will be a real nightmare for many reasons, only one of which is the fact that government bureaucrats will finally get most of the errors out of their massive databases on virtually every American.
One of the things that REAL ID will require is for states to verify that information from one piece of paperwork matches exactly the information from another piece of paperwork. If there’s even the slightest discrepancy, as there is for millions of Americans, you will find yourself in a real nightmare.
For instance, your driver license will expire before you have a chance to renew it.
This is already happening to some people as states begin to implement REAL ID. One of them is retired Chicago firefighter Bill Cattorini. The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday released a 90-second video in which Cattorini details his real nightmare attempting to renew his Illinois driver license.
Cattorini isn’t the first person to run into this sort of bureaucratic nightmare. And he won’t be the last. What’s more, Illinois isn’t even the first state to do this.
I had a Socialist Slavery Number assigned to me when I was 15, before I was able to have any say in the matter, or indeed, knew any better at all. And of course, the Socialist Slavery Administration screwed up the records, placing the wrong date of birth on the record corresponding to the number assigned to me.
This wasn’t an issue until I tried to obtain identification in California in 2002. The DMV bureaucrat impolitely informed me that something was wrong with my Social Security card and I would have to go across town and have the Social Security bureaucrats fix it. Not only was my date of birth listed incorrectly, but the Social Security card didn’t have my middle name on it! Oh, horror! And the state just wasn’t going to issue an identification of any kind without it. So across town I went.
The Social Security bureaucrats were unhelpful, of course. They let me fill out some form or another, which supposedly would cause some other bureaucrat to correct the records and cause yet other bureaucrats to have another card printed with my full name on it. As far as I know, none of the above ever happened, and while I went back to the DMV and was told the computer was updated and they would mail me an identification card.
After three months, I still had not gotten an identification card from the state of California. I doubt I can get my money — or my privacy — back. Come to think of it, I never got the replacement Socialist Slavery card, either.
Most people, I presume, will actually get their REAL ID cards after they spend weeks or even months begging the bureaucrats to correct the discrepancies in their records, which are the only things still keeping them even relatively safe. At that point, you have your shiny new REAL ID, but your privacy and your security are gone.
This is the bureaucrat’s wet dream: to have a database of everyone, with records that are actually correct, with which the bureaucrat can control your life. And to top it all off, since nobody’s forced to get a REAL ID, (unless they want to participate in modern society) the bureaucrat can plausibly claim that everybody opted in, and so whatever horrors they have in store next are perfectly justifiable, since the people chose to get a REAL ID.
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/04 ... wet-dream/
Real ID a program that’s utterly unreal
Real ID a program that’s utterly unreal
Published: Saturday, Apr. 14, 2007
KEY POINTS
BACKGROUND: The New Hampshire House of Representatives has voted to reject the Real ID program the federal government wants to impose on the state.
CONCLUSION: The program would require the motor vehicle department to conduct ridiculous searches for verification of driving license applications, and the Senate ought to follow the House’s example and refuse to adopt it.
Let’s hand it to members of the N.H. House - at least those who showed up - for their 268-8 vote on April 5 to reject Real ID.
That law, passed by Congress and the Bush administration two years ago, is designed to turn state driver’s licenses into uniform national IDs.
True, backers of Real ID say that’s not so, leaving everyone else to wonder how good the program can be if its supporters have to lie about it.
Real ID requires the states to verify all birth certificates, Social Security numbers, passports and immigration documents presented by people trying to get or renew driver’s licenses.
The states would have to check each document’s authenticity – calling hometowns, often in other states or countries, even if the town clerk in question works only three-hour shifts twice a week, even, we suppose, if she speaks only Serbo-Croation.
And of course, local officials in New Hampshire must prepare for similar calls from other states checking on their applicants to see if they really were born here.
At the end of this dizzying process, this information and drivers’ photographs are to be put into a national computer database, where we would all co-exist, cheek to jowl, ready to be exploited by terrorists, hackers and clever high-school kids with time on their hands.
The state record-keeping would require - what? - tripling or quadrupling or whatever the number of people employed by motor-vehicle departments, especially at the substations where licenses are distributed.
It would mean drivers would need to stand in long lines and make at least two, often more than two, visits to get their licenses - licenses that would no doubt end up costing an arm and a leg, considering the horrendous new expenses.
If drivers can get licenses at all.
How will state bureaucrats verify birth certificates for citizens and legal residents who were born abroad?
What if the person’s country of origin is hostile to the United States and unwilling to cooperate? What about countries that don’t issue birth certificates?
Then there is this problem: In its wisdom, Congress has required that all original documents presented for Real ID verification be written in English, here in this proud nation of immigrants. For some people, getting a driver’s license could turn into a lifetime research project, with lawyers and translators in tow.
