(Originally appeared in the Telluride Daily Planet on 02/21/2005)
Freedom Restricted
Dear Editor,
On Feb 10, 2005, the House of Representatives passed HR. 418, Real ID Act by a vote of 261 to 161. Our representative, John T. Salazar (D-Colo. 3rd) voted in favor of the legislation.
On first thought, a mandatory national ID standard may not seem like a much further intrusion on our privacy by the federal government than we already suffer. On further evaluation, however,the bill that the House and Mr. Salazar have just passed and are sending to the Senate to be made law, further restricts our freedoms in the name of security, expressively securing our borders.
HR 418 was promoted as legislation that will stem the flow of illegal aliens, thus protecting us from those meaning to terrorize America. In this attempt, the legislation mandates that states include certain minimum identification standards on driver's licenses and contains no check on the federal government's power to impose additional standards. Citizens of any state that chooses to opt out of these costly and intrusive requirements will be unable to have dealings with the federal government and will be unable to fly or travel by train commercially.
It is reasonable to predict that these ID cards will be used to track American citizens when traveling overseas and within the U.S. and many suspect that any number of mandatory checkpoints will be created around the country.
This legislation also creates a federal database of highly personal information on American citizens to be shared with Canada and Mexico. While most of us have a serious sense that our federal government has the ability to gather any information it wishes on any of us, this legislation makes the gathering of a great deal of this information legal and common, with no specific restrictions.
HR 418 also authorizes the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to unilaterally expand the information included in driver's licenses. Some have postulated the possibility of required information including such biometric information as retina scans and DNA information and even radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology. One carrying a driver's license with RFID can be tracked and located easily.
Other opponents of the Real ID Act raise concern over the "broad definition of terrorism" included in the bill, that they worry can include constitutionally protected special-interest groups. The organizations singled out would depend on who holds the government power at a given time.
Proponents of HR 418 say we must "make sacrifices" like this to control our borders and fight illegal immigration. The San Miguel County Libertarian Party denounces this sacrifice of our liberties for a false security. A foreign policy of nonintervention, peace, and free trade would serve and protect us and the world significantly better than an authoritarian police state. We prefer our federal protective agencies utilized its resources to capture and restrain violent criminals rather than punishing law-abiding citizens.
Please do not view our statement as overzealous, anti-government paranoia, but rather responsible research and reporting of potentially damaging and unjust federal government action. We aim to encourage our community to participate in our constitutional republic and shun political apathy. Please contact your senators and help prevent this legislation from being enacted.
Sincerely,
The San Miguel County Libertarian Party