HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, June 24, 1999
1999 Ron Paul 68:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce
the Privacy Protection Act, which repeals
those sections of the Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
authorizing the establishment of federal standards
for birth certificates and drivers’ licenses.
This obscure provision, which was part of a
major piece of legislation passed at the end of
the 104th Congress, represents a major power
grab by the federal government and a threat
to the liberties of every American, for it would
transform state drivers’ licenses into national
ID cards.
1999 Ron Paul 68:2 If this scheme is not stopped, no American
will be able to get a job; open a bank account;
apply for Social Security or Medicare; exercise
their Second Amendments rights; or even take
an airplane flight unless they can produce a
state drivers’ license, or its equivalent, that
conforms to federal specifications. Under the
1996 Kennedy-Kassebaum health care reform
law, Americans may even be forced to present
a federally-approved drivers’ license before
consulting their physicians for medical treatment!
1999 Ron Paul 68:3 Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has
no constitutional authority to require Americans
to present any form of identification before
engaging in any private transaction such
as opening a bank account, seeing a doctor,
or seeking employment. Any uniform, national
system of identification would allow the federal
government to inappropriately monitor the
movements and transactions of every citizen.
History shows that when government gains
the power to monitor the actions of the people,
it eventually uses that power to impose totalitarian
controls on the populace.
1999 Ron Paul 68:4 Any member who is reluctant to support this
legislation should consider the reaction of the
American people when they discover that they
must produce a federally-approved ID in order
to get a job or open a bank account. Already
many offices are being flooded with complaints
about the movement toward a national
ID card. If this scheme is not halted, Congress
and the entire political establishment could
drown in the backlash from the American people.
In fact, I am holding in my hand a letter
from almost all citizens’ groups from across
the political spectrum, representing thousands
of Americans, opposing the plans to implement
a national ID.
1999 Ron Paul 68:5 Although the Transportation Appropriations
bill restricts the Department of Transportation
from implementing a final rule regarding this
provision, the fact is that unless the House
acts this year to repeal the provision, states
will begin implementing the law so as to be in
compliance with the mandate. Therefore, Congress
must repeal Section 656 in order to
comply with the Constitution and the wishes of
the vast majority of the American people who
do not want to be forced to carry a national ID
card.
1999 Ron Paul 68:6 National ID cards are a trademark of totalitarianism
and are thus incompatible with a
free society. In order to preserve some semblance
of American liberty and republican government
I am proud to introduce the Privacy
Protection Act. I urge my colleagues to stand
up for the rights of American people by cosponsoring
the Freedom and Privacy Restoration
Act.
1999 Ron Paul 68:7
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES
[NCSL]; AND AMERICAN
CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION [ACLU]; ELECTRONIC
PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER
[EPIC]; NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA
RAZA [NCLR]; EAGLE FORUM; ELECTRONIC
FRONTIER FOUNDATION; FREE
CONGRESS FOUNDATION/COALITION
FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTIES; AND
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM
We represent a broad-based coalition of
state legislators, county officials, public policy
groups, civil libertarians, privacy experts,
and consumer groups from across the
political spectrum. We urge the Congress to
repeal Section 656 of the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act
of 1996 that requires states to collect, verify
and display social security numbers on state-issued
driver’s licenses and conform with
federally-mandated uniform features for
driver’s license. The law preempts state authority
over the issuance of the state driver’s
licenses, violates the Unfunded Mandate
Reform Act of 1994 (UMRA) and poses a
threat to the privacy of citizens. Opposition
to the law and the preliminary regulation
issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) has been overwhelmingly
evidence by the more than 2,000
comments submitted by individuals, groups,
state legislators, and state agencies to
NHTSA.
1999 Ron Paul 68:8
THE LAW IS COUNTER-DEVOLUTIONARY, PREEMPTIVE
AND VIOLATES THE UNFUNDED MANDATE
REFORM ACT
1999 Ron Paul 68:9
The law and the proposed regulation run
counter to devolution. The law preempts the
traditional state function of issuing driver’s
licenses and places it in the hands of officials
at NHTSA while imposing tremendous costs
on the states that have been vastly underestimated
in the Preliminary Regulatory
Evaluation. The actual cost of compliance
with the law and the regulation far exceeds
the $100 million threshold established by
UMRA. In addition, the law and proposed
regulation require states to conform their
drivers’ licenses and other identity documents
to a detailed federal standard. Proposals
for a national ID have been consistently
rejected in the United States as an infringement
of personal liberty.
1999 Ron Paul 68:11 The law raises a number of privacy concerns
relating to the expanded use and dissemination
of the Social Security Number
(SSN), the creation of a national ID cared,
and the violation of federal rules of privacy.
The law and proposed rule require that each
license contain either in visual or electronic
form the individual’s SSN unless the state
goes through burdensome and invasive procedures
to check each individuals’s identify
with the Social Security Administration.
This will greatly expand the dissemination
and misuse of the SSN at a time that Congress;
the states, and the public are actively
working to limit its dissemination over concerns
of fraud and privacy. Many states are
taking measures to reduce the use of SSNs
as the driver’s identify number. Only a few
states currently require the SSN to be used
as an identifier on their driver’s licenses.
1999 Ron Paul 68:12 While the impact of Section 656 may not
been fully comprehended in 1996, we urge the
Congress now to act swiftly to repeal this
provision of law that has been challenged by
many diverse groups. If you or your staff
have any further questions, please contact
Dawn Levy of the National Conference of
State Legislatures at (202) 6248687.
Note:
1999 Ron Paul 68:2
federally-approved probably should be unhyphenated: federally approved.
1999 Ron Paul 68:4
federally-approved probably should be unhyphenated: federally approved.
1999 Ron Paul 68:8
federally-mandated probably should be unhyphenated: federally mandated.
1999 Ron Paul 68:11
the creation of a national ID cared probably should be
the creation of a national ID card.