The original deadline for states to snap to attention on Real ID was May 2008. Under pressure, President Bush recently extended the date to December 2009.
The only possible advantage to this monstrosity concerns air pollution.
If the states don’t nix the plan, expect to see a whole lot more people traveling on foot.
New Hampshire’s No Thanks to Real ID bill goes next to the state Senate, which rejected a similar measure last year.
Now under new management, the Senate should reverse course. And Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign the bill if it does. Good for him.
And what then? Well, there are lots of penalties. Probably the most serious is that the law says people from states that refuse to cooperate could be barred from traveling on airplanes.
Well, look at the positive side. That probably beats being barred from traveling in automobiles.
– Keene Sentinel
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbc ... /204140304
US bill increases foreign worker quotas
US bill increases foreign worker quotas
Indo-Asian News Service, PTI
Washington
First Published: 00:00 IST(3/1/2007)
Last Updated: 00:28 IST(13/5/2005)
The US Senate has passed a bill that makes it harder for citizens to get driver's licences and bans them altogether for illegal aliens.
It also increases the number of foreign nurses that can come into this country as well as removes the cap on seasonal guest workers under H-2B.
The Senate unanimously approved the conference agreement on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR 1268) that was for increased funding for Afghanistan and Iraq.
Now that HR 1268 has cleared both bodies of Congress, it heads to the president's desk for his signature to become law.
For weeks now, political and civil rights activists have opposed the Real ID Act provisions and most Democrats have opposed the restrictions it puts on people seeking asylum in this country.
It also has stricter rules for driver's licences, which, they contend, create something like citizenship identification.
Under the Real ID provisions, all states must require proof of lawful presence in the US if their driver's licences are to be accepted as a form of identification to a federal official.
Boarding a commercial airplane and entering a federal building or a nuclear power plant are among the official federal purposes.
Some concessions were made allowing states to issue "driving certificates" that do not meet the national requirements, but they would not be valid for official purposes. The terms of these cards would be a maximum of one year.
Temporary driver's licences issued to foreign visitors by a state must expire when the visitor's visa expires, with a maximum term of one year.
According to conservatives, had this been in place prior to 9/11, the illegal aliens among the terrorist hijackers who overstayed their visas would not have had valid driver's licences.
The bill also authorises the Secretary of Homeland Security, subject to federal judicial review of constitutional questions, to waive laws that may slow down or hamper completion of border fences and roads for national security purposes.
Some provisions allow immigration judges to determine the credibility of an asylum seeker. It calls for immediate removal of terrorists as well as criminal aliens, and illegal aliens from the country, though it does say that this can be done after proper judicial review. Aliens will therefore not be allowed to appeal their deportation.
The final bill includes funding for 500 additional border patrol agents, 50 immigration and customs inspectors, 168 enforcement agents and detention officers, and 1,950 detention beds.
But along with these restrictions, some concessions were made increasing some foreign worker quotas. The Mikulski amendment was included in the final bill, exempting H-2B seasonal guest workers who have worked in the US in the past from the 65,000 annual cap.
An additional 50,000 foreign nurses will be permitted to enter the country. And about 10,500 Australian guest workers will be allowed to enter the country annually under terms similar to the H-1B high-tech visa category.
http://www.hindustantimes.com
REAL ID Becomes Real Issue at Capitol
REAL ID Becomes Real Issue at Capitol
Sunday, April 15, 2007, 6:00 PM
By Brent Martin
Missouri would refuse to participate in the federal government's REAL ID Act under a bill winning overwhelming approval in the House. But a counter-argument has been made as a Senate committee considers the measure.
Rep. Jim Guest (R-King City) sponsors HCR 20 now in the Senate. He sees REAL ID as an invasion of privacy, "We're suppose to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people, not a government to be feared."
His bill passed the House on a vote of 146-to-4.
Congress approved REAL ID in 2005. It came as a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. It sets standards for driver's licenses issued by the states; standards that must be met for the driver's license to be approved as federal identification.
"I'm very sympathetic to Rep. Guest's concerns about federal intrusion," Peter Gadiel tells the Senate committee reviewing HCR 20. Gadiel is a board member of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License and President of 9/11 Families for a Secure America. Gadiel tells Senators REAL ID doesn't establish a national ID and doesn't require any additional information than now required to get a driver's license. He says it is required to make America more secure. Gadiel's son was killed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Neil Berro with the Coalition for Secure Driver's Licenses has told the committee compliance is necessary to protect America. He points out the 9/11 terrorists used driver's licenses to infiltrate the country. Berro says the driver's license has become standard identification. Berro rejects arguments that the REAL ID is essentially implementation of a national identification card. In fact, he argues that compliance with REAL ID would keep the country from moving to a new national identification card.
Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)
http://www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.c ... AC1B8A20CD
Texas likely to join list of states rejecting REAL ID Act
Monday, April 16, 2007
Texas likely to join list of states rejecting REAL ID Act
By Scott Henson
Judging by this week's House Defense Affairs Committee agendas, Texas won't be implementing the REAL ID Act this year because legislators don't want to fork over for the unfunded mandate. On Tuesday the committee will consider a resolution by Chairman Frank Corte requesting that Congress pay for the REAL ID Act if they want Texas to participate, and on Thursday they'll hear another by Carl Isett related to "refusing to implement the REAL ID Act of 2005."
The biggest reason Texas won't implement REAL ID is cost. According to Rep. Isett's HCR 148:
Quote:
the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently informed the House Appropriations Committee that all 18.5 million Texas driver's licenses and ID cards must be verified and reissued within five years under the act, prompting the agency to request $268.7 million as an exceptional item in its 2008-2009 budget; in addition, DPS has indicated it expects ongoing REAL ID-related expenses to be $101.3 million per year
A quarter-billion dollar startup cost and another $100 million to implement is certainly a good reaon not to do it - if you're thinking in terms of opportunity costs, those are more or less the amounts required to implement the Senate's proposal to build and operate three new prisons. But cost isn't the only reason cited in Isett's resolution for Texas' refusal to implement REAL ID:
Quote:
In addition to unease about expense, provisions of the REAL ID Act raise concerns about data security and possible identity theft; the act requires statewide databases to be integrated and shared with the federal government, but does not establish clear security standards for the network nor designate an entity to control access to the system; and
WHEREAS, These ambiguities in the legislation make it more likely that information about a driver's license or ID card holder could be illegally accessed through another state's less secure system, creating a vulnerability where none currently exists and increasing the likelihood of the very threat the program was designed to minimize
I cannot help but pause here to point out that when Chairman Corte's legislation passed to expand gathering of biometric data from Texas drivers and removed restrictions on law enforcement use of the information, he told the same committee in 2005 that the expense involved would prepare Texas to implement the REAL ID Act because the federal law (which at that time hadn't been finally passed) would require those same provisions. I testified in committee, and the chairman belittled by suggestion that Texas wait to find out what REAL ID would require before spending tens of millions prospectively.
Now it turns out that legislation didn't prepare Texas to implement REAL ID, and massive additional expenditures must be made to do so. However, the new data gathered because of Corte's changes last session has ]already been used by Governor Perry's Texas Fusion Center in ways that were never discussed during the legislative process. That episode was cause enough for me to oppose any future sharing of driver data until we rein in past abuses, so I'm glad to see Texas opt out of the REAL ID mess.
See prior, related Grits coverage:
* REAL ID Act a boondoggle for states
* DPS: REAL ID Act would cost $268 million to implement in Texas
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/ap ... al-id-act/
Editorial: Flaws abound in national ID law Minnesota lawmake
Editorial: Flaws abound in national ID law
Minnesota lawmakers should fight back.
Published: April 16, 2007
Federal homeland security leaders say that a new national identity program will help protect America against terrorism. But the Real ID Act of 2005, which will make driver's licenses national ID cards, has major flaws.
Therefore a group of Minnesota lawmakers are poised to have the state opt out of compliance. Calling the law an "irresponsible use of resources," state Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, is one of several sponsors of a bill that would prohibit Minnesota from complying.
That is a wise move, and the Minnesota legislators are in good company. Maine and Idaho already have passed laws opposing participation. Minnesota is among 25 states that have legislation in the works, and the National Governors Association opposes the plan.
Why? Because the effort, set to go into effect in 2009, is a classic unfunded federal mandate that would cost states millions of dollars. Important questions about privacy and data security also suggest the law was passed too quickly.
Under Real ID, applicants for new licenses or state identification cards will need to prove their identity, date of birth, address, citizenship or legal status and provide a Social Security number. States would develop licenses that meet federal rules, and check information against a group of linked national databases. All drivers would have to get new licenses. Without the new cards, people would be unable to board planes or enter federal buildings.
The Real ID plan sprang from a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission three years ago. Although well-intentioned, the commission surely did not envision the expensive, bureaucratic tangle this plan would cause for states.
Originally estimated by the National Conference of State Legislatures to cost $11 billion nationwide, recent estimates put the cost as high $17 billion. Yet the federal law calls for only $40 million in aid to states. Minnesota officials estimate the state could spend $31 million over five years.
On the individual-rights front, some privacy advocates worry that the linked databases required by the Real ID law could make it easier to access Americans' personal information. Immigrant groups are concerned about the impact on undocumented workers, with the potential to spur even more ID fraud.
When the law passed two years ago, it was attached to bills containing critical funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and relief for Indonesia tsunami victims. It received no stand-alone hearings and was rushed through.
That's why the federal government should listen to state objections. Any national ID program should be fully vetted -- and fully funded.
http://www.startribune.com/561/story/1119732.html
Gov. Schweitzer Signs Bill Rejecting Real ID
Gov. Schweitzer Signs Bill Rejecting Real ID
By Dan Testa , 4-17-07
Right: Gov. Brian Schweitzer signs Montana's formal rejection of the federal Real ID Act into law. Photo by Dan Testa
"The best way for Montana to deal with the federal government on this issue and many others is to say 'No. Nope. No way and hell no,'" Schweitzer said.
Montana is among a number of state legislatures throughout the country rejecting Real ID, which seeks to crack down on illegal immigration by requiring proof of residency as a minimum standard for states to issue drivers' licenses.
"We expect other states to follow suit here and we're going to open up a national conversation on Real ID," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman.
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/ ... d/C37/L37/
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Montana Rejects Real ID Mandate, Joins Rebel Forces
Montana forcefully rejected on Tuesday the requirements of pending federal identity document rules that would create a de facto national identity card, as Governor Brian Schweitzer signed into law a bill forbidding the state from implementing the rules and requiring reports to the government if the feds try to enforce them.
Maine was the first state to reject the requirements, which would require that states standardize their drivers' licenses starting in 2008 or face having their citizens' identification papers made useless for entering airport security or getting federal benefits.
"In January, the state of Maine held a 'Boston Tea Party' when they became the first to declare their opposition to Real ID by passing a resolution," said Tim Sparapani, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Today Montana has taken that rebellion to an entirely new level by issuing what amounts to a 'Declaration of Independence' from the act."
The bill (.pdf) reads in part:
The legislature finds that the enactment into law by the U.S. congress of the REAL ID Act of 2005, as part of Public Law 109-13, is inimical to the security and well-being of the people of Montana, will cause unneeded expense and inconvenience to those people, and was adopted by the U.S. congress in violation of the principles of federalism contained in the 10th amendment to the U.S. constitution.
(2) The state of Montana will not participate in the implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005. The department, including the motor vehicle division of the department, is directed not to implement the provisions of the REAL ID Act of 2005 and to report to the governor any attempt by agencies or agents of the U.S. department of homeland security to secure the implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005 through the operations of that division and department.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/0 ... jects.html
"No, Nope, No Way, Hell No"
"No, Nope, No Way, Hell No" (8 comments )
READ MORE: Montana
Big news out of Montana today - Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), who will be in the San Francisco area for a fundraiser Wednesday, signed legislation rejecting the implementation of the Real ID Act that creates a national ID card. Schweitzer's official signing message was simple: "No, nope, no way, hell no."
The Associated Press notes that "though several states have either passed or are considering resolutions or bills against the act, Montana is the first state to outright deny its implementation." How could this happen in a "red state" like Montana? Easy:
"The federal government has never been popular with Montanans. The federal Patriot Act was a common whipping boy on the campaign trail last year, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle lined up this year against the Real ID Act...The [bill] opposing the act, sponsored by Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, and signed by the governor, was unanimously approved by both chambers."
The best part is the reaction from Montana's congressional delegation. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is pushing federal legislation to repeal the Real ID Act. Meanwhile, AP reports that Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg "originally supported the federal legislation, but said Tuesday that he is now against it."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sir ... 46137.html
Gregoire rejects national ID card
Published April 19, 2007
Comment (1) Print email Subscribe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gregoire rejects national ID card
DAVID AMMONS
The Associated Press
Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is developing a high-tech state driver's license that can serve as a border-crossing document, Wednesday signed legislation rejecting Real ID, a federal identification requirement that would essentially create a national ID card.
The Washington state legislation is part of a growing rebellion against an expensive federal mandate that the American Civil Liberties Union says would threaten personal privacy.
The new state law says Washington will not implement the new Real ID system unless: Uncle Sam foots the bill, the government takes steps to ensure that privacy and data security concerns are addressed and the system doesn't place unreasonable costs or recordkeeping burdens on the average citizen.
The measure also gives the state attorney general the authority, if the governor concurs, to go to court to challenge the federal law.
Adopted by Congress
The system was adopted by Congress in 2005, growing out of national security concerns. It requires states to develop a new driver's license and personal identification card that allows information to be stored and checked by national databases.
It requires the applicant to show a birth certificate, proof of citizenship, proof of state residency and other information. The person's driving history and other information must be stored electronically by the state.
The new system, which is supposed to be a requirement in 2008, would cost the state
$250 million to develop and implement, the governor said.
