The truth is non-partisan

The Senate version of the 9/11 legislation bill S. 2845 passed on October 6 by an overwhelming 96-2 vote. The House version passed two days later with a vote of 282 to 134. S. 2845 provides that the U.S. Secretaries of Transportation and Homeland Security establish “standards for driver's licenses or personal identification cards.” Each state would be required to certify that it is in compliance with these mandates. The House bill, H.R. 10, contains similar requirements, also requiring the linking of State DMV databases into a national database. In addition, both the Senate and House bills call for national identification documents employing biometric technology, such as fingerprints and iris scans. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) opposes the measure, warning: “Nationalizing standards for drivers’ licenses and birth certificates, and linking them together via a national database, creates a national ID system pure and simple. Proponents of the national ID understand that the public remains wary of the scheme, so they attempt to claim they’re merely creating new standards for existing state IDs. Nonsense! This legislation imposes federal standards in a federal bill, and it creates a federal ID regardless of whether the ID itself is still stamped with the name of your state. It’s just a matter of time until those who refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied the ability to drive or board an airplane. Domestic travel restrictions are the hallmark of authoritarian states, not free republics.”

William F. Jasper. (2004, October 22).9/11 Legislation: Making Matters Worse. The New American. Retrieved October 26, 2004 from http://www.jbs.org/visitor/congress/911legislation.htm

// posted by John Fisher @ 8:20 PM