Carrying Capacity Network Action Alert Flawed REAL ID Bill passes House, still needs revision in Senate Help CCN Ensure Passage of a Good Bill

April 2005

Thanks to CCN & allies' efforts, the REAL ID Act, H.R.418, recently passed in the House of Representatives. The bill would limit 1)driver's licenses issuance to citizens and aliens legally in the U.S. 2)set minimum criteria for state driver's licenses and ID documents, 3) prevent abuse of asylum laws, and 4)complete the border fence. Unfortunately, three "Big Brotheresque" provisions that CCN has identified as seriously problematic were in the house version and could be reinserted in the Senate version or in Conference.

Under the current proposed plan, illegal immigrants now living in the U.S. would be given a three-year temporary work VISA, which could be extended indefinitely, and would lead to permanent resident alien status. There is no way to ensure that participants in this program will merely be guests of our country and then leave. The Bush "guest-worker" proposal is nothing but a thinly-disguised amnesty which, if passed, will have devastating impact on our country.

We need your help again in stressing the importance of excluding or revising these provisions in the Senate's version of the bill. Representative Ron Paul (R- TX) recently addressed these concerns about one version of the bill with great acuity. "This bill establishes a massive, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number, and physical and possibly other characteristics. What is even more disturbing is that, by mandating that states participate in the "Drivers License Agreement," this bill creates a massive database of sensitive information on American citizens that will be shared with Canada and Mexico! This legislation gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand required information on driver's licenses, potentially including such biometric information as retina scans, finger prints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology. Including such technology as RFID would mean that the federal government, as well as the governments of Canada and Mexico, would know where Americans are at all times of the day and night." (Full Text of Rep. Ron Paul's speech at the end of this e-mail)
Support H.R. 418 without these Orwellian provisions!
CCN's Board of Directors and staff recognize that the offices of Congressman Sensenbrenner and Congressman Paul have differing views on probable interpretation of the proposed legislation. CCN admires both members of Congress for their addressing this crucial issue. One dangerous provision which was in the bill at one point and could be reinserted is:
Title II, Sec. 202, (e) (1) and (2) of H.R. 418 gives the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security discretionary power to "prescribe one or more design formats for driver's licenses and identification cards that satisfy the requirements of this section [(b)] in order to protect national security interests and also to "allow for clear visual differentiation between categories of driver's licenses and identity cards." It also gives the Secretary the right to limit the validity of licenses and IDs for certain reasons.
CCN believes the way to resolve this interpretive dilemma is for the Senate to modify the language of the bill to ensure no such Orwellian interpretations are possible. Thus, we recommend supporting H.R. 418 but asking for the removal or revision of these Orwellian provisions!

Take Action:
1) Call, write and fax your representative today and urge him/her to support H.R. 418, the "REAL ID" Act, but without the linking of State databases, "Homeland Czar" provisions, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada database linking provisions.
You can reach your senators and representatives by calling the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or by writing:

FAX and E-mail contact information for your legislators is at www.congress.org.
2) Support CCN's efforts on the Hill using the enclosed business reply envelope to send a special donation to CCN today. You can also make a secure on-line donation at www.carryingcapacity.org.
3) Take stock in the fight for US population stabilization by giving appreciated stock to CCN. Making a donation is as simple as a phone call to your broker. Instruct them that you would like to make an electronic transfer to CCN and have them call our office for our information. Giving appreciated stock may allow avoidance of capital gains taxes and may also provide a tax deduction.
4) Educate your community! Talk to friends and family, write letters to the editor. Give a gift membership in CCN to a friend or family member who may not be aware of the tremendous impact mass immigration is having on our country.

Before the US House of Representatives, February 9, 2005

Mr. Speaker:
I rise in strong opposition to HR 418, the REAL ID Act. This bill purports to make us safer from terrorists who may sneak into the United States, and from other illegal immigrants. While I agree that these issues are of vital importance, this bill will do very little to make us more secure. It will not address our real vulnerabilities. It will, however, make us much less free. In reality, this bill is a Trojan horse. It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to stampede Americans into sacrificing what is uniquely American: our constitutionally protected liberty.

What is wrong with this bill?

The REAL ID Act establishes a national ID card by mandating that states include certain minimum identification standards on driver's licenses. It contains no limits on the government's power to impose additional standards. Indeed, it gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to unilaterally add requirements as he sees fit.

Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary. However, any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens. The citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their ID will not be accepted. They will
> not be able to fly or to take a train. In essence, in the eyes of the federal government they will cease to exist. It is absurd to call this voluntary.

Republican Party talking points on this bill, which claim that this is not a national ID card, nevertheless endorse the idea that "the federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification such as driver's licenses." So they admit that they want a national ID but at the same time pretend that this is not a national ID.

This bill establishes a massive, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place of residence, Social Security number, and physical and possibly other characteristics. What is even more disturbing is that, by mandating that states participate in the "Drivers License Agreement," this bill creates a massive database of sensitive information on American citizens that will be shared with Canada and Mexico!

This bill could have a chilling effect on the exercise of our constitutionally guaranteed rights. It re-defines "terrorism" in broad new terms that could well include members of firearms rights and anti-abortion groups, or other such groups as determined by whoever is in power at the time. There are no prohibitions against including such information in the database as information about a person's exercise of First Amendment rights or about a person's appearance on a registry of firearms owners.

This legislation gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand required information on driver's licenses, potentially including such biometric information as retina scans, finger prints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology. Including such technology as RFID would mean that the federal government, as well as the governments of Canada and Mexico, would know where Americans are at all times of the day and night.
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. Who is to stop a corrupt foreign government official from selling or giving this information to human traffickers or even terrorists? Will this uncertainty make us feel safer?

What will all of this mean for us? When this new program is implemented, every time we are required to show our driver's 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.

H.R. 418 does nothing to solve the growing threat to national security posed by people who are already in the U.S. illegally. Instead, H.R. 418 states what we already know: that certain people here illegally are "deportable." But it does nothing to mandate deportation.

Although Congress funded an additional 2,000 border guards last year, the administration has announced that it will only ask for an additional 210 guards. Why are we not pursuing these avenues as a way of safeguarding our country? Why are we punishing Americans by taking away their freedoms instead of making life more difficult for those who would enter our country illegally?

H.R. 418 does what legislation restricting firearm ownership does. It punishes law-abiding citizens. Criminals will ignore it. H.R. 418 offers us a false sense of greater security at the cost of taking a gigantic step toward making America a police state.

I urge my colleagues to vote "NO" on the REAL ID Act of 2005