Congress Considering National ID Card

The American Conservative Union ^ | October 18, 2004 | aculistmanager@laptoplobbyist.com

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

 

 

Dear Friend of the ACU:

Kiss your civil liberties and right to privacy goodbye!

Do you believe that you should be compelled to carry a National ID Card that is imprinted with your fingerprint or your DNA imprint or other highly personal and private information?

Do you believe that you should be required to produce this ID card on demand -- when you go to the grocery store or cross state lines or pay your taxes or at the whim of some petty government bureaucrat?

This is not science fiction folks -- nor is it a scene out of a futuristic "B-movie" -- the technology exists and if Congress gets its way -- it's going to be a reality.

Unless -- of course -- you join with me to take a stand today and urge the Senate and House Conference Committee to kill the National ID Card provisions from S.2845 and H.R. 10.

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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Show Me Your Papers Please

"We beat the Germans in World War II. We don't want to be a show-us-your-papers kind of country."  Those are the words of author David Kopel.

But perhaps Congressman Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said it best.

"The much-hailed 9/11 Commission report released in July recommends a federal identification card and, worse, a 'larger network of screening points' inside the United States. Does this mean we are to have 'screening points' inside our country where American citizens will be required to 'show their papers' to government officials? It certainly sounds that way!"

Paul goes on to say, "A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and transactions of every American. History shows that governments inevitably use the power to monitor the actions of people in harmful ways. Claims that the government will protect the privacy of Americans when implementing a national identification card ring hollow."

I don't know about you -- but the prospect of being told to produce my papers evokes visions of living in the former Soviet Union and -- even now -- I have a hard time believing our Congress is seriously considering it.

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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What Is Congress Saying?

In case you still don't think National ID Cards are a reality -- Here's what some Members of Congress are saying ...

 

Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) said, "I think people are going to have to recognize that some of their conveniences are going to be gone...  I'm glad to show my identification where I need to go."
 

Rep. George Gekas (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, has told the press that "proposals to mandate national ID cards should not be dismissed out of hand."

 

These are REPUBLICANS  -- the folks who are suppose to take our civil liberties seriously!

 

Ron Paul in criticizing the measure said, "Congress has embraced the 9/11 Commission report uncritically since its release in July. Now Congress is rushing to write each 9/11 Commission recommendation into law before the November election."

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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National ID Cards Have Several Disadvantages

Proponents of the measure say that a National ID Card is essential in the wake of 9-11 and an increased terrorist threat. But that argument is simply a red-herring.

Of the 25 nations that have been the most frequent targets of terrorists attacks, 80 percent of them have a national identification card.

Furthermore, a National ID Card tells law enforcement nothing about a person's intent.  Timothy McVeigh, the D.C. Beltway sniper and a host of other criminals and terrorists would have no problem obtaining a National ID Card.

The program will cost billions of dollars; money that could be spent on tightening border security or beefing up law enforcement.

Identity theft will literally go through the roof.  Many of us have experienced the unfortunate situation of having a credit card or a Social Security number stolen.  Imagine what would happen if someone stole your entire identity.

Is a false panacea worth giving up your civil liberties? 

 

Use the hyperlink below and join with me in sending a personalized Blast Fax message to the thirteen key Senators and the nine key House Members who will be considering this legislation.  Tell them that any National ID Card provisions must be stripped from H.R. 10 and S.2845. Tell them that no amount of security is worth turning the United States into a Police State.

http://www.laptoplobbyist.com/acuid.html

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If the hyperlink does not work, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

 

 

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[misterrob]

The ACLU runs these commercials whining about the Patriot act and they would be pleased as could be if it went away, regardless of how many innocents are killed as a result. They complain about anything that the government does to try and keep us safe. Frankly, we live in a new era where people are going to have to choose between civil liberties and "privacy", a concept not provided for in the constitution that has opened the door to abortion, and safety.

I don't believe that I will be incorrect if I predict that some day a terrorist incident will occur on US soil that will be made possible by the ACLU and other groups opposed to homeland security measures. Who would have thought prior to Sept. 11th that such preventative steps would be necessary?

[R. Scott]

And that is why you make it so it cannot be counterfeited.

Impossible.

[Edit35]

I agree we should have a national ID card, but ONLY for voting.

It should be illegal to use for anything else than to ID a person at the voting booth. And there should be penalties to any law enforcement officer who so much as asks for the VOTER ID card other than at the voting booth.

[R. Scott]

I think with the technology available today we can produce a card that cannot be replicated.

That technology is not yet here – and may never be. Anything “The Government” can come up with the printing industry and college campuses can replicate.
There are very high tech security badges being used – but they are also extremely expensive, and can (with effort) be duplicated.

[steve-b]

ACU, not ACLU. Please try to keep up with the class.

[misterrob]

I don't see much of a diffference in your positions....if the shoe fits, wear it.

[Xenalyte]

Do you believe that you should be compelled to carry a National ID Card that is imprinted with your fingerprint or your DNA imprint or other highly personal and private information?

Yet they don't get upset at all about the government's misuse of Social Security cards.

