Senate to Pass Expansion of National ID Card Today -- Legislation
Tucked into Supplemental Spending Bill
Infowars.com | March 15, 2005

Just as a shoplifter might sneak one more item into his cart at
checkout, the legislation to expand the National ID Card that has
already passed the House has been tacked onto a Supplemental Spending
Bill that the Senate is almost sure to pass today.

This is a big spending bill that is not part of the budget that is
presented every year to supplement the budget. This year the
supplemental bill contains a lot of money for a lot of things -- and
this year it also contains the language of the National ID Bill that
passed the House earlier this year.

This is a convenient way to smuggle this legislation through the
Senate. as opposed a stand-alone vote in the Senate on the National
ID bill, The sneaky way this legislation has been added into the
supplemental spending bill almost ensures that even the Senators who
are against the National ID will pass the larger bill (which is bad
of itself).

HR 418 , or the Real ID Act (National ID Card legislation disguised
as an immigration bill) passed the House in February 2005.
Infowars.com reported in February:

"On the heels of passing the National ID card in December, the House
has passed legislation radically expanding the scope of the Orwellian
ID law. From Panamerican standardization to DNA databases to
targeting gun owners, it is a nightmare and does nothing about
illegal immigration. On the heels of passing the National ID card in
December, the House has passed legislation radically expanding the
scope of the Orwellian ID law. From Panamerican standardization to
DNA databases to targeting gun owners, it is a nightmare and does
nothing about illegal immigration."

Some important comments on this Orwellian legislation are:

"Very few people seem to see this as we do, as a precursor to
something very bad, a domestic passport, a national ID card to do the
business of life in America, to get a job, to travel. It doesn't
strengthen border control; it doesn't add new agents or anything like
that.¡± -- Jeff Deist, Congressman Ron Paul's Press Secretary

¡°In considering this bill, the U.S. House will vote on whether to
empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's
license ¨C and under what conditions. Since you need a driver's
license to purchase a gun from a dealer, this will give [the
government] the expanded ability to impose even greater forms of gun
control ¨C something which it has long coveted.¡± -- Gun Owners of
America

Read below for links to more information on the National ID and on
how the Police State control grid is tightening its grasp on all
Americans.
RELATED INFORMATION
House votes to make states verify license applicants (National ID)

Immigration bill sparks furor among some House Republicans, gun
owners, and civil libertarians; Quietly breaking ranks

National ID Card A Threat to Gun Owners Privacy

McCain, 9/11 panel want national ID debate

Big Brother wants National ID Cards

Propaganda: Americans Support ID Cards ¡°To Catch Terrorists¡±






House votes to make states verify license applicants (National ID)

AP | February 10, 2005

Hoping to keep drivers licenses out of the hands of terrorists, the
House voted Thursday make states verify that applicants are U.S.
citizens or legal immigrants.

Republicans pushed the measure through on a 261-161 vote despite
protests from governors and state motor vehicle departments that it
would be too costly and would require them to take on the role of
immigration officers.

The bill also would make it easier for judges to deport immigrants
seeking political asylum if they think they might be terrorists.

"Common sense says we should not allow suspected terrorists to be
able to stay inside our borders if they could harm us," said House
Speaker Dennis Hastert.

The measure was rejected by Congress and the White House in December
as part of a bill reorganizing intelligence agencies in response to
flaws found after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks. It was
revived with newly won support from the Bush administration.

"Today there are over 350 valid drivers license designs issued by the
50 states. We all know it's very difficult for security officials at
airports to tell the real ID cards from the counterfeit ones," said
the bill's sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James
Sensenbrenner.

Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said the new features that states would have
to include on drivers licenses would prevent terrorists from using
them as IDs to board planes like the Sept. 11 hijackers did.

Governors, state legislators and motor vehicle departments have all
argued that requiring verification of background information such as
Social Security numbers and whether a person is in the United States
legally would be burdensome.

The National Governors Association and a group representing motor
vehicle department administrators said in a letter to House leaders
that the measure is a "massive unfunded mandate."

Immigration bill sparks furor among some House Republicans, gun
owners, and civil libertarians; Quietly breaking ranks

The Raw Story | February 10, 2005

Controversial new legislation billed as immigration reform has put
Congressional Republicans into disarray over a variety of reasons
ranging from Christian refugees to the National ID card, RAW STORY
has learned.

