03 May 10 Opposition threatens Real ID program

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Committee vote to make licenses optional delayed

By ED VOGEL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.

A legislative vote scheduled Monday on whether to allow the state Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations to make Real ID-compliant driver's licenses optional was delayed until Friday.

But there were indications that the program might be scratched entirely.

Click HERE for full story

19 April 09: Real ID Action Alert!

If you are available on April 19th, we need you!

What:HEARING: Legislative Commission's Subcommittee to Review Regulations

When: Monday, April 19, 2:00pm

Where:
Las Vegas: Grant Sawyer Bldg., 555 E. Washington Ave. Rm 4401
Videoconferencing to: Carson, Legislative Building, Room 3137,
Elko, Chilton Circle Modular Office Conference Room, Great Basin College

It is very important to have as many people at the hearing as possible!

Info Provide by Nevada Families Eagle Forum
186 Ryndon Unit 12, Elko, Nevada 89801, 775-397-6859, Sparks 775-356-0105
Janine Hansen www.nevadafamilies.org
director@nevadafamilies.org
 
This is our last chance to STOP REAL ID
 
There are 4 major problems with REAL ID:
  1. REAL ID is an assault on our liberties and is a defacto national ID card.
  2. REAL ID jeopardizes our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. (See info below from Gun Owners of America)
  3. REAL ID jeopardizes our privacy making us vulnerable to identity theft.
  4. REAL ID is expensive using state & federal tax dollars.  Wait times at the DMV have tripled since the Governor's emergency order implementing REAL ID.
MESSAGE: Please reject DMV's REAL ID Regulations. DMV wait times have tripled since DMV has implemented "emergency" REAL ID regulations. REAL ID is an assault on our liberties and gun rights. It is very costly and 14 other states have prohibited compliance with REAL ID.  It's nothing more than a national ID and invades our privacy.
 
During the 2009 Legislature the Senate passed SB52 REAL ID on the last day of the Session with 12 Senators voting Yes and 9 Senators voting NO. The Assembly deliberately never considered REAL ID, thereby it was defeated. Senators: Carlton, Horsford, Townsend, and Woodhouse voted Yes on SB52 REAL ID during the Legislature. Senator Washington voted NO.   
 
Background Info: Nevada is one of only 3 states that is moving forward with implementation. Fourteen states have laws on their books that prohibit them from complying with REAL ID. Governor Gibbons said the reason he was issuing an "emergency" order for REAL ID was because people will have trouble flying without a REAL ID compliant card. This is clearly not the case as Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano has recently said that no one will be prohibited from flying if they don't have a REAL ID compliant card. Nationally REAL ID is being replaced by PASS ID.
 
The "Final Rule" on REAL ID by the Dept. of Homeland Security authorizes states to issue both compliant and non-compliant driver's licenses. But, our Governor and DMV have denied Nevadans the right to choose a non-REAL ID driver's license like other states have done. Nevadans are now second class citizens with fewer rights than Americans in other states.
 
Gun Owners of America Opposes REAL ID as an Anti-Gun Monstrosity
Gun Owners of America sent out the following alert to its members opposing REAL ID as an anti-gun monstrosity. Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408, http://www.gunowners.org, Wednesday, February 9, 2005:
"REAL ID, H.R. 418, would give the federal government open-ended authority to determine who may and may not get a driver's license -- and under what circumstances.
 
"Since I need a driver's license to purchase a gun from a dealer, BATFE would finally have its long-coveted tool to impose gun control on targeted groups -- particularly under a liberal anti-gun administration. If you believe in the Second Amendment, please vote against this anti-gun monstrosity." http://seclists.org/politech/2005/Feb/0016.html 
 
Protection from Identity Theft:
On page 3 of the DMV's Regulations in Section 11 it states: "Information...must 1) be stored on an electronic system maintained by the Dept. in a manner to prevent unauthorized use of the information and to ensure the security and confidentiality of personally identifiable information.
 
Oh sure! And nobody broke into the Pentagon's computer. On March 7, 2005 computers with personal identifying information were stolen from the Donovan DMV office in Las Vegas. Do you feel safe with the DMV having even more personal information? This is an identity theft and privacy nightmare.
Copy of DMV's REAL ID Regulations as adopted: http://www.dmvnv.com/public_meetings/R111-09_ADOPTED.pdf
 
Federal Government Access to DMV's Records: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-481.html#NRS481Sec063
DMV's Regs Section 11 sub 2) "Not be accessible for use by the Federal Government or any other entity, agency organization or person except as otherwise provided in NRS 481.063." NRS 481.063 Sec. 5 a) states that the DMV may release information for use, "By any governmental entity, including, but not limited to, any court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out its functions, or any person acting on behalf of a federal, state or local governmental agency in carrying out its functions. The personal information may include a photograph from a file or record relating to a driver's license, identification card, or title or registration of a vehicle."
 
Does the NRS.481.063 (Nevada Revised Statutes) prevent the federal government from obtaining DMV records if they are "carrying out its functions"? That's a good question!  
 
REAL ID is a backdoor or defacto national ID card. It requires the creation of a national computer network which will link state driver's license databases, so that they can be accessed by all states and the federal government.
 
REAL ID is Expensive: The bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures has classified REAL ID as "the most egregious example" of an unfunded federal mandate. Our DMV has received "federal grants", which is taxpayer money. This is one of the main reasons the DMV has worked for 5 years to implement REAL ID in Nevada. DMV stated they won't be going back to the Legislature to ask for money, because they know they won't get it. However, since the "emergency" implementation of REAL ID by the Governor, wait times at the DMV have tripled. Who do you think is going to pay for that time-consuming boondoggle?  
 
