House backs major shift to electronic IDs - 'Real ID Act' passed.

[sinkingfeeling]

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

<snip>

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.

[aquart]

1. The maniacs are on a roll.

[qanda]

2. Oh good Lord have mercy on my soul

Is this all because people don't want illegal aliens in the country? I can only imagine which Republican donors are going to get rich off of this one.

[ewagner]

3. Is there hope

that this will die in the Senate?

[CottonBear]

6. The Senate is our only hope.

God help us all.

[Melodybe]

8. If people like us call our Senators and demand they kill this nonsense

# 202 224 3121

Just call and ask for your Senator, you'll be connected with their office.

[Griffy]

4. papers please... this way to the ID tatoos...

will your religon be on the ID, how about your sexual orientation... perhaps your shopping patterns or how about your medical problems!

This is not more freedom!!

I wont really bother fighting this directly, the problem remains the media and bushco! The monster has a thousand tenticles... strike at the heart!

Expose 9-11 cover-ups and election frauds!

.. you got the guts for the truth!?

[atreides1]

5. So, how is this not like Nazi Germany???

That's right, because they're not rounding up people to put into camps, YET!!!!!!

And yet another unfunded mandate from the Federal Government!!!!!

[Robbien]

7. 261 to 161. the usual culprits. GOPers and DLC/Blue Dog Democrats

Being a Blue Dog Democrat is having the best of both worlds. They get to use Democratic money to get into office by pretending they are Democrats and then once in office get lobby money by voting 100% with the GOP.

[librechik]

9. Another un-funded mandate--and layer of bureaucracy

and attack on our privacy--all at once!

The "small gov't GOP" strikes again!

[qanda]

10. Oh, it will be funded alright

When getting a new license costs $100 and everyone in the state has to apply for a one, even if their current license won't expire for years to come. Just another squeeze on the people who are struggling to survive in Bush's economy.

[wtbymark]

11. Papers Please!!!!!!!!

"Let me see your papers! Oh, your papers are not in order, come with me! Heil Hitler!"

ya know, pretty soon most people will not be allowed to leave the country, you will have absolutely no privacy, you will have no legal recourse against any agent of the government, and if you publicly dissent you'll end up part of the Rex84 'roundup'.

Our founding fathers and my ancestors are puking in their graves.

[Zodiak]

12. OK....you haven't heard?

In the Senate, the REALID Act is tagged onto a must-pass Iraq emergency appropriation. It will pass with little or no debate.

And you will get your RFID chip that transmits your personal biometric information to any scanner withn 30 feet, whether owned by our government, our employers, or identity thieves makes no difference. You will not be allowed to travel within the US or do many municipal functions if you do not have this ID. Nasty stuff and being passed right under American's noses in the name of fighting terrorism (as any good fascist policy should be).

Quote:

A recent vote in Congress endorsing standardized, electronically readable driver's licenses has raised fears about whether the proposal would usher in what amounts to a national ID card.

In a vote that largely divided along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a Republican-backed measure that would compel states to design their driver's licenses by 2008 to comply with federal antiterrorist standards. Federal employees would reject licenses or identity cards that don't comply, which could curb Americans' access to everything from airplanes to national parks and some courthouses.

The congressional maneuvering takes place as governments are growing more interested in implanting technology in ID cards to make them smarter and more secure. The U.S. State Department soon will begin issuing passports with radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips embedded in them, and Virginia may become the first state to glue RFID tags into all its driver's licenses.

"Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary," Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, one of the eight Republicans to object to the measure, said during the floor debate this week. "However, any state that opts out will automatically make nonpersons out of its citizens. They will not be able to fly or to take a train."

Paul warned that the legislation, called the Real ID Act, gives unfettered authority to the Department of Homeland Security to design state ID cards and driver's licenses. Among the possibilities: biometric information such as retinal scans, fingerprints, DNA data and RFID tracking technology.

http://news.com.com/National+ID+cards+on+the+way/2100-1028_3-5573414.html

Passing controversial Bills that severely diminish American's civil rights is the MO for these fascists.

http://www.healthactioncenter.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25281

Contact your senator (corporate whore, whatever) and tell them you will not submit to this nor will you tolerate this stealth method of curbing civil rights...or not...your choice.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17853#3

[Skinner]

13. The author of this thread just noticed that this is from February 10, 2005

Locking.