House backs major shift to electronic IDs

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[NVIC] House Votes For Electronic ID

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 07:52:03 -0500

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BL Fisher Note: Vaccination status will eventually be part of the

medical

data stored on the electronic national ID card, which will be linked to

obtaining a driver's license. Without the card or proof of receipt of

federally recommended vaccines listed on the card, a citizen will not

be

able to function in US society, including being able to get a passport,

health insurance, enter a hospital or ride on a train or airplane.

Those who

are genetically vulnerable to reacting to vaccines, will have to choose

between risking vaccine injury or death and being able to drive or be

treated in a hospital emergency room.

 

http://news.com.com/House+approves+electronic+ID+cards/2100-1028_3-5571898.h

tml?part=rss

CNET News.com

 

House backs major shift to electronic IDs

Published: February 10, 2005, 5:46 PM PST

By Declan McCullagh

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

 

 

The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a sweeping set

of

rules aimed at forcing states to issue all adults federally approved

electronic ID cards, including driver's licenses.

 

Under the rules, federal employees would reject licenses or identity

cards

that don't comply, which could curb Americans' access to airplanes,

trains,

national parks, federal courthouses and other areas controlled by the

federal government. The bill was approved by a 261-161 vote.

 

The measure, called the Real ID Act, says that driver's licenses and

other

ID cards must include a digital photograph, anticounterfeiting features

and

undefined " machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data

elements "

that could include a magnetic strip or RFID tag. The Department of

Homeland

Security would be charged with drafting the details of the regulation.

 

 

Republican politicians argued that the new rules were necessary to

thwart

terrorists, saying that four of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers possessed

valid state-issued driver's licenses. " When I get on an airplane and

someone shows ID, I'd like to be sure they are who they say they are, "

said

Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, during a floor debate that

started

Wednesday.

 

States would be required to demand proof of the person's Social

Security

number and confirm that number with the Social Security Administration.

They would also have to scan in documents showing the person's date of

birth and immigration status, and create a massive store " so that the

(scanned) images can be retained in electronic storage in a

transferable

format " permanently.

 

Another portion of the bill says that states would be required to link

their DMV databases if they wished to receive federal funds. Among the

information that must be shared: All data fields printed on drivers'

licenses and identification cards, and complete drivers' histories,

including motor vehicle violations, suspensions and points on licenses.

 

The Bush administration threw its weight behind the Real ID Act, which

has

been derided by some conservative and civil liberties groups as

tantamount

to a national ID card. The White House said in a statement this week

that

it " strongly supports House passage " of the bill.

 

Thursday's vote mostly fell along party lines. About 95 percent of the

House Republicans voted for the bill, which had been prepared by the

judiciary committee chairman, F. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin

Republican. More than three-fourths of the House Democrats opposed it.

 

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat from Washington, D.C., charged

that

Republicans were becoming hypocrites by trampling on states' rights. " I

thought the other side of the aisle extols federalism at all times, "

Norton

said. " Yes, even in hard times, even when you're dealing with

terrorism. So

what's happening now? Why are those who speak up for states whenever it

strikes their fancy doing this now? "

 

 

Civil libertarians and firearm rights groups condemned the bill before

the

vote. The American Civil Liberties Union likened the new rules to a " de

facto national ID card, " saying that the measure would force " states to

deny driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants " and make DMV

employees

act as agents of the federal immigration service.

 

Because an ID is required to purchase a firearm from a dealer, Gun

Owners

of America said the bill amounts to a " bureaucratic back door to

implementation of a national ID card. " The group warned that it would

" empower the federal government to determine who can get a driver's

license--and under what conditions. "

 

 

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