"This is another unfunded mandate from the federal government and, even worse, it doesn't protect the privacy of the citizens of Washington," Gregoire said Wednesday in signing the bill.
"Washington will not spend the $250 million without a guarantee of privacy and federal funds to help fund it."
The measure passed both houses with a strong bipartisan vote.
"While everyone can agree on the need for security, we need to make sure any new system will protect our privacy and data from abuse and will not bankrupt our state," said the prime sponsor, Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island.
"Only with those assurances in place will we be in a position to move forward with Real ID."
Besides the expense, Haugen said she had major concerns that "the numerous forms of identification required under this federal mandate ... could provide a virtual gold mine of information for identity thieves" who could hack into the system.
"Lawmakers from both parties took a strong stand against Real ID," said Jennifer Shaw, legislative director of the ACLU of Washington. "It would threaten personal privacy as well as create a bureaucratic nightmare to implement."
She said by placing personally identifiable information into databases accessible across the country, Real ID could make consumers more vulnerable to identity theft and abuse.
Shaw said Washington is the fifth state to express opposition to the federal law, joining Montana, Idaho, Arkansas and Maine, and that more than 20 other states are considering similar laws or protest resolutions.
On the web
Legislature: www.leg.wa.gov
Governor: www.governor.wa.gov
Licensing agency: www.dol.wa.gov
http://www.theolympian.com/125/story/84630.html
New Hamp. Legislators Address RFID Concerns
New Hamp. Legislators Address RFID Concerns
Written By: Steven Titch
Published In: Info Tech & Telecom News
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Publisher: The Heartland Institute
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Controversy over the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) continues to grow as New Hampshire has reintroduced legislation to regulate the use of RFID chips in consumer products and entirely ban their use in government documents such as driver's licenses.
Currently, RFID chips are used in certain point-of-sale devices, such as ExxonMobil's EasyPass, tollway passes, and building access cards that many employers issue. Retailers use RFID to track shipping pallets and containers.
RFID chips to date have not been incorporated into packaging on any widespread basis. The only exception is in the pharmaceutical industry, which uses RFID to keep counterfeit prescription drugs out of the supply chain.
Reflects Growing Concerns
The New Hampshire bill reflects growing legislator and voter concerns over the increasing use of RFID chips by large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target to track inventory as it moves through the supply chain. At least three states have drawn up legislation against government plans to incorporate RFID chips into passports and driver's licenses. Consumer activists and civil libertarians say use of the chips and the information they gather can lead to wholesale invasions of privacy.
The New Hampshire bill, H.B. 686, would require retailers to label any products, such as food, apparel, or appliances, that contain RFID chips. It would exempt devices that incorporate RFID and other radio tracking technology as part of their essential mechanisms, such as cell phones, WiFi cards, and global positioning system (GPS) receivers.
The bill, introduced in February, revives but clarifies a failed 2005 bill that many felt was overly broad in its definitions, especially of radio tracking devices.
"[RFID tagging] is about generating more personal data about individual consumers, which can then be mined and sold. I still maintain that it is fraud for a retailer to take something of value from a customer without their knowledge and consent," said state Rep. Joel Winters (D-Hillsborough), a member of the House Commerce Committee, to which the bill has been referred.
"Look at supermarket 'loyalty cards,' which exist solely for tracking our purchases," Winters said. "Read the privacy policy of most large chains; Home Depot, for example, promises to keep a record of your transactions if you use a credit or debit card. I don't believe that the idea retailers will just stop collecting data is correct.
"There is also precedent for retailers to exchange information with each other; as they might do with RFID tag numbers," Winters said. For example, RFID data might be used to track an individual customer's return history. "Some retailers share that information to create sort of a return blacklist," he said.
Government Uses Cause Worry
The New Hampshire bill also would prohibit forced implantation of an RFID chip in a person. Police would have to obtain a court order to use RFID to track an individual electronically.
The bill itself, like at least 17 others that have been introduced in state houses around the country, reflects the two sides of the RFID coin, commercial and government. While commercial applications largely are geared toward tracking items, government applications are geared toward tracking individuals.
Concerns in the latter case have led to resolutions rejecting the U.S. government's proposed Real ID Act of 2005, which aims to standardize the information on state driver's licenses and require them to contain RFID chips. Maine legislators approved such a resolution in January. Similar bills are pending in Georgia, Massachusetts, Montana, and Washington. Idaho, Maine, and Montana have introduced such bills. New Hampshire has also introduced a bill, sponsored by Winters, that would prohibit the state from participating in any national ID card system.
