National Security is Greater Concern

NATIONAL SECURITY IS GREATER CONCERN
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher

In the Jan. 2 Journal Sentinel, Darlene Mendez voiced her concerns regarding passage of state legislation - Senate Bill 234 and Assembly Bill 69 - as they pertain to tightening identification requirements for obtaining driver's licenses or state ID cards in Wisconsin ("Driver's license legislation harmful").

Most people are aware that House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) was instrumental in getting passed into federal law the Real ID Act.

The law mandates uniform standards nationwide for identification, such as driver's licenses or state-issued ID cards in order to do such tasks as board a commercial airliner or enter a federal building other than a post office and certain other buildings that could be high-profile targets. Once again, we see the race card being played.

In an online series in The American Partisan in November, these issues - both U.S. citizenship and proof of Wisconsin residency - were addressed as it pertains to the rampant voting discrepancies we have in Wisconsin.

It is my belief the Real ID Act makes considerable strides to solving the national security issues against another possible terrorist attack as well as helps address and remedy the voting irregularities that were not so much common but prevalent in some Milwaukee voting districts in the 2004 presidential election.

Simply put, race is not the issue here. I have nothing against people from other lands, be it Canada, Mexico, Guatemala or any other country, seeking to make America their home. All America asks is that you do it legally - that you come in through an authorized port of entry - like others somewhere in our family line did once upon a time.

For 10 years, I lived outside Toronto. My status was described as "landed immigrant" or "permanent resident."

I entered Canada legally, applied for residency through its system, paid the necessary fees and took the required physical. Following the processing and background check, I was given permanent resident status and allowed to stay in the country permanently, which I did until moving back to the United States in 2003.

Many people come to this country annually - legally - thus making null and void the excuses of those who enter illegally. Their illegal entry not only constitutes a federal crime but also places lives at risk - not only others who seek to help them but also their own.

The need for tightening of this driver's licensing law will not inconvenience anyone who's purposely staying below the radar already; many illegals are intentionally keeping not so much a low profile already as they are an invisible one.

And as to black males in Wisconsin ages 16 to 50, the numbers of them not holding a driver's license runs as high as 83%, thus making the identification issue one that cuts across multiple racial and ethnic lines.

For both groups, this is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions and only highlights the failure of their community leaders to help lift them up and place them on par with their fellow Wisconsinites.

We live in a land where all men and women are created equal, not only in the eyes of God but also in the eyes of their fellow men.

This is hard to do when we have self-appointed civil rights leaders and other agitators in the mix, such as Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee, who are more interested in advancing their own agendas at the expense of the very people they are supposed to be representing and assisting.

The need for Wisconsin and the other states - most of which have already complied - to be on the same page as it pertains to their driver's licenses meeting uniform standards for security - especially in areas of both verifiable residency and U.S. citizenship - can indeed reduce the possibility of another major terrorist attack on our shores.

For if that does happen, it will set the stage for draconian security measures on a scale that will make even the most ardent civil libertarians play along.

Is that the legacy of America we want to leave for our children and grandchildren? Is that the standard of American "freedom" we want to leave for our children and grandchildren?

A veteran writer, Timothy Rollins brings a wealth of political experience dating back more than 30 years, and military experience going back more than 25. He is a freelance writer and policy analyst living here in Milwaukee who has been featured on both television and radio. He has appeared both in online publications as well as in print newspapers such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, USA TODAY, the Deseret News in Salt Lake City and the Daily Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He can be reached by e-mail at rollins@american-partisan.com. ***

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