mr. chairman , i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 418 , the real id act . 
this bill purports to make us safer from terrorists who may sneak into the united states , and from other illegal immigrants . 
while i agree that these issues are of vital importance , this bill will do very little to make us more secure . 
it will not address our real vulnerabilities . 
it will , however , make us much less free . 
in reality , this bill is a trojan horse . 
it pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to stampede americans into sacrificing what is uniquely american : our constitutionally protected liberty . 
what is wrong with this bill ? 
the real id act establishes a national id card by mandating that states include certain minimum identification standards on driver 's licenses . 
it contains no limits on the government 's power to impose additional standards . 
indeed , it gives authority to the secretary of homeland security to unilaterally add requirements as he sees fit . 
supporters claim it is not a national id because it is voluntary . 
however , any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens . 
the citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their id will not be accepted . 
they will not be able to fly or to take a train . 
in essence , in the eyes of the federal government they will cease to exist . 
it is absurd to call this voluntary . 
republican party talking points on this bill , which claim that this is not a national id card , nevertheless endorse the idea that `` the federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification such as driver 's licenses. '' so they admit that they want a national id but at the same time pretend that this is not a national id . 
this bill establishes a massive , centrally coordinated database of highly personal information about american citizens : at a minimum their name , date of birth , place of residence , social security number , and physical and possibly other characteristics . 
what is even more disturbing is that , by mandating that states participate in the drivers license agreement , this bill creates a massive database of sensitive information on american citizens that will be shared with canada and mexico . 
this bill could have a chilling effect on the exercise of our constitutionally guaranteed rights . 
it re-defines `` terrorism '' in broad new terms that could well include members of firearms rights and anti-abortion groups , or other such groups as determined by whoever is in power at the time . 
there are no prohibitions against including such information in the database as information about a person 's exercise of first amendment rights or about a person 's appearance on a registry of firearms owners . 
this legislation gives authority to the secretary of homeland security to expand required information on driver 's licenses , potentially including such biometric information as retina scans , fingerprints , dna information , and even radio frequency identification , rfid , radio tracking technology . 
including such technology as rfid would mean that the federal government , as well as the governments of canada and mexico , would know where americans are at all time of the day and night . 
there are no limits on what happens to the database of sensitive information on americans once it leaves the united states for canada and mexico -- or perhaps other countries . 
who is to stop a corrupt foreign government official from selling or giving this information to human traffickers or even terrorists ? 
will this uncertainty make us feel safer ? 
what will all of this mean for us ? 
when this new program is implemented , every time we are required to show our driver 's license we will , in fact , be showing a national identification card . 
we will be handing over a card that includes our personal and likely biometric information , information which is connected to a national and international database . 
h.r. 418 does nothing to solve the growing threat to national security posed by people who are already in the u.s. illegally . 
instead , h.r. 418 states what we already know : that certain people here illegally are `` deportable. '' but it does nothing to mandate deportation . 
although congress funded an additional 2 , 000 border guards last year , the administration has announced that it will only ask for an additional 210 guards . 
why are we not pursuing these avenues as a way of safeguarding our country ? 
why are we punishing americans by taking away their freedoms instead of making life more difficult for those who would enter our country illegally ? 
h.r. 418 does what legislation restricting firearm ownership does . 
it punishes law abiding citizens . 
criminals will ignore it . 
h.r. 418 offers us a false sense of greater security at the cost of taking a gigantic step toward making america a police state . 
i urge my colleagues to vote `` no '' on the real id act of 2005 . 