Industry groups such as the Smart Card Alliance say RFID labeling laws raise costs for business and hit small retailers especially hard. The Smart Card Alliance also says the capability of the technology to be used by unauthorized third parties to hijack personal information has been overhyped and misportrayed in the media. In reality, supporters of the technology say, RFID helps reduce manufacturing costs and protects consumers by keeping counterfeit products out of the supply chain.
The Smart Card Alliance advocates a series of policy steps (see accompanying tables) for both retail and government applications, including deactivation of any RFID chips embedded in a package or product upon purchase and the use of encryption in documents.
Critics of RFID legislation also say fear over the technology's role in identity theft is misplaced. They point out that identify theft is now largely a component of organized crime, which seeks the volume that can be acquired only through bribery or theft of devices such as laptops, disks, and memory cards that contain large amounts of personal data.
Human Implants Considered
The implantation of RFID chips in individuals remains a hotly debated topic. VeriChip Corp., for example, sells FDA-approved RFID chips, about the size of a grain of rice, designed for human implantation that would carry medical information about the individual. In Florida, VeriChip and the Alzheimer's Community Care Association of Palm Beach and Martin Counties Inc. have begun a two-year study to determine whether it's practical to implant tiny computer chips containing medical records in dementia patients.
"People with Alzheimer's and dementia are our most vulnerable population, particularly during hurricane season. We're hoping this kind of technology creates a safer environment for them and creates higher efficiency in the emergency room," Mary Barnes, president and chief executive of Alzheimer's Community Care, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Civil libertarians, however, fear that without adequate safeguards RFID use presents something of a "slippery slope," where RFID implantation in the elderly and children becomes more of a convenience for family and caregivers than a necessity for patient safety.
"In families that receive the VeriChip implants, the children have been left with no choice but to comply with their parents wishes. Also, VeriChip has announced plans to implant Alzheimer's patients in Florida with RFID chips. I don't believe they can give consent, although their legal guardians will have to," said Winters.
"In Mexico, a number of bureaucrats were implanted with RFID chips," Winters noted. "I assume that they were told if they wanted to keep working, they would have to comply. It's very possible that this will be a condition of employment here in the U.S. in the future."
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Steven Titch (titch@heartland.org) is senior fellow for IT and telecom policy at The Heartland Institute and managing editor of IT&T News.
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21011
Back to drawing board for flawed ID system
Published: Friday, April 20, 2007
Back to drawing board for flawed ID system
Our state was right to reject the half-baked Real ID system rushed into place by the feds two years ago. Congress and the Bush administration need to go back to the drawing board on this one.
Touted as an important homeland security measure, Real ID makes driver's licenses and ID cards from non-compliant states unacceptable forms of identification for boarding commercial flights and entering federal buildings starting in 2009. To become compliant, states must issue standardized licenses that include scannable personal information that's linked to national databases.
The system has at least two major flaws: it comes without anything close to adequate federal funding (Washingtonians would have to cough up some $250 million over five years) and lacks ample safeguards to assure personal information on all those databases is protected from identity theft. Legitimate privacy concerns are also in play.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation Wednesday to keep the state out of the program unless those and other concerns are addressed.
Serious concerns over Real ID are shared by both parties in Olympia. The measure, prime-sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island), passed 41-4 in the Senate and 95-2 in the House.
Congress approved Real ID in 2005 after the basic idea was suggested by the 9-11 commission, but it wasn't fully vetted. It was attached to bills that addressed funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, never getting its own hearings.
With Washington joining at least four other states that have rejected it, and some 20 more considering such a move, the feds clearly need to start over. This time, rather than a top-down approach, they should create a process in which the Department of Homeland Security sits down with state officials, privacy advocates and other stakeholders to see if a more realistic, workable system can be forged.
Wider involvement really can lead to better solutions: Our state, working with British Columbia, has already won federal approval of a pilot project to use enhanced driver's licenses at border crossings.
Still, all parties should recognize that ID systems offer very limited protection from terrorism. They might flag known terrorists, but not those without a previous record.
No changes as monumental as Real ID should be implemented without a thorough debate over the security gained vs. the privacy waived.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/04/ ... ial001.cfm
Two States Lead Revolt Against Real ID
Friday, April 20, 2007 :: infoZine Staff :: page views
Two States Lead Revolt Against Real ID
By Eric Kelderman - Montana and Washington state defied the U.S. government this week, enacting the first state laws to reject the 2005 federal Real ID Act and ratcheting up pressure on Congress to amend or repeal national standards for driver's licenses.
Stateline.org - infoZine - Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) signed legislation Tuesday (April 17) that bans the state's Motor Vehicle Division from enforcing the national rules, which set uniform security features for driver's licenses and require states to verify the identity of all driver's license applicants.
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) signed a bill Wednesday (April 18) barring that state from complying unless the federal government comes up with an extra $250 million to cover the state's expenses. The law also gives Washington's attorney general the right to challenge Real ID in court.
