Introductory Comment by Connie Fogal, leader, CAP/PAC
The REAL ID practice is coming to birth in various Canadian provinces as a
result of federal and provincial commitment to a North A merican integration
under provincial buy in to the 2001 Smart Border Declaration and the 2005
Security and Prosperty Partnership Agreement. The new liberty stripping
identification is being slipped into Canadian drivers' licenses incrementally
in various provinces without a peep of dissent from media or any provincial or
federal opposition parties.
The best the NDP and the Greens have mustered to date in opposition to the
integration of North America is to work for renegotiation on NAFTA ( a uselss
and deceptive action). They are totally silent on the police state apparatus
coming into effect (of which biometric identifiers in drivers' licenses is one
part).
They are silent on the attack on Canadian liberty by our antiterrorist act,
and they refuse to acknowledge the deliberate stifling of dissent by that
act,and they refuse to expose the real role of the September 11, 2001
explosions in three New York buildings one of which was never hit by a plane as
being the justification for the deliberate ultimate elimination of free
citizenry under a police state apparatus.
At least in the USA there are some elected forces who can read and who
understand the writing on the wall, and who still have the jam to defend their
people.
Connie Fogal, leader CAP/PAC
CANADIAN ACTION PARTY/PARTI ACTION CANADIENNE
Subject: Fw: Homeland Security blinks on Real ID
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9909928-38.html?tag=nefd.lede
April 2, 2008 6:52 PM PDT
Homeland Security blinks on Real ID: No hassles on May 11
WASHINGTON--In the long-running Real ID staring match, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security ended up being the first to blink.
Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of
Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline--
even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero plans
to embrace a national ID card.
This means Americans will face no new hassles when using their drivers licenses
to enter federal buildings or fly on airplanes starting on May 11. That's a
good thing.
But the way this turned out is so odd it's worth repeating. States including
New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, and Montana have
enacted laws saying "hell no we'll never comply with Real ID." And Homeland
Security officials carefully ignored those public votes of condemnation,
instead pretending that those states really intend to acquiesce by the next
major deadline of December 31, 2009. (See our special report on Real ID from
earlier this year.)
"Now they've got 18 months to actually finish the process of being able to
issue the cards that will meet the requirements," Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff told a small group of reporters and bloggers here on
Wednesday. "We will have to watch this because the one thing that will be
important is for a state not to be dilatory in completing the process."
That may have been a more serious threat a few years ago, when Chertoff was
beginning his defense of the Real ID Act, which became law as part of a must-
pass tsunami relief and Iraq emergency appropriations bill in 2005.
Now, however, state officials realize that Homeland Security is more likely to
back down than not. The first sign of this came when the agency decided to
treat a request for an extension past May 11 as a formal agreement to comply
with all Real ID rules. The second came when Homeland Security retreated to its
fallback position: even a symbolic gesture on the part of a governor amounted
to full compliance.
A good example of this dynamic is what happened in the last few days involving
Maine, a state that has rejected Real ID in no uncertain terms, and was the
only will-have-trouble-at-airports state as of this morning. Its legislation
approved last year says that it "refuses to implement the Real ID Act and
thereby protest the treatment by Congress and the president of the states as
agents of the federal government."
Maine nevertheless asked the feds not to penalize its travelers. Stewart Baker,
Homeland Security assistant secretary for policy, replied in a letter that if
Maine "is prepared to commit" to embracing Real ID by 5 p.m. on April 2, "we
will grant an extension conditioned upon performance of these commitments."
(The commitments Baker requested include using a Homeland Security identity
verification system, using facial recognition technology so someone can't get
two licenses, and so on.)
In response, Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, wrote back to Baker saying in
part:
I will seek legislation to halt Maine's current practice of issuing licenses
to those not present lawfully in the United States.
I will submit legislation, which includes a funding source and
appropriations, that will adopt three changes in Maine's licensing processes:
Maine will enter into an agreement with USCIS and utilize the Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlements Program to verify DHS documents presented
by non-citizens.
Maine will begin capturing and maintaining photographs of each individual
applying for a license or state identification card, even if no license is
issued.
It worked. Maine got a green check mark, and its licenses will continue to be
valid for federal purposes after May 11--even though Baldacci was, for the most
part, merely promising to introduce legislation. And the Maine legislators, who
soundly rebuked the Bush administration by nearly unanimous votes last year,
will be the ones to vote on it.
