Tell the Department of Homeland Security that REAL ID is yet another step toward the destruction of your personal freedoms:
The Department of Homeland Security is accepting comments through May 8, on Real ID.
Your comments today will be critical in this debate, as Congress will be looking carefully at the number and content of comments submitted. Here’s what to do:
1. Write your comments - we've provided talking points below. Your talking points should be in your own words. They can be as long or as short as you want. The key is that the comments should come from you, since identical comments will likely be combined as one comment.
2. Submit your comments - once you’ve written your comments, there are two ways to send them: Click here to submit your comments online. Or, FAX your comments toll-free to 1-866-466-5370.
Writing Your Comments
Below are talking points you can include and customize in the letter you are going to send to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Don't feel like you need to include everything! Your comments can be as short or as long as you please and we ask that you do your best to use your own language when writing the letter. If the DHS receives letters that look similar, they will count them as one letter. We would like them to count each letter we send so that they hear our voices loud and clear! If you will be submitting your comments online, we recommend you write them first and then cut and paste them into the government's webform.
Impact on the states:
Unfunded Mandate. The federal government has provided a very limited amount of funding to only a select group of states to implement REAL ID. All other costs associated with implementation will be paid by states through taxes and licensing fees.
Estimated cost of REAL ID implementation for the entire country is $23 billion.
No provisions were made to pay for implementation of the act, to streamline the administrative burdens on states and individuals, or to protect privacy and civil liberties.
Every state’s DMV database will be linked and tons of information from social security numbers and birth dates to copies of birth certificates and bank statements will be accessible to DMV employees across the country.
This will be a dream for identity thieves.
The potential for insider fraud and the issuance of false licenses is very real.
All of these problems led to an almost unprecedented revolt among the states. Five states, Maine, Idaho, Arkansas, Montana and Washington, have passed anti-Real ID resolutions or legislation. This type of legislation has been filed in more than 30 states.
Impact on individuals:
Drivers licenses will cost each American approximately $100.
Since the federal government has appropriated only a small fraction of the necessary costs to implement REAL ID, the driver is now going to have to shoulder the burden of higher costs at the DMV.
DMV locations will be completely overburdened.
Lines will be longer because it will take more time to process applications.
Mail and Internet renewals will have to be suspended.
Individuals will have to wade through new bureaucracy in order to provide all the necessary documentation and make sure that their information is correct in multiple federal databases.
REAL ID requires all citizens to show proof of citizenship, birth certificate and two proofs of address to acquire and renew a REAL ID. After these forms of identity are given to the DMV, the DMV must then verify that they are authentic documents.
This requirement will be particularly difficult for:
§ Senior Citizens
§ Native Americans
§ Victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina
§ Naturalized citizens
§ Victims of domestic violence
§ Immigrants
§ People who live in RV’s and homeless people
As of May 2008 a Real ID is supposed to be used to board a plane or enter a federal facility. Legislation has already been proposed that would make showing a Real ID a requirement for voting, getting a job, and obtaining benefits like Medicaid. The standardized national driver’s licenses created by Real ID would become a key part of a system of identity papers, databases, status and identity checks and access control points - an “internal passport” that will increasingly be used to track and control individuals’ movements and activities.
Asking people for their ID at voting polls is illegal but after REAL ID passes, government officials are making the pitch to allow REAL ID to become voter identification. This would disenfranchise many people, especially those who belong to the above mentioned constituencies.
We believe that REAL ID is unworkable and urge the DHS to withdraw the proposed regulations and seek federal legislative action to fix the Real ID Act itself.
Once you've written your comments, submit them online by following the directions below.
Or, FAX them toll-free to 1-866-466-5370.
Submitting Your Comments Online
Once you've written your comments, follow these simple steps to submit them online
Step 1
Go to www.regulations.gov
Step 2
Go to the “Agency” Drop-down menu and select “Department of Homeland Security. Then, click the “Submit” button.
Step 3
Click the orange/yellow comments submission button on the right of "Minimum Standards for Drivers Licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes", docket # DHS-2006-0030.
Step 4
You will be taken to the comment submission form. Scroll down the page, and enter your information in the relevant fields. NOTE: no fields on the page except the "General Comments" box are required, and there is no need to give an answer for fields that do not apply to you. For example, if you are an individual, you need not fill in the “Organization Name” field.
Step 5
Put your comments into the “General Comments” box (this is the only required field).
Step 6
If you wish, you can attach your comments in an electronic format (such as a Word document). Be sure to put some text in the “general comments” box, even if you just write “Comments attached.”
Step 7
Click “Next Step”.
Step 8
Important: You will be taken to a page to REVIEW your comment. You MUST scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Submit” button, or your comments will NOT be submitted.
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