Background Information on REAL ID:
 
At a hearing of the US Senate Homeland Security Committee on PASS ID, the next generation of REAL ID, Janet Napolitano Secretary of Homeland Security testified that it is unlikely that states will implement REAL ID. 
 
REAL ID does not contain an RFID chip, but Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is looking at options for REAL ID like enhanced drivers licenses, passport cards or the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative as Washington State has adopted, which all contain an RFID chip.   http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/20/napolitano-debates-real-id/
 
REAL ID is a backdoor or defacto national ID card. It requires the creation of a national computer network which will link state driver's license databases, so that they can be accessed by all states and the federal government.
 
REAL ID will store every driver's personal information and photograph in this linked database. The specter of a National Identity card or an internal passport card is antagonistic to American liberty, violates privacy and is windfall for identity thieves.
 
REAL ID provides substantial discretion to expand the scope of REAL ID. What will be required by the federal government in the future?  We have no assurances that at some point we won't need REAL ID to open a bank account or purchase a gun.
 
REAL ID will be required for Nevada residence to fly on a plane or enter a federal building including the U.S. Capitol to visit their Congressmen.  But, states like Montana who have passed laws prohibiting their state from participating in REAL ID have received extensions for their residents who will be able to fly on a plane and enter a federal building without REAL ID. Why should citizens of Nevada be second class citizens?  The Nevada Legislature should refuse to participate in REAL ID and demand an exemption, like other states. 
 
Fourteen states have refused to participate in REAL ID including:  Arizona, South Carolina, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, Washington, Oregon, Missouri, Virginia, www.realnightmare.com
 
Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, as Governor of Arizona signed a state law HB2677 in June of 2008 prohibiting Arizona from participating in REAL ID. "This state shall not participate in the implementation of the REAL ID act of 2005 (P.L. 109-13, Division B; 119 Stat. 302).  The department shall not implement the REAL ID act of 2005 and shall report to the governor and the legislature any attempt by agencies or agents of the United States DEPARTMENT of homeland security to secure the implementation of the REAL ID act of 2005 through the operations of the United States department of homeland security." Will she now demand that Arizona violate its own law prohibiting Arizona's participation in REAL ID?
 
REAL ID will not stop illegal immigration, but it will make Americans and Nevadans who choose not to be subject to REAL ID non persons.
 
REAL ID is an unfunded mandate.  The bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures has classified it as "the most egregious example" of an unfunded federal mandate. The Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford has stated that when all things are considered the Federal Government will pay only 2% of the actual cost of implementing REAL ID leaving the restto the states.
 
More info on REAL ID: http://epic.org/privacy/id-cards/ www.realnightmare.com
If you would like to subscribe to Nevada Families email alerts, send an email to director@nevadafamilies.orgwith subscribe in the subject line.

7 July 09: REAL ID / PASS ID ACT

REAL ID has become the PASS ID ACT and is now in Committee

Real ID has morphed into the PASS ID act ('Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009').REAL ID snuck through congress in May of 2005 and would require all Americans to carry a standardized Federal ID Card with an embedded trackable chip.

View the Full Text of the PASS Act - SB 1261.

States are already working to ensure drivers licenses are secure documents that have document integrity, yet the Federal Government wants to have complete control your state drivers license. This is an unfunded mandate that serves no purpose other than to track American citizens via biometric facial recognition and gps tracking.
This bill serves no function in securing borders, providing a higher level of national security, identifying illegal aliens, preventing identity theft, and even provides up to a 6 year amnesty program for anyone not currently possessing official documentation. In fact, under the PASS Act, there is no requirement to authenticate documents used to obtain a Federal ID.

By enrolling in a global biometric tracking program, the presumption of innocence will be lost.
We are opposed to an unfunded mandate that grows government and takes State ID responsibilities away from the States entirely. This is not a partisan issue, this is an American issue that wastes money, grows government, and infringes on your personal freedoms.

Please contact the following members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and tell them NO on SB 1261, PASS ID Act and NO on Real ID.

  1. We are opposed to Real ID and the PASS Act
  2. We are opposed to being enrolled in a Biometric Identification System
  3. We don't want Social Security Numbers in our DMV databases
  4. No RFID chips in our Driver's Licenses
  5. No federal intervention with the issuance of our State driver's licenses
  6. We are not willing to trade our freedom for security.

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

¿Quiere ponerse en contacto con miembros del Congreso en Español?

Chairman: Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
706 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4041 Voice | (202) 224-9750 Fax

Ranking Member: Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
413 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Main: (202) 224-2523 | Fax: (202) 224-2693

Akaka, Daniel K. - (D - HI)
141 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6361

Bennet, Michael F. - (D - CO)
702 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5852

Burris, Roland W. - (D - IL)
387 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2854

Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE)
513 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2441

Coburn, Tom - (R - OK)
172 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5754

Ensign, John - (R - NV)
119 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6244

Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC)
290 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5972

Landrieu, Mary L. - (D - LA)
328 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5824

Levin, Carl - (D - MI)
269 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6221

McCain, John - (R - AZ)
241 Russell Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2235

McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO)
717 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6154

Pryor, Mark L. - (D - AR)
255 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2353

Tester, Jon - (D - MT)
724 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2644

Voinovich, George V. - (R - OH)
524 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3353