World Net Daily - worldnetdaily.com - November 13, 1998
By David M. Bresnahan Copyright 1998 WorldNetDaily.com
The National Governors Association would like to have a national ID system, and plans to work with the White House to reinstate
Executive Order 13083 to make that a reality.
The bipartisan NGA is claiming much of the credit for stopping Executive Order 13083, but they also plan to help craft a revised
version of the order that will alter the relationship between states and the federal government.
An internal document used by the NGA to inform all governors of their goals and objectives was made available to WorldNetDaily,
along with a "Fact Sheet on Federalism" used by the White House staff. Both documents were provided by a Republican source.
Each document shows that both the White House, and the nation's Governors, plan to put the currently suspended executive order
into effect.
One of main reasons for the alteration of state and federal government relations is to provide for "preemption of state and local laws"
by the federal government, according to the NGA document.
"This is because of demands by citizens, businesses, and the federal government to make all government more accessible and
open," claims the NGA. "Pressures for uniformity and simplification come from globalization in trade and telecommunications
policy, regional environmental quality solutions, and a greater need for some type of personal identification mechanism to combat
fraud, crime, illegal immigration, and mismanagement of funds.
Congress passed the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996," which authorized the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation to establish a national ID system through the use of driver's
licenses. Those guidelines are spelled out in Section 656 (b) of the act. They include the use of Social Security numbers on all
licenses, and in all data bases beginning Oct. 1, 2000.
The act also calls for digitized biometric information to be a part of each license, or "smart card." The biometric information will
include fingerprints, retina scans, DNA prints, and other similar information.
Thousands of letters of protest were received by the Department of Transportation during a public comment period, which concluded
in October. The exposure of the plan in WorldNetDaily, and the outcry that followed, prompted Congress to place a moratorium on
the national ID, as well as the medical ID law.
"These new national ID regulations violate every notion of federalism, because they force states to comply with regulations issued
by the federal government, without any constitutional authority to do so," said Patrick Poole of the Free Congress Foundation. "Nor
are federal agencies empowered to force states to gather detailed information on every person in order to comply with federal
mandates."
The NGA document indicates that governors apparently would like to alter the concepts of federalism, mentioned by Poole, to
facilitate the national ID system. The governors claim that the federal government must be able to preempt state and local laws, and
pressure from "special interest groups" seem to be involved.
"Preemption and standardization proposals are now common for international, business, environmental, health, and financial laws in
Congress, and regulations by executive branch agencies with substantial support from selected special interest groups," states the
NGA.
The NGA claims that governors objected to the executive order on federalism because it was issued by President Clinton, without
consulting governors. They also say they were concerned with the way the federal government would have supremacy over state
laws.
The NGA complained in their document that plans for negotiating with the White House for an acceptable executive order will be
made more difficult because of a Congressional ban on funding. They say they expect to have discussions with Clinton in 1999 on
the issue.
Congress included three clauses in the omnibus appropriations bill to withhold funds for implementation of the national ID, medical
ID and Executive Order 13083. Apparently the governors are not pleased with those actions, according to their document.
The White House claims in their internal fact sheet that the executive order was necessitated by unnamed recent Supreme Court
decisions and recent legislation. It states that Executive Order 13083 merely clarifies previous executive orders on federalism.
Gov. Mike Leavitt, R-UT, disagrees. He was asked to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on National
Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs in July. He asked Congress to demand that the executive order be
withdrawn. Leavitt says the Clinton order does not clarify previous federalism executive orders -- it eliminates them.
"This order represents a 180-degree turn from all previous federalism aimed to restrain federal action over states," said Leavitt in
disagreement with the Clinton fact sheet statement of purpose. "The current version of this new order is written to justify federal
supremacy."
The White House fact sheet claims that President Clinton believes the executive order is necessary in order to "protect individual
liberty." Critics claim he is taking liberty away.
The fact sheet summarizes the executive order using language that copies the deceptiveness for which the order was criticized by
the U.S. Senate, National Governor's Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, National League of Cities, National
Conference of Mayors, and the National Association of Counties. All of those organizations demanded withdrawal of the executive
order.
"Given the secrecy surrounding this order and the complete turnabout of its language and scope, one can only conclude the Clinton
administration deliberately set upon a course to expand the role of the federal government. Not exactly the end of the 'era of big
government,'" said Leavitt when he testified, criticizing the deceptiveness of the order.
Many who were first asked to comment on the executive order by WorldNetDaily, just after Clinton signed it, were initially unable to
respond because the wording was so deceptive. It took some time for officials to have the order analyzed. The language and wording
used has been termed by many as extremely "Clinton-like." Once the order was evaluated by legal advisors, the alarm bells went off
and demands for withdrawal were made.
"When I discovered President Clinton's executive order," said Rep. David M. McIntosh, R-IN, "I wrote President Clinton that I could
not understand how (he), as a former governor, could willingly abandon the protections accorded the states since 1987 from
unwarranted federal regulatory burdens.
"The bottom line is that the new order would wreak havoc on the balance of power envisioned by the Constitution between the
States and the federal government. I simply asked, 'Why?.'" McIntosh is chairman of the Subcommittee on National Economic
Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs, which held hearings on the executive order.
Leavitt pointed out that the wording of the "Executive Order on Federalism" was so broad that the federal government could come
into a state for any reason and enact any regulations it wants -- with no recourse for the state. It also appeared to delegate that
authority to government bureaucracies, permitting vast powers to individuals who are not responsible to the voters.
"It is nothing short of ironic -- and I would assert very troubling -- that President Clinton, a former governor and a former leader among
governors, would sign an executive order that undermines the very constitutional and political principle he says in the order he seeks
to protect and promote," said Eugene Hickok, former special assistant in the U.S. Department of Justice, when he testified before
the committee.
The documents obtained by WorldNetDaily clearly show that the NGA would like to facilitate a national ID system, and the
organization believes Executive Order 13083, with some revisions, is needed to facilitate that.
David M. Bresnahan (David@talkusa.com) is a contributing editor of WorldNetDaily.com, is the author of "Cover Up: The Art and
Science of Political Deception," and offers a monthly newsletter "Talk USA Investigative Reports." |
