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Senate attempts to revive national ID cards
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AP Photo/Denis Poroy
Since the states have vocally rejected the Real ID Act of 2005, it’s clear that Americans aren’t interested in a national ID card. The idea of a snooping government that keeps tabs on its citizens with legally mandated identification rightly concerns most people. Given this overwhelming consensus, the government should drop the issue. The people don’t want it.
Unfortunately, it seems that only in theory does government act according to the will of the people. A handful of Senators—(Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Thomas Carper (D-DE)—on Monday introduced the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification" Act of 2009, or the PASS ID Act. The new bill, say its proponents, will “better protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personally identifiable information collected by States when issuing driver's licenses and identification documents.”
Though the new bill doesn’t contain some of the more egregious privacy violations that made the Real ID Act so objectionable, the PASS ID Act is still nearly identical to its predecessor and thus presents a potential threat to privacy rights.
Primarily, the new proposal has the exact same purpose as the REAL ID Act: To establish a “nationally uniform identity system.” And in order to do so, the federal government will attempt to make not carrying a new identification card very inconvenient. Cato Institute Scholar Jim Harper comments: “Neither REAL ID nor PASS ID directly mandate carrying a card […] But both seek to take advantage of the state driver licensing system, and they do that for a reason: Carrying a driver’s license is a practical requirement in most parts of the country, where the automobile reigns supreme as the mode of travel.”
But despite the inconvenience, many Americans will likely choose to protect their privacy and forgo the convenience of a national ID card, as long as that’s an option. For those incorrigible individualists the federal government is prepared to make traveling an unpleasant experience. Jim Harper further explains that “this means […] that people not showing ID have to answer questions about themselves for a TSA background check - a background check that has included political party affiliation. In other words, you either participate in the national ID system run by states, or you participate in the cardless national ID system that the TSA runs. (The TSA was storing information about who traveled without ID until it got caught.) The rules are no different between REAL ID and the REAL ID revival bill, PASS ID. You don’t have to carry a national ID to get through the airport, but woe to the person who tries to exercise that freedom.”
The bigger issue, however, is that there is no reason to push through a new national ID system. Before these several Senators introduced this new ID legislation, the REAL ID Act had all but died. No state was in compliance with the 2005 bill, many states openly rejected it, and nobody was willing to pay for it.
Furthermore, as the ACLU has argued, any new ID laws could easily become the foundation for a comprehensive national identification system. Once Americans are carrying new IDs it’s just a small step to making them essential to being a part of society. In the name of fighting terrorism any activity could be restricted or even prohibited with identification. Some may be skeptical of such slippery slope arguments, but a brief look at the growth of the income tax over the years should cure any doubts about the malevolence of politicians.
National indentification systems are costly, unnecessary, and potentially dangerous; and Americans should remain critical of such schemes and make sure their representatives in Congress share their views come election season.
