[Infowarrior] - OpEd - REAL ID: Precursor to International ID?

[Richard Forno]

REAL ID: CONNECTING THE DOTS TO AN INTERNATIONAL ID


By Representative Sam E. Rohrer

August 24, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

Sam Rohrer is a Representative for the state of Pennsylvania and a  
member of the American Policy Center Advisory Board.

History offers many examples of societies which have sought to  
increase security by sacrificing freedom. America itself provides many  
pertinent instances. However, our founding fathers have not left us  
without wisdom on this issue. Ben Franklin has famously stated,  
"People willing to trade freedom for temporary security deserve  
neither and will lose both." REAL ID undoubtedly exemplifies a  
scenario in which a difficult tension exists between freedom and  
security. By commandeering every state's driver's license issuing  
process, REAL ID threatens the results warned by Franklin - loss of  
both freedom and security. It has become the biometric enrollment  
phase of a plan to implement a terribly invasive tracking system,  
largely without public knowledge or approval. REAL ID is merely the  
current face of a far larger, international government and private  
economic effort to collect, store, and distribute the sensitive  
biometric data of citizens to use for the twin purposes of government  
tracking and economic control. At issue are much more than  
standardized or non-duplicative driver's licenses. This effort extends  
worldwide, threatening every person alive today. Although very  
legitimate security concerns exist in this age of terrorism, this Act  
extends far beyond terrorism prevention or protection of the innocent.  
Keeping that broad picture in mind, let us move to some background  
behind the face of REAL ID implementation in America.

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