Montana's Schweitzer complained that the Real ID law is another way for the federal government to stomp on residents' personal privacy. "Montanans don't want the federal agents listening to their phone conversations, rifling through their papers, checking on what books they read and monitoring where they go and when. We think they ought to mind their own business," he said in a written statement.
Gregoire in a statement said the Real ID Act "is another unfunded mandate from the federal government and, even worse, it doesn't protect the privacy of the citizens of Washington."
In all, 30 states have passed or are considering proposals condemning the license standards. State lawmakers have railed at the costs and deadlines imposed on states, at federal intrusion into what had been a state responsibility and the specter of a national ID card. But the Montana and Washington actions stand out as the first statutes to bar state agencies from participating in Real ID, which passed Congress without floor debate, attached to a 2005 bill funding the war in Iraq and international aid after the Asian tsunami.
Legislatures in Idaho and Maine have passed nonbinding measures protesting the 2005 act. Arkansas lawmakers have approved one resolution calling for Congress to repeal the act and another that asks for civil-liberty protections and full funding to meet the estimated $14 billion cost to states. None of those measures carries the weight of law or required a governor's signature.
Bills condemning Real ID have been approved by one chamber in another 13 legislatures and have been introduced in 12 more.
"When a state like Montana tells the federal government to take a hike, it brings down the whole house of cards. If there was ever any question that Congress would be forced to revisit this misguided law, there is no more," Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
States have held out hope that the new Democratic majority in Congress will pay more attention to their concerns than the Republicans did. U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka (D) of Hawaii and John Sununu (R) of New Hampshire have revived a 2006 bill to repeal Real ID. U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D) of Maine also has submitted a bill rejecting the act.
Real ID requires that all new and existing driver's license applicants present and states verify: a form of photo identification, a document showing date of birth, proof of a Social Security number and a document with the name and address of the applicant.
All state-issued driver's licenses must include an individual's name, address, date of birth, gender, signature, driver's license number, a digital photograph and several features to prevent counterfeiting.
Driver's license bureaus would feed information into databases to verify applicants' identity, leading critics to worry about invasions of privacy and identify theft.
Cost also is a primary concern. State officials decry the act as a giant unfunded mandate. Congress has appropriated just $40 million for states to begin verifying and reissuing an estimated 245 million driver's licenses and identification cards.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in March said states could use 20 percent of their federal homeland security grants to help meet costs. But those amounts are just a fraction of the total $14.6 billion that the department estimates the law will cost states. In addition, the law will impose $7.9 billion in costs on individuals and $617 million on the federal government, according to homeland security figures.
Time is another problem, say states. The initial deadline to begin issuing compliant licenses is May 11, 2008, although states can apply for an extension until Dec. 31, 2009. That won't help, state officials counter, because all existing licenses still have to be reissued by 2013, so states that delay actually have a smaller window to meet the law.
Montana state Rep. Brady Wiseman (D), a sponsor of his state's legislation, said his colleagues were most concerned about privacy issues and Real ID's requirement to digitally store personal information and make that information available to other states. "We just didn't see the benefit here from going through all that rigmarole," said Wiseman, whose bill passed the Republican-controlled state House and Democratic-controlled Senate with unanimous support.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the libertarian Cato Institute both oppose Real ID on the grounds that it will violate civil liberties.
"The states reserve the right to choose not to comply with Real ID," said Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But he noted that citizens in states without compliant licenses will not be able to use their licenses to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings.
Related stories:
Related articles in infoZine
Real ID -- Real Questions
Too little time, too much cost for Real ID
Congress sets new driver's license rules
States balk at license bill as it heads to U.S. Senate
Drivers' Licenses Now a Tool for Homeland Security
Comment on this story by registering with Stateline.org, or e-mail your feedback to our Letters to the editor section at letters@stateline.org
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op ... sid/22365/
Defiance to Real ID develops in Montana
Defiance to Real ID develops in Montana
By Stateline.org
WASHINGTON - Montana and Washington defied the U.S. government last week, enacting the first state laws to reject the 2005 federal Real ID Act and ratcheting up pressure on Congress to amend or repeal national standards for driver's licenses.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed legislation Tuesday that bans the state's Motor Vehicle Division from enforcing the national rules, which set uniform security features for drivers' licenses and require states to verify the identity of all applicants.
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, signed a bill Wednesday barring that state from complying unless the federal government comes up with an extra $250 million to cover the state's expenses. The law also gives Washington's attorney general the right to challenge Real ID in court.
