American privacy and the War on Terror
Jason Hahn
Americans saw their opportunity to speak out against or for the Real ID Act on Tuesday, when the deadline for public comment on the legislation ended. The act has been the object of controversy and major concern for many citizens who are raising personal privacy concerns. A handful of state governments are also voicing their dissent to the act, which would place huge financial burdens upon each participating state.
The Real ID Act was tacked onto a 2005 bill titled “Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005.” The emergency bill was primarily meant to approve $82 billion for the war in Iraq and Asian tsunami financial aid, and was signed by President Bush on May 11, 2005. The Republican-driven House attached the Real ID Act to this bill, which landed on the president’s desk without a Senate debate.The act was meant to prevent terrorism by creating stricter and uniform standards for states to follow concerning state-issued IDs. It calls for states to revamp their state-issued drivers licenses and non-drivers identification cards in order to implement uniform security features across all states.
Right off the bat there is an obvious politically-charged nature to this debate. The current Congress is composed of a Democratic majority, which sets the stage for anger concerning how the bill was passed by the Republican-run Congress back in 2005.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) has been the driving force behind recent opposition to the Real ID Act.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=360865&rel_no=1&back_url=