According to senior House aides, who spoke only on condition of
anonymity, several factions of the Republican Party are up in arms
over the Republican authored H.R. 418 or Real ID Act, scheduled to go
to a floor vote today.

The key players, according the aides, are Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ron
Paul (R-Tex), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), chairman Sensenbrenner, and
a very conservative Republican Congressman with strong ties to
Falwell and Dobson.

Congressman Chris Smith, according to sources, is opposed to the
Asylum Provision of HR 418, which would affect Christians persecuted
in other countries seeking asylum in the United States. Smith did not
return repeated calls for comment.

Asylum Provision

Although Republicans are using terrorism as the motivation for strict
asylum provisions, the current asylum laws in no way applied to the
events of 9/11, since all of the terrorists involved were in the
United States legally and not as refugees.

One of the new provisions of HR 418 would require individuals seeking
refuge in the U.S. from repressive and/or abusive regimes to provide
documented proof of their persecution and/or abuse as well as the
abusing government's motivation.

¡°Can you imagine a Christian living in the Sudan going to ask the
government to provide the U.S. with ¡®motivation' for persecuting
Christians?¡± one aide said. ¡°What do you think would happen to that
person?¡±

How religious refugees will be affected by the asylum provision is a
sore point for Congressman Smith, two sources confirmed. Sources also
note Rep. Diaz-Balart's concerns about Cuban refugees being denied
safe harbor in the U.S.

Barrier Fence Provision

One section of the bill allows the Homeland Security Secretary to
waive all federal, state, and local law for the construction of
¡°barriers,¡± and is viewed by some as in direct opposition to the
Constitution.

Primarily, the Secretary would have discretion to suspend
environmental, eminent domain and labor laws. The provision is
worded, however, in such a way as to not limit construction to the
external border of the country and actually includes roads as
¡°barriers.¡±

Such suspension of labor laws could affect child labor, standards of
compensation and safety, any and all compensation for the loss of
property, adverse environmental affects and any damages resulting
from toxins.

One aide described a real world example.

¡°Imagine an illegal immigrant, a child, working to build roads on
your property while spreading dioxin into the atmosphere,¡± the aide
said.

Sources on both sides of the aisle express great concern over this
particular provision.

One Democratic aide stated that ¡°that moderate Republicans have
privately expressed concern over the possible loss of the Latino
vote, backlash from unions, and the concern that this in no way
strengthens the border, a sentiment shared by Congressman Paul with
regard to the National ID card.¡±

Provisions Affecting Civil Rights

The bill lays out the groundwork for a National ID card/driver's
license program and how it is administered.

The National ID card provision does not follow the recommendations of
the 9/11 Commission and instead turns the DMV worker into an INS
worker.

On the surface, a centralized national database for past criminal
records such as DUIs is not an issue for most Republicans and
Democrats. What is of concern is the wording of the provision which
asks the state to at ¡°minimum¡± provide confirmation of documents of
citizenship based on an assessment by a DMV employee.

The wording is such that it opens the door for the government to
require anything from gun ownership records to health records should
the state demand them.

This provision, Congressional aides say, does not in any way address
the issue of terrorism because the terrorists responsible for 9/11
were in the United States legally and had legal drivers' licenses.
Further, 9/11 terrorists were given passports from the U.S. embassy
in Saudi Arabia.

Republican Congressman Ron Paul is among those vehemently denouncing
the ID card.

¡°Very few people seem to see this as we do, as a precursor to
something very bad, a domestic passport, a national ID card to do the
business of life in America, to get a job, to travel,¡± said Rep.
Paul's press secretary Jeff Deist. ¡°It doesn't strengthen border
control; it doesn't add new agents or anything like that.¡±

¡°I think most Republican members are going to vote for it. I don't
think are there are that many House members [who will vote against
it].¡±

Gun Owners of America agree with this concern.

¡°In considering this bill, the U.S. House will vote on whether to
empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's
license ¨C and under what conditions,¡± the group said in a statement.
¡°Since you need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer,
this will give [the government] the expanded ability to impose even
greater forms of gun control ¨C something which it has long coveted.
This will become even more apparent if an anti-gun Democrat like
Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in 2008.¡±

¡°Ron is very much against this bill,¡± Deist added, echoing concerns
of gun owners. ¡°We wouldn't characterize this as an immigration bill
at all; from our perspective it does nothing about immigration but
rather is a national ID bill. We liken it to gun laws that criminals
ignore but law abiding citizens obey.¡±

Groups across the gamut of social and political persuasions express
concern over the Patriot Act II provision which gives the Secretary
of Homeland Security even more authority. The definition of what is a
terrorist and/or a terrorist organization is very broad and could
include protesters, political groups, and anyone the government
¡°labels¡± as a terrorist.

The law will also apply retroactively to activities that were legal
at the time, but later were labeled ¡°terrorist.¡±

One source gave the following real life example: ¡°Imagine I donate
to a grassroots political party started by a group of average
Americans. My donation is legal and the group's activities are legal.
Let's say 10 years from now this group is run by different people and
those people do something deemed to be ¡°terrorism.¡± I can be labeled
a terrorist because 10 years prior, I had donated to them, even
though it was legal at the time.¡±

Some have stated that the only real reason for this type of law would
be to deter from any political dissent.

The American Civil Liberties Union is incredibly troubled by the
implications of the proposed legislation, deeming this act as an
annulment of the entire Bill of Rights.

Sources say that some of these ¡®immigration' provisions are what
held up the intelligence reform bill which Rep. Sensenbrenner would
not bring to a vote late last year. In an attempt to mollify
Sensenbrenner, a promise was made that

HR 418 would be brought to the floor for a vote early in 2005.

One aide said a floor debate was scheduled between House Democrats
and House Republicans on the full HR 418 proposed legislation for
Thursday, but the Republican House leadership held an unannounced
closed door meeting on Wednesday to ¡°bring¡± the dissenting views
¡°back in line.¡±

Congressman Paul's office, however, says that this is not the case.

¡°I don't think there's much pressure. I think most members support
it,¡± Deist said. ¡°I don't get a sense at all there's an effort
[afoot] to twist people's arms on the Republican side.¡±

National ID Cards Coming Up For A Vote This Week:
Threats to gun owners' privacy are a huge concern

Gun Owners of America | February 9, 2005

The National ID card is back in the news, as Congress is getting set
once again to debate the issue.

You will remember that late last year, Congress passed (and the
President signed) legislation which starts us down the road to a
National ID card. In the name of preventing alien terrorists from
operating in this country, the so-called Intelligence Reform bill
gave federal bureaucrats unprecedented new powers to force changes in
state-issued driver's licenses -- including, possibly, the addition
of computer chip technology that can facilitate the tracking of all
U.S. citizens.

Now, the House will be debating new legislation, H.R. 418, that was
recently introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). In
considering this bill, the U.S. House will vote on whether to empower
the federal government to determine who can get a driver's license --
and under what conditions.

Since you need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer,
this will give BATFE the expanded ability to impose even greater
forms of gun control -- something which it has long coveted. This
will become even more apparent if an anti-gun Democrat like Hillary
Clinton wins the presidency in 2008.

H.R. 418 is, unfortunately, supported by many Republicans who believe
that repealing our liberties will somehow make us "secure." But GOA
joined a large coalition of citizen-activist organizations this week
in opposition to H.R. 418. In a letter to Congress, the coalition
stated:
Standardization of driver's licenses has long been recognized as a
bureaucratic back-door to implementation of a national ID card. With
its required linking of databases and ability of the Secretary of
Homeland Security to require a prescribed format, HR 418 takes us
well along that road. Concerns are further heightened when the bill
fails to even provide lip service to privacy concerns, and proposes
to share all of our data on the driver's license database with Canada
and Mexico.

Realizing government's tendency towards mission creep, no one should
be surprised if this database grows to contain far more information
than that which is relevant to driving. HR 418 requires that the
database shall contain "at a minimum," all information contained on
the driver's license as well as driving history. There is no limit to
what other information may eventually be contained in the database --
something which should definitely concern gun owners.

H.R. 418 is being touted as a way of cleaning up some of the problems
with the law that was enacted last December. But this bill is still
an attack on states' rights. It still takes us down the road to a
National ID card. And it would still do nothing to keep real
terrorists from operating in our country.

ACTION: Please contact your Representative and urge him or her to
oppose H.R. 418. You can use the pre-written message below and send
it as an e-mail by visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers
are also available).

-----Pre-written letter-----

Dear Representative:

H.R. 418 would give the federal government open-ended authority to
determine who may and may not get a driver's license -- and under
what circumstances.

Since I need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer,
BATFE would finally have its long-coveted tool to impose gun control
on targeted groups -- particularly under a liberal anti-gun
administration.

If you believe in the Second Amendment, please vote against this anti-
gun monstrosity.

Sincerely,