Montana's Schweitzer, a Democrat, complained that the Real ID law is another way for the federal government to stomp on residents' personal privacy. "Montanans don't want the federal agents listening to their phone conversations, rifling through their papers, checking on what books they read and monitoring where they go and when. We think they ought to mind their own business," he said in a written statement. Gregoire in a statement said the Real ID Act "is another unfunded mandate from the federal government and, even worse, it doesn't protect the privacy of the citizens of Washington."
In all, 30 states have passed or are considering proposals condemning the license standards. State lawmakers have railed at the costs and deadlines imposed on states, at federal intrusion into what had been a state responsibility and the specter of a national ID card. But the Montana and Washington actions stand out as the first statutes to bar state agencies from participating in Real ID, which passed Congress without floor debate, attached to a 2005 bill funding the war in Iraq and international aid after the Asian tsunami.
Legislatures in Idaho and Maine have passed nonbinding measures protesting the 2005 act. Arkansas lawmakers have approved one resolution calling for Congress to repeal the act and another that asks for civil-liberty protections and full funding to meet the estimated $14 billion cost to states. None of those measures carries the weight of law or required a governor's signature.
Bills condemning Real ID have been approved by one chamber in another 13 legislatures and have been introduced in 12 more.
"When a state like Montana tells the federal government to take a hike, it brings down the whole house of cards. If there was ever any question that Congress would be forced to revisit this misguided law, there is no more," Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a prepared statement.
States have held out hope that the new Democratic majority in Congress will pay more attention to their concerns than the Republicans did. U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii and John Sununu, R-N.H., have revived a 2006 bill to repeal Real ID. U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, also has submitted a bill rejecting the act.
Real ID requires that all new and existing driver's license applicants present, and states verify, a form of photo identification, a document showing date of birth, proof of a Social Security number and a document with the name and address of the applicant.
All state-issued driver's licenses must include an individual's name, address, date of birth, gender, signature, driver's license number, a digital photograph and several features to prevent counterfeiting.
Driver's license bureaus would feed information into databases to verify applicants' identity, leading critics to worry about invasions of privacy and identify theft.
Cost also is a primary concern. State officials decry the act as a giant unfunded mandate. Congress has appropriated just $40 million for states to begin verifying and reissuing an estimated 245 million driver's licenses and identification cards.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in March said states could use 20 percent of their federal homeland security grants to help meet costs. But those amounts are just a fraction of the total $14.6 billion that the department estimates the law will cost states. In addition, the law will impose $7.9 billion in costs on individuals and $617 million on the federal government, according to homeland security figures.
Time is another problem, say states. The initial deadline to begin issuing compliant licenses is May 11, 2008, although states can apply for an extension until Dec. 31, 2009. That won't help, state officials counter, because all existing licenses still have to be reissued by 2013, so states that delay actually have a smaller window to meet the law.
Montana state Rep. Brady Wiseman, a Democrat and a sponsor of his state's legislation, said his colleagues were most concerned about privacy issues and Real ID's requirement to digitally store personal information and make that information available to other states. "We just didn't see the benefit here from going through all that rigmarole," said Wiseman, whose bill passed the Republican-controlled state House and Democratic-controlled Senate with unanimous support.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the libertarian Cato Institute both oppose Real ID on the grounds that it will violate civil liberties.
"The states reserve the right to choose not to comply with Real ID," said Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But he noted that citizens in states without compliant licenses will not be able to use their licenses to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings.
Published on Sunday, April 22, 2007.
Last modified on 4/22/2007 at 3:40 am
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... ontana.txt
Legislature passes bill delaying Real ID
Legislature passes bill delaying Real ID
Coastal Empire | Local News
Morris News Service | Friday, April 20, 2007 at 01:00 am
First Lady Mary Perdue votes at her polling place at the Kathleen Voting precinct in Kathleen, Ga., this morning. (AP Photo/Ric Feld) (Photo: AP Photo/Ric Feld)
Sonny PerdueRepublican gubernatorial candidatephotographed at Skidaway Island United Methodist Church(1/23/02) (Photo:)
ATLANTA - Georgia joins a growing number of states whose lawmakers have approved bills threatening not to comply with federal standards for drivers' licenses.
The Real ID Act requires that states implement a number of security measures on licenses that will require drivers to bring in documents, such as birth certificates and social security cards, to verify their citizenship.
States have until May of next year to implement the process but can apply for an extension.
Georgia lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5 on Friday allowing Gov. Sonny Perdue to delay complying until the federal Homeland Security agency can show that drivers' personal information, which will be shared among states under Real ID, will be protected.
About 30 legislatures around the country have considered measures to protest the federal act in some way.
This week, Montana and Washington became the first states to outright refuse to comply, with lawmakers there demanding the federal government cover the costs for states to implement the changes.
SB 5 now heads to Perdue for his signature or veto.
http://savannahnow.com/node/269369