The site:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990929_xex_strange_bedf.shtml
The article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE...
Strange bedfellows
battle national ID
Groups mobilize to repeal
law mandating card
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Sarah Foster
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
It's not often you find groups as far apart politically as the American Civil Liberties Union, La Raza, Eagle Forum and Concerned Women of America on the same side of an issue.
But these organizations and others -- such as the Conference of State Legislatures, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Free Congress Foundation -- are united in a broad-based coalition from across the political spectrum to force repeal of an obscure section of an immigration law Congress passed three years ago, which provides a provision for turning state driver's licenses into what these critics claim is a national identification card.
Section 626 (b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act of 1996 requires states to collect, verify and display social security numbers on state-issued driver's licenses and conform with federally-mandated uniform features for driver's licenses. It authorizes the federal Department of Transportation to establish national requirements for birth certificates and driver's licenses.
The Illegal Immigration Reform Act -- with Section 626 (b) -- is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2000.
"Basically, what the statute says is that federal agencies 'may not accept for identification or related purposes a driver's license or other comparable identification document issued by a state unless the license or document satisfies the requirements established by the act,'" said Norm Singleton, Rep. Paul's legislative assistant, quoting the act itself.
"What that in essence means is that anything that under federal law you're required to show an ID for, you can only show or produce an ID that corresponds to the standards of the act," Singleton explained.
"You will have a mandated, uniform ID that you will have to show before opening a bank account, getting a job, traveling on a plane, applying for Social Security or Medicare -- those are some of the things you won't be able to do without a federally approved ID," he said.
In addition to Social Security numbers the new driver's licenses may include microchips encoded with the holder's fingerprints and other personal data.
In the House Ron Paul has led the fight against Section 626 (b).
"It's a threat to liberty," says Singleton. "That's why Congressman Paul favors repeal of this section. There's no constitutional authority for the federal government to be telling the states what kind of ID they must issue to their citizens in order to get a driver's license or any other kind of license. It's another example in this country of how we're allowing the erosion of our traditional liberties and our Bill of Rights."
In the Senate, Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has taken a leading role by attaching an amendment to a transportation appropriations bill that would repeal the controversial Section 656 (b). The appropriations bill is now in the conference committee, and could be discussed and voted on as early as today -- certainly by the end of the week.
The question is whether the language to repeal Sec. 626 (b) will be allowed to remain.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, is fighting all efforts to keep the repeal language. He denies Section 626 (b) spells a national ID card, and views it as a much-needed way of stemming illegal immigration.
In case the repeal language is removed, the opponents in the House have another avenue to pursue:
Earlier this year Rep. Paul introduced HR 2337 which would repeal the section.
"If the appropriation bill passes without the repeal in it, the alternative for those who support the national ID repeal is to support efforts to get HR 2337 to the floor of the House and then through the Senate. That's really our only other option," he said.
Towards this end Paul and a group of colleagues in the House have launched an organization -- the Liberty Study Committee -- dedicated to the issues dealing with privacy, presidential executive orders and the United Nations.
The first project is the repeal of the national ID card -- and there is a special web address for this -- at No National ID.com. This has links to the Conference Committee members and the other members of Congress.
Kent Snyder, project director, said, "Rep. Paul hopes the American people will make their voices heard on this issue like they did in the past on national IDs, on medical IDs, on Know Your Customer -- and that they make sure that their representatives understand that they want a Congress that respects their constitutional liberties."
[/quote]
------------------
John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990929_xex_strange_bedf.shtml
The article:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE...
Strange bedfellows
battle national ID
Groups mobilize to repeal
law mandating card
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Sarah Foster
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
It's not often you find groups as far apart politically as the American Civil Liberties Union, La Raza, Eagle Forum and Concerned Women of America on the same side of an issue.
But these organizations and others -- such as the Conference of State Legislatures, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Free Congress Foundation -- are united in a broad-based coalition from across the political spectrum to force repeal of an obscure section of an immigration law Congress passed three years ago, which provides a provision for turning state driver's licenses into what these critics claim is a national identification card.
Section 626 (b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act of 1996 requires states to collect, verify and display social security numbers on state-issued driver's licenses and conform with federally-mandated uniform features for driver's licenses. It authorizes the federal Department of Transportation to establish national requirements for birth certificates and driver's licenses.
The Illegal Immigration Reform Act -- with Section 626 (b) -- is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2000.
"Basically, what the statute says is that federal agencies 'may not accept for identification or related purposes a driver's license or other comparable identification document issued by a state unless the license or document satisfies the requirements established by the act,'" said Norm Singleton, Rep. Paul's legislative assistant, quoting the act itself.
"What that in essence means is that anything that under federal law you're required to show an ID for, you can only show or produce an ID that corresponds to the standards of the act," Singleton explained.
"You will have a mandated, uniform ID that you will have to show before opening a bank account, getting a job, traveling on a plane, applying for Social Security or Medicare -- those are some of the things you won't be able to do without a federally approved ID," he said.
In addition to Social Security numbers the new driver's licenses may include microchips encoded with the holder's fingerprints and other personal data.
In the House Ron Paul has led the fight against Section 626 (b).
"It's a threat to liberty," says Singleton. "That's why Congressman Paul favors repeal of this section. There's no constitutional authority for the federal government to be telling the states what kind of ID they must issue to their citizens in order to get a driver's license or any other kind of license. It's another example in this country of how we're allowing the erosion of our traditional liberties and our Bill of Rights."
In the Senate, Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has taken a leading role by attaching an amendment to a transportation appropriations bill that would repeal the controversial Section 656 (b). The appropriations bill is now in the conference committee, and could be discussed and voted on as early as today -- certainly by the end of the week.
The question is whether the language to repeal Sec. 626 (b) will be allowed to remain.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, is fighting all efforts to keep the repeal language. He denies Section 626 (b) spells a national ID card, and views it as a much-needed way of stemming illegal immigration.
In case the repeal language is removed, the opponents in the House have another avenue to pursue:
Earlier this year Rep. Paul introduced HR 2337 which would repeal the section.
"If the appropriation bill passes without the repeal in it, the alternative for those who support the national ID repeal is to support efforts to get HR 2337 to the floor of the House and then through the Senate. That's really our only other option," he said.
Towards this end Paul and a group of colleagues in the House have launched an organization -- the Liberty Study Committee -- dedicated to the issues dealing with privacy, presidential executive orders and the United Nations.
The first project is the repeal of the national ID card -- and there is a special web address for this -- at No National ID.com. This has links to the Conference Committee members and the other members of Congress.
Kent Snyder, project director, said, "Rep. Paul hopes the American people will make their voices heard on this issue like they did in the past on national IDs, on medical IDs, on Know Your Customer -- and that they make sure that their representatives understand that they want a Congress that respects their constitutional liberties."
[/quote]
------------------
John/az
"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932