Vienna, Virginia http://www.909shot.com
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#9119
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“Protecting the health and informed consent rights of
children since 1982.”
February 11, 2002
President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
We, representing a broad and diverse coalition of national
organizations, urge the Administration to oppose the attempts of state motor
vehicle officials to create a national identification system (national ID) through
the bureaucratic back door of state drivers’ licenses.
One reaction to the terrible events of September 11 was
renewed discussion about instituting a national ID card as a counter-terrorism
measure. The creation of a national ID
card or system is a misplaced, superficial “quick fix” to the terrorist
threat. A national ID system would not
effectively deter terrorists and, instead, would pose serious threats to the
rights of freedom and equality of everyone in the United States.
Although national ID proposals received fierce debate in
the fall, the Administration and Congress wisely rejected them. Direct passage of a national ID card,
however, is only one possible path to such a system. A national ID would more likely evolve bureaucratically through
existing forms of ID, such as state drivers’ licenses.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
(AAMVA) is urging the federal government to fund and authorize a proposal to
standardize state drivers’ licenses.
This plan would establish a national ID and an unparalleled system of
personal information sharing.
We urge you to reject this proposal because:
A national ID would not prevent terrorism. An identity card is only as good as the information
that establishes identity in the first place.
Terrorists and criminals will continue to be able to obtain—by legal and
illegal means—the documents needed to get a government ID, such as birth certificates
and social security numbers. A national
ID would create a false sense of security because it would enable individuals
with an ID— who may in fact be terrorists—to avoid heightened security
measures.
A national ID would depend on a massive bureaucracy that
would limit our basic freedoms. A
national ID system would depend on both the issuance of an ID card and the
integration of huge amounts of personal information included in state and
federal government databases. One
employee mistake, an underlying database error rate, or common fraud could take
away an individual’s ability to move freely from place to place or even make
them unemployable until the government fixed their “file.” Anyone who has attempted to fix errors in
their credit report can imagine the difficulty of causing an over-extended
government agency such as the department of motor vehicles to correct a mistake
that precludes a person from getting a valid ID.
A national ID would be expensive and direct resources away
from other more effective counterterrorism measures. The costs of a national ID system have been estimated at as much
as $9 billion. Even more troubling, a
national ID system mandated through state agencies would burden states who may
have more effective ways to fight terrorism and strengthen ID systems.
A national ID would both contribute to identity fraud and
make it more difficult to remedy.
Americans have consistently rejected the idea of a national ID and
limited the uses of data collected by the government. In the 1970s, both the Nixon and Carter Administrations rejected
the use of social security numbers as a uniform identifier because of privacy
concerns. A national ID would be “one
stop shopping” for perpetrators of identity theft who usually use social
security numbers and birth certificates for false IDs (not drivers’
licenses). Even with a biometric
identifier, such as a fingerprint, on each and every ID, there is no guarantee
that individuals won’t be identified - or misidentified - in error. The accuracy of biometric technology varies
depending on the type and implementation.
And, it would be even more difficult to remedy identity fraud when a
thief has a National ID card with your name on it, but his biometric
identifier.
A national ID could require all Americans to carry an
internal passport at all times, compromising our privacy, limiting our freedom,
and exposing us to unfair discrimination based on national origin or religion. Once government databases are integrated
through a uniform ID, access to and uses of sensitive personal information
would inevitably expand. Law enforcement,
tax collectors, and other government agencies would want use of the data. Employers, landlords, insurers, credit
agencies, mortgage brokers, direct mailers, private investigators, civil
litigants, and a long list of other private parties would also begin using the
ID and even the database, further eroding the privacy that Americans rightly
expect in their personal lives. It
would take us even further toward a surveillance society that would
significantly diminish the freedom and privacy of law-abiding people in the
United States. A national ID would
foster new forms of discrimination and harassment. The ID could be used to stop, question, or challenge anyone
perceived as looking or sounding “foreign” or individuals of a certain
religious affiliation.
The Fiscal Year 2002 House Transportation Appropriations’
report encourages the Department to study and define “the types of encoded data
that should be placed on drivers’ licenses for security purposes, and to work
in concert with the states toward early implementation of such measures.” These guidelines could be the first step
toward federal involvement in the standardization of state drivers’ licenses
and the implementation of a national ID.
We urge you to make recommendations that would provide the states with a
series of security options rather than one uniform standard that could lead to
a national ID.
We urge the Administration to reject national ID systems
in any form. The Administration should
not take any steps to implement such a system or fund any proposals that would
result in a national ID, including the study or development of standardized state drivers’ licenses.
There are more effective methods to prevent terrorism that
would not impact the liberty interests of Americans.
We would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to
discuss these issues in more detail.
Please contact Lori Waters at the Eagle Forum, (202) 544-0353; Katie
Corrigan at the American Civil Liberties Union, (202) 675-2322; Brad Jansen at
Free Congress Foundation, (202) 546-3000; or Chris Hoofnagle at the Electronic
Privacy Information Center, (202) 483-1140.
Sincerely,
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
American Civil Liberties Union
American Conservative Union
American Immigration Lawyers Association
American Legislative Exchange Council
American Policy Center
Americans for Tax Reform
Arab American Institute
Center for Democracy and Technology
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Citizens’ Council on Health Care
Coalitions for America
Common Ground
Consumer Alert
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering
Council on American Islamic Relations
Eagle Forum
Electronic Privacy and Information Center
Free Congress Foundation
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quaker)
God Bless America
Home School Legal Defense Association
Independent Institute
Japanese American Citizens League
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Libertarian Party
Liberty Counsel
Life Coalition International
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Multiracial Activist and Abolitionist Examiner
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Consumers League
National Council of La Raza
National Immigration Law Center
National Vaccine Information Center
Organization of Chinese Americans
Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education
People Against Church Taxation
People for the American Way
Privacilla.org
Privacy International
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
cc: United States
House of Representatives
United States
Senate
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