The REAL ID Act is a law passed by Congress in 2005. It
makes the States change the way they issue ID cards and driver licenses. It
imposes numerous requirements on the states, and more importantly the citizens
of those states. Here in Florida, what this means is when you go to renew your
driver license or change your name (such as due to divorce, marriage, etc.) you
have to provide a laundry list of documents. These include but are not limited
to certified copies of your birth certificate or passport, your Social Security
card, proof of address such as your power/utility bill, your mortgage coupon
book, etc. All of the details have been laid out by the State of Florida on a
website called Gather Go Get. Once you have provided
this information, which is seized in violation of the 4th Amendment,
it is then scanned into a database and retained by the state. By Federal law
(the REAL ID Act), this information is to be shared with other states.
As all of us know, we were attacked on 9/11/01 by 19
Middle Eastern males. Our government formed a commission and they issued
numerous reports. Instead of addressing the failure of federal border and
consular staff that failed to follow their own rules, as was pointed out in a
9/11 Commission report of terrorist travel, Congress instead acted upon the
recommendation of the federal government establishing state standards for
driver licenses; a violation of the 10th Amendment. As a standalone
bill, REAL ID as HR 418 of 2005 could not be enacted. A tried and true
political trick was then used by hiding it in a bill that had to be enacted, a
defense and Tsunami relief, HR 1268 of 2005. It passed with very few opponents.
President GW Bush in his bill signing statement of May 11, 2005 never mentioned
REAL ID. Contrast this with a similar idea in the 1980's. Then-President Ronald
Reagan stated “That's the mark of the beast.”
Adoption
in Florida
The Florida Legislature addressed the REAL ID Act in 2008.
Senate Bill 1992, introduced by Republican Senator Carey Baker on February 14,
2008, made changes to much of the existing driver license law. The bill passed
the Senate for the first time on April 23, 2008 with a vote of 37 yeas, 2 nays,
and 1 not voting. The bill passed the House on April 30, 2008 with a vote of
112 yeas, 2 nays, and 6 not voting. The amended bill passed the Senate for the
second time on May 1, 2008 38-0 with two not voting. The bill was approved by
Governor Charlie Crist on June 17, 2008.
In the “Bill analysis and fiscal impact statement”
produced by the professional staff of the Criminal Justice Committee, the basis
for the changes to the driver license sections of the law is shown to be the
Federal REAL ID Act. While some REAL ID supporters claim it is voluntary, it
was not viewed as such in Florida.
Costly,
ineffective, and unconstitutional
From 2008-10, REAL ID in Florida cost the taxpayers over
$10 million. Of this about $7 million was received in so-called “federal money”
(which are of course our own tax dollars sent to DC). To date, REAL ID has not
prevented one terror plot or identified one illegal alien. While immigration
was not a part of the 9/11 Commission recommendation, it is often used by REAL
ID supporters. The law contains four “official purposes” and you'll only hear
about three of them in the media: getting on planes; going into nuclear plants;
and going into federal buildings -the latter of which violates the 1st
Amendment by abridging our right to redress our grievances with our government.
The 4th official purpose is anything as determined by the unelected
DHS secretary. The law as passed violates the 1st, 4th,
and 10th Amendments, but so far no one has had enough money in
Florida to file suit against it.
Legislative
solution
My initial aim was to file suit and overturn the law, but
I could not raise enough money to do so. Many of us have seen this law for what
it is: Unconstitutional, costly, ineffective, and an invasion of our privacy.
First as an individual and later via working with the Liberty First Network (www.libertyfirstfl.org), I have asked
our legislators to help us with repealing the law, but my requests have fallen
on deaf ears. I’ve prepared proposed legislation to repeal REAL ID in Florida
as well as an “opt-out” option and while some bills were filed, none have had a
floor vote...
What you
can do
We need financial support at the Liberty First Network to
lobby against this and other liberty-killing laws. We need as many Floridians
as possible to call upon their elected state officials to support our bills.
Also consider joining our Facebook group, which is Floridians Against REAL ID.
As with any other issue, if enough of us care to get involved, we can make
something happen regardless of who is in elected office.
Paul Henry
Founder, Floridians Against REAL ID
