Libertarian Vegan

Lawmakers returning to work today in Virginia will have two pieces of legislation to consider which call for the state to ignore complying with the federal Real ID Act.  Similar bills were considered last year but went nowhere.

Delegate Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) is a sponsor of the bill - “Basically, this statute that I put in is one to let the feds know that, one, the way you’re going about this we have problems with, and two, if you intend to enforce this, we intend to challenge it,” he declared.

The Real ID Act, which has garnished little attention by the mainstream media, requires states to reissue drivers licenses to meet federal standards, complete with biometic data, such as iris scans and fingerprints, encoded in it.  While the Department of Homeland Security has pushed it as a way to prevent terrorism and identity theft, critics have railed against it as a defacto national ID, raising numerous privacy concerns.

Like so many questionable acts, Real ID was born out of the chaos following September 11.  Since it was enacted in 2005, at least 42 states have considered anti-Real ID legislation, with either half of those passing bills either prohibiting the state from participating or pressing Congress to amend/repeal the act.

Spokeswoman for Dept. of Homeland Security Laura Keehner issued a vague threat to those who won’t comply - “The bottom line is that citizens of states who do not move forward with the Real ID mandate from Congress will see real consequences.”  Not to be overly dramatic, but it conjures up images of old WW II movies where Nazis would demand to see your papers and if you couldn’t produce them…well…they saw real consequences as well.

Of great concern is the consistent attempts by the federal government to create huge databases compiling information on their citizens.  The most recent being:

* TIA - Initially called “Total Information Awareness” but later changed to “Terrorist Information Awareness” over public outcry because of privacy concerns.  Eventually it was defunded in 2003.

* MATRIX - “Multi-state Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange,” a federally funded data mining operation, its funding was cut by Congress in 2005 over privacy and surveillance concerns.

Although unlikely, there is a possibility that changes could come to Real ID - President Elect Obama nominated AZ Governor Janet Napolitno to head Homeland Security.  Last June she signed legislation rejecting Real ID for her state because of the cost to the state.

Sources: Daily Press - Va. legislation would reject Real ID January 2, 2009

Infowars - Virginia is latest state set to defy Real ID scheme January 14, 2009

State Legislation Rejecting REAL ID (19 total)

• Alaska, SB 202 (pdf) (html) (adopted April 11, 2008)
• South Dakota, SCR 7 (pdf) (html) (passed February 25, 2008)
• Tennessee, SJR 0248 (pdf) (html) (enrolled June 14, 2007)
• South Carolina, S 449 (pdf) (html) (enrolled June 5, 2007)
• Nebraska, (pdf) (html) (adopted May 30, 2007)
• New Hampshire, HB 685 (pdf) (html) (adopted May 24, 2007)
• Oklahoma, SB 464 (pdf) (Word) (approved May 23, 2007)
• Illinois, HJR 0027 (pdf) (html) (adopted May 22, 2007)
• Missouri, HCR 20 (pdf) (html) (adopted May 17, 2007)
• Nevada, AJR 6 (pdf) (html) (enrolled May 14, 2007)
• Colorado, HJR 1047 (pdf) (html) (signed May 14, 2007)
• Georgia, SB 5 (pdf) (html) (signed May 11, 2007)
• Hawaii, SCJ 31 (pdf) (html) (adopted April 25, 2007)
• North Dakota, SCR 4040 (pdf) (html) (signed April 20, 2007)
• Washington (pdf) (html) (signed April 18, 2007)
• Montana, HB 287 (pdf) (html) (signed April 17, 2007)
• Arkansas, SCR 22 (pdf) (signed March 28, 2007)
• Idaho, HJM 3 (pdf) (html) (signed March 12, 2007); Idaho, HB 606 (pdf) (html) (signed April 9, 2008)
• Maine, SP 113 (pdf) (html) (adopted January 25, 2007) - Source: Electronic Privacy Information Center

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