Last month, Montana took a similar approach. Its governor, Brian Schweitzer, a
Democrat, has repeatedly denounced Real ID and even called on his counterparts
(PDF) in other states to oppose it. But Homeland Security dutifully accepted a
relatively hostile letter from Schweitzer--saying he will never "authorize
implementation of the Real ID Act"--as good enough.
Now that the May 11 deadline has become effectively meaningless, the next major
deadline is December 31, 2009, at which point Homeland Security currently says
it will require "certification that the state has achieved the benchmarks set
forth in the Material Compliance Checklist."
In political terms, that's a long time--and a new presidential administration--
away. Some opponents of Real ID are already predicting that no state will
actually comply with the deadline, or, alternatively, the next administration
will find a way to quietly dispose of Real ID without much fanfare.
"DHS is not in power here," said Jim Harper, the director of information policy
studies at the free-market Cato Institute. "The states are in power. DHS has
done all it could, but from a position of weakness...DHS put the best face it
could on its capitulation to states with backbone. A lot more states will
recognize that they own this issue, they control this debate."
News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
result of federal and provincial commitment to a North A merican integration
under provincial buy in to the 2001 Smart Border Declaration and the 2005
Security and Prosperty Partnership Agreement. The new liberty stripping
identification is being slipped into Canadian drivers' licenses incrementally
in various provinces without a peep of dissent from media or any provincial or
federal opposition parties.
The best the NDP and the Greens have mustered to date in opposition to the
integration of North America is to work for renegotiation on NAFTA ( a uselss
and deceptive action). They are totally silent on the police state apparatus
coming into effect (of which biometric identifiers in drivers' licenses is one
part).
They are silent on the attack on Canadian liberty by our antiterrorist act,
and they refuse to acknowledge the deliberate stifling of dissent by that
act,and they refuse to expose the real role of the September 11, 2001
explosions in three New York buildings one of which was never hit by a plane as
being the justification for the deliberate ultimate elimination of free
citizenry under a police state apparatus.
At least in the USA there are some elected forces who can read and who
understand the writing on the wall, and who still have the jam to defend their
people.
Connie Fogal, leader CAP/PAC
CANADIAN ACTION PARTY/PARTI ACTION CANADIENNE
Subject: Fw: Homeland Security blinks on Real ID
http://www.news.com/8301-13578
April 2, 2008 6:52 PM PDT
Homeland Security blinks on Real ID: No hassles on May 11
WASHINGTON--In the long-running Real ID staring match, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security ended up being the first to blink.
Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of
Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline--
even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero plans
to embrace a national ID card.
This means Americans will face no new hassles when using their drivers licenses
to enter federal buildings or fly on airplanes starting on May 11. That's a
good thing.
But the way this turned out is so odd it's worth repeating. States including
New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, and Montana have
enacted laws saying "hell no we'll never comply with Real ID." And Homeland
Security officials carefully ignored those public votes of condemnation,
instead pretending that those states really intend to acquiesce by the next
major deadline of December 31, 2009. (See our special report on Real ID from
earlier this year.)
"Now they've got 18 months to actually finish the process of being able to
issue the cards that will meet the requirements," Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff told a small group of reporters and bloggers here on
Wednesday. "We will have to watch this because the one thing that will be
important is for a state not to be dilatory in completing the process."
That may have been a more serious threat a few years ago, when Chertoff was
beginning his defense of the Real ID Act, which became law as part of a must-
pass tsunami relief and Iraq emergency appropriations bill in 2005.
Now, however, state officials realize that Homeland Security is more likely to
back down than not. The first sign of this came when the agency decided to
treat a request for an extension past May 11 as a formal agreement to comply
with all Real ID rules. The second came when Homeland Security retreated to its
fallback position: even a symbolic gesture on the part of a governor amounted
to full compliance.
A good example of this dynamic is what happened in the last few days involving
Maine, a state that has rejected Real ID in no uncertain terms, and was the
only will-have-trouble-at-airports state as of this morning. Its legislation
approved last year says that it "refuses to implement the Real ID Act and
thereby protest the treatment by Congress and the president of the states as
agents of the federal government."
Maine nevertheless asked the feds not to penalize its travelers. Stewart Baker,
Homeland Security assistant secretary for policy, replied in a letter that if
Maine "is prepared to commit" to embracing Real ID by 5 p.m. on April 2, "we
will grant an extension conditioned upon performance of these commitments."
(The commitments Baker requested include using a Homeland Security identity
verification system, using facial recognition technology so someone can't get
two licