Lawmakers, officials still concerned over REAL ID

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Despite the announced delayed implementation, Maine politicians are speaking out against the REAL ID Act of 2005.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued regulations for the act last week, including giving states until 2017 to comply. Under the original language, states would have had to be in compliance by May.

The Department also announced that starting in 2017, old driver’s licenses won’t get people into federal buildings or onto airplanes – a slap in the face to Maine and a handful of other states that have passed resolutions barring their participation in a national identification program. Driver’s licenses would be replaced by a national, tamper-proof ID card.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has continually spoken out against the act, calling it an unfunded mandate – therefore a financial burden for the state.

Dunlap was honored Friday by the Maine Civil Liberties Union for his work against the act. MCLU opposes REAL ID, fearing increased identity theft.

“Maine’s political and community leaders have recognized REAL ID for what it truly is- a poorly thought out policy that fails to achieve its’ supposed primary goal of improving national security, while at the same time creating enormous concerns about the privacy of all Americans,” Dunlap said in a release.

State Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, who is running for the First Congressional District, spoke out against REAL ID and President Bush’s administration on the blog Turn Maine Blue.

Strimling was a cosponsor of the bill that passed last session prohibiting Maine to participate in any REAL ID program. View his floor statement on YouTube here, or at the bottom of this page. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Lansley, R-Sabattus, and passed under the gavel in both chambers in June.

“Because they knew that Real ID, if it had been in place, would not have protected us from Timothy McVeigh,” Strimling said in his speech, referring to Maine local law enforcement officials. “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.”

In his blog post, Strimling called the act underfunded and a threat to security.

“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,” Strimling wrote.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, has introduced a bill in Congress to repeal and replace the REAL ID Act. He proposes a program that will require DHS, the Department of Transportation and states to work together to “establish national standards that will protect both national security and the privacy and civil liberties of American citizens,” Allen said in a release.

“REAL ID imposes a costly mandate on states that requires them to gather, scan, and retain personal information about everyone who seeks a driver's license or identification card, raising serious privacy concerns,” he said.

The state’s U.S. Senators both praised DHS for delaying implementation, but were also concerned over the lack of funding for the program.

“Until these issues are addressed, states are going to have to assess the feasibility of implementing the program within the constraints of their own privacy laws and their own budgets,” Sen. Susan Collins said in a release. “If these constraints prove too difficult to overcome, the Department will need to consider just how much security REAL ID actually provides if several states are not participating in it.”

Sen. Olympia Snowe was also worried about Maine’s ability to comply.

“In its present form, REAL ID represents a significant unfunded mandate on states like Maine and it is unrealistic to expect our state to conform to a program for which the federal government has only provided a mere three percent of the funds needed for implementation,” Snowe said in a release.

Video credit: Maine Senate.