Update on Florida REAL ID
Posted by NCF912Project
There are several bills that have been filed in the Florida Legislature and need our help to make sure they are heard in the committees before going to the floor of the House/Senate beginning in January. The first is the repeal of REAL ID. Paul Henry has worked tirelessly on this bill and it is gaining ground. For those of us who think this law needs to be repealed, we need to start making phone calls, sending emails, etc. For more information on the issue, go to http://liberty2010.org
Florida House Bill 109, the Florida Driver’s License Citizen Protection Act, which repeals REAL ID in Florida, is in danger of dying in the Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee. We need to flood members of this committee to urge them to put HB 109 on the agenda.
Please contact Rep. Brad Drake, the chairman of this committee, to urge him to add HB 109 to the committee agenda (contact info below). Please take the time to call his office, and follow up with an email.
Rep. Brad Drake
Phone: 850.419.1300
Email: brad@braddrake.com
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4436&SessionId=70
Update on Florida Real ID Law
Posted by NCF912Project
Paul Henry was our guest speaker at our January meeting. He gave a presentation on a plan to repeal the Florida Real ID law. There is a hearing scheduled for February 23rd from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the Knott Building Room 212 at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee . Paul will be speaking about REAL ID before the Federal Affairs Subcommittee and has asked for anyone who can, to come to Tallahassee that day: ” If you can be in the Tallahassee area on the 23rd, the Florida driver license law has affected you, and you want the Legislature to hear about it, here is your chance. Please take a day off from work and visit the Capital so you can tell your story directly. I have received some letters I will be reading from people out of the area that cannot attend. If you would like to email your story to me, please use the contact page on our website or send a message here.
I will be speaking about how the federal law is unconstitutional (the Congress is not authorized to dictate to the states how they issue their licenses, the government cannot seize your personal papers and property without reasonable suspicion and a warrant), and the state’s implementation has only hurt law abiding citize…ns, many of whom cannot find the papers the state is demanding, plus the added expense of obtaining documents from decades ago. I’ll also speak about how the Florida DHSMV has a poor record of protecting our privacy as well as corruption among employees that have access to this data.”
You can read all about REAL ID in Florida on our website, www.liberty2010.org/realid
May, 2005 Article written warning against REAL ID
Posted by NCF912Project
May 10, 2005
Last Chance to Stop National ID
by Rep. Ron Paul
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending bill last week that contains provisions establishing a national ID card, and the Senate is poised to approve the measure in the next few days. This week marks the American public’s last chance to convince their senators they don’t want to live in a nation that demands papers from its citizens as they go about their lives.
Absent a political miracle in the Senate, within two years every American will need a conforming national ID card to participate in ordinary activities. This REAL ID Act 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 characteristics. The legislation also grants open-ended authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to require biometric information on IDs in the future. This means your harmless looking driver’s license could contain a retina scan, fingerprints, DNA information, or radio frequency technology.
Think this sounds farfetched? Read the REAL ID Act, HR 418, for yourself. Its text is available on the Library of Congress Web site. A careful reading also reveals that states will be required to participate in the “Driver’s License Agreement,” which was crafted by DMV lobbyists years ago. This agreement creates a massive database of sensitive information on American citizens that can be shared with Canada and Mexico!
Terrorism is the excuse given for virtually every new power grab by the federal government, and the national ID is no exception. But federal agencies have tried to create a national ID for years, long before the 9/11 attacks. In fact, a 1996 bill sought to do exactly what the REAL ID Act does: transform state drivers’ licenses into de facto national ID cards. At the time, Congress was flooded with calls by angry constituents, and the bill ultimately died.
Proponents of the REAL ID Act continue to make the preposterous claim that the bill does not establish a national ID card. This is dangerous and insulting nonsense. Let’s get the facts straight: The REAL ID Act transforms state motor vehicle departments into agents of the federal government. Nationalizing standards for drivers’ licenses and birth certificates in a federal bill creates a national ID system, pure and simple. Having the name of your particular state on the ID is meaningless window dressing.
Federally imposed standards for drivers’ licenses and birth certificates make a mockery of federalism and the 10th amendment. While states technically are not forced to accept the federal standards, any refusal to comply would mean their residents could not get a job, receive Social Security, or travel by plane. So rather than imposing a direct mandate on the states, the federal government is blackmailing them into complying with federal dictates.
One overriding point has been forgotten: Criminals don’t obey laws! As with gun control, national ID cards will only affect law-abiding citizens. Do we really believe a terrorist bent on murder is going to dutifully obtain a federal ID card? Do we believe that people who openly flout our immigration laws will nonetheless respect our ID requirements? Any ID card can be forged; any federal agency or state DMV is susceptible to corruption. Criminals can and will obtain national ID cards, or operate without them. National ID cards will be used to track the law-abiding masses, not criminals.