[Centurion2000]

This law will simply shut down the stupidity that lead to 3,000 Americans getting slaughtered. If you oppose that, feel free to say that it's okay when Americans get killed.

Allowing firearms on the plane would have stopped 9/11 cold.

And I would go for a National ID ... right about they time they pass it as an amemdment specifically stating when, where and how it would be used.

[monday]

"You missed a few purposes in there."

No I didn't. I said "little else" and that is exactly what I meant. 'Insuring domestic tranquility' and 'promoting the general welfare' are so ambiguous as to be meaningless.

Not even you could argue that the Federal government isn't overstepping it's constitutional bounds. It's perfectly obvious to anyone who cares to notice.

What is alarming is that few notice. Everyone is focused on their particular issue. Whether it is terrorism, or illegal immigration, or smoking, or over eating, or whatever. Everyone wants to use the power of government to regulate their private hot button issue.

The result is an over regulated, needy, child like populace, and an overbearing, bumbling, bureaucratic, incredibly wasteful, STATE which crushes individual achievement and expression in red tape and taxes.

I said; "You will have to have it, (National ID) every time you buy a pack of gum, or start your car, or rent a movie, or enter a building."

You said; "I'd sure like to see the citation to the provision of the bill which has all of the above in it.


With cheerleaders like you, and the millions of other mindless amateur regulators in this country, the question is not if it will happen, but when. One step at a time, just like the gun prohibitionists. One step at a time.

[monday]

"There are no fake American passports floating around? The new National ID can’t be faked?"

People who are in favor of this can't see that criminals will always have forged ID's no matter what steps are taken. It is the same blindness which causes gun banners to not see that criminals will always have guns no matter how they regulate and prohibit them.

Just like gun prohibition, it is the honest ordinary citizen who's freedom is restricted by a National ID system, not the criminals or the terrorists. Some people just don't see it.

For some unknown reason they believe that when it comes to their own special issue, the government will suddenly become efficient and responsible and fair. They ignore the miserable record of government failure and waste and injustice of the past two thousand years. *shrug*....What can you say?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I'd sure like to see the citation to the provision of the bill which has all of the above in it.

There is nothing that I know of (except for the much-ignored Constitution) that implies that Congress and the Bureaucracy can't add various regulations and requirements to the National ID later on.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I personally think that if we could just control our borders, a lot of this surveillance apparatus would not be "needed."

[monday]

"I don't believe that I will be incorrect if I predict that some day a terrorist incident will occur on US soil that will be made possible by the ACLU and other groups opposed to homeland security measures."

I have bad news for you. If the US government can't stop hundreds of thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants from entering the US, how are they going to stop a half dozen terrorists?

The amount of freight entering the country is so large that it would cost literally billions of dollars annually to search it all. This isn't even counting packages shipped by UPS, Fed EX, the postal service etc. The administration doesn't even ask for the money to search all this because the cost is prohibitive.

The world is a dangerous place. If you are depending on the government to protect you from everything, you are expecting more than it can deliver. Sorry.

[monday]

You should read this if you think the department of homeland security is making you safer:

http://www.charlotte.creativeloafing.com/2004-09-08/news_citizen.html

[misterrob]

I don't believe that the government can guarantee anything but I do believe that ACLU driven hysteria about Big Brother does make terrorists' jobs easier.

[sheltonmac]

Got mixed feelings on this - in an age where terrorists are getting closer to having nuclear weapons, we may not have a choice.

Someone capable of getting their hands on a nuclear weapon will be stopped by a little plastic card?

Where is the proof that we will be required to show ID at grocery stores or crossing state lines?

Where is the proof that we won't?

... I would like to see some documentation.

And soon Uncle Sam may be asking to see yours.

[sheltonmac]

... we may have to knuckle down to persevere.

Looks like we're out of the "Give me liberty, or give me death" stage and have now entered the "We may have to knuckle down to persevere" stage. What a sad day for America.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"There are no fake American passports floating around? The new National ID can’t be faked?"

My point is it would be easy to fake a passport and a drivers license. But a passport and a national ID would be a bit harder.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"That technology is not yet here – and may never be. Anything “The Government” can come up with the printing industry and college campuses can replicate.
There are very high tech security badges being used – but they are also extremely expensive, and can (with effort) be duplicated."

So you change it every year or two. You also think the CIA are the keystone cops. Am I right?

[sheltonmac]

However without a form of control we open ourselves up to further attacks.

Yeah. If only we required foreigners to have IDs--like visas or passports--we could have prevented 9/11.

I for one, have no trouble carrying a national ID card.

I'm not at all surprised. Tell me, comrade, what would you have done with those who don't comply or who forget their card at home? Lock them up? Shoot them on sight?

I just don't want it coded with information that violates my civil rights.

Yeah, right. It'll be coded with whatever Uncle Sam deems necessary for preserving national security. Why should the government give a rat's patoot about what you think you're entitled to?

I do not think it is important which religion I practice, what my medical records may say or for that matter what I do for a living.

Really? As far as the feds are concerned you could be a Muslim terrorist carrying a deadly, communicable disease who's working for a company that is funneling money to al Qaeda. Anything about you could be considered fair game when we're talking about "national security."