Another Nail In The Coffin For RealID
It looks like the Show-Me State is getting ready to join the growing coalition of states rejecting the RealID idea:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House overwhelmingly voted Thursday to refuse to follow a federal law setting national standards for driver’s licenses.
The federal Real ID Act passed in 2005 after officials learned that some of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists had obtained legitimate driver’s licenses. The law will link state records to a national database and set standard state licensing rules.
Supporters say the standards are needed to prevent terrorists and illegal immigrants from getting fake identification cards.
Rep. Jim Guest said the federal law is an invasion of privacy and could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars to comply. He worries that a provision requiring licenses to contain ‘‘common machine readable technology’’ could result in a Big Brother kind of system with the government able to track a person’s every move through a computer chip.
‘‘We must not lose what this nation was founded upon,’’ said Guest, R-King City. ‘‘The Real ID Act is a direct frontal assault on our freedoms.’’
I’m not sure that any opponent of RealID has put the issue as succintly and simply as Representative Guest did in that quote. All one needs to do is look at what’s going on in Great Britain as Brad reported earlier today to see what the future will be like with a National ID card.
It’s time to stand up and say no.
