Please oppose Senator Lamar Alexander's planned amendment to S. 1644, the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, to provide $300 million
in funding to implement the REAL ID Act.

The REAL ID Act does not represent the will of the people, or even the explicit
will of Congress.  It became law only because it was attached to a must-pass
supplemental appropriations bill - much the same back-door strategy that
Senator Alexander seems to be planning to exploit again.

$300 million, spread amongst all states and other territories, would hardly
offset the expenses that states would incur in redesigning their driving
licence and identification systems to this federal mandate.

If the REAL ID Act is implemented, it will compel state motor vehicle
departments to become de facto extensions of the federal immigration service.
By denying driving licences to undocumented immigrants, it will increase the
numbers of uninsured drivers.

Most frighteningly, the REAL ID Act's requirements for data standardisation and
data sharing will lay the groundwork for a national identification card that
will become required for travel by air, rail or road, much like the internal
passports issued by the old Soviet Union.

Furthermore, identity theft will be simplified since all of an individual's
records will be tied to a single identifying document.

For all these reasons, implementation of REAL ID should not be funded.  Again,
I urge you to oppose Senator Alexander's REAL ID funding amendment to S. 1644.