A Real ID Nightmare

Ethan Strimling, All Towns

On Friday, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff outlined the Bush Administration’s final rules on the controversial Real ID program.

I believe that Real ID stands alongside a long list of egregious bills passed by Congress under the Bush Administration - including the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the Bush Tax Cuts. The Real ID Act is dangerous because it will, without a doubt, threaten our privacy and our autonomy for decades to come. It’s an under-funded, under-thought law that seeks to create a uniform system of identification that would restrict citizen’s access to airports, federal buildings, and more. In the end, Real ID is nothing more than a national ID card established under the guise of "state regulations" to consolidate the federal government's control on information, and the law in its current state leaves our country open to serious abuses. Real ID threatens our democracy.

Last year as a member of the Maine State Senate, I co-sponsored the bill making Maine the first state in the country to opt out of Real ID, explicitly prohibiting following the regulations set forth by the Act. I was proud that 16 states followed our lead.

As Spud1 pointed out, our U.S. Representative, Tom Allen, has recently introduced a bill to repeal the Real ID Act and replace it with a system that protects our civil liberties and reduces the fiscal burden on individual states. I applaud and support Congressman Allen as he works to defend our rights. This year, Congressman Allen is challenging Republican Susan Collins for her seat in the United States Senate. It is imperative that we elect him to the Senate and that we also fill his seat with someone as committed to individual rights and privacy as he is.

If I am elected to Congress, I will fight for our civil liberties and to protect and defend our constitutional rights, and against any attempt to subvert our privacy.

Last year, I was one of the few legislators to speak out against Real ID on the floor of the Maine Senate.

I rise today in support of this resolution. And I rise as the former Chair of the Task Force on Homeland Security. I can tell you that those of us who were on the task force, my good friend across the aisle, we traveled all the way across this state from the top to the bottom. And we heard from law enforcement officials from every corner; from Oxford Hills to Presque Isle, down to Biddeford, Portland, Brunswick, Rockland, Bangor, everywhere. And not one of them, not one, said “You need to implement a Real ID in order to protect this state.” Because they knew that Real ID, if it had been in place, would not have protected us from Timothy McVeigh. It would not have protected us from the Unabomber. It would not have protected us from the Olympic Bomber. It would not have protected us, indeed most importantly, from 9/11.

It would have had no impact.

If you want to find ways that we can make sure that we secure Maine, read our report. There are lots of recommendations. In fact, we voted and implemented virtually all of them last year. From making sure that our communications systems work, to making sure that evacuation plans are in place, to making sure that our hospitals have enough beds, to making sure that our ports are inspected.

This will do nothing to protect us.

And on top of that, it will create problems within our community for those who cannot afford to pay the fees to purchase. Because for those who are renters, who change their addresses every few years or low income who change their addresses, they’re going to have to pay the fee every time. Or if you are elderly and you don’t have your birth certificate anymore and you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and they say “Well, just call the hospital” and that hospital doesn’t seem to exist anymore, because you were born 70 years ago, you’re not going to be able to get this ID. And if you want to fly on an airplane, and you’re not able to get this ID, you’re going to be excluded from that form of transportation.

So, number one, it does nothing to protect us. And law enforcement will say it over and over again, “This is not something that we need.” And number two, it creates an onerous burden on those in our communities who cannot afford any more burdens.

If we want to protect our country, there are many, many things that we can do. This is not one of them.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and concerns.

-Ethan