© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A Republican congressman is decrying the intelligence reform bill set to pass Congress today, saying it creates a de facto national ID-card system.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, says by establishing standards for state driver's licenses on a federal level, the government is setting up a national system that's "not proper in a free society."
The bill, which established a new cabinet-level national intelligence director and expands some law-enforcement powers, passed the House of Representatives last night 336-75 and is scheduled for a Senate vote today.
"This is America, not Soviet Russia," said the libertarian-leaning Paul in a statement. "The federal government should never be allowed to demand papers from American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional authority to do so."
"A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and transactions of every American," Paul continued. "History shows that governments inevitably use such power in harmful ways. The 9-11 commission, whose recommendations underlie this bill, has called for internal screening points where identification will be demanded. Domestic travel restrictions are the hallmark of authoritarian states, not free nations. It is just a matter of time until those who refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied the ability to drive or board an airplane."
Though the bill doesn't call for a standardized national card, Paul says by telling states what must be included on driver's licenses, the federal government is overstepping its bounds.
"Nationalizing standards for drivers licenses and birth certificates, and linking them together via a national database, creates a national ID system pure and simple," he said. "This legislation imposes federal standards in a federal bill, and it creates a federalized ID regardless of whether the ID itself is still stamped with the name of your state."
Paul likens an internal checkpoint plan to a "Soviet-style internal passport system."
Said Paul: "Subjecting every citizen to surveillance and screening points actually will make us less safe, not in the least because it will divert resources away from tracking and apprehending terrorists and deploy them against innocent Americans!"
Some House Republicans tried but failed to include in the bill a provision barring states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Other Republicans see the bill as another layer of useless bureaucracy.
"I believe creating a national intelligence director is a huge mistake," Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill, told the Associated Press. "It's another bureaucracy, it's another layer of government. It would not have prevented 9-11 and it will not prevent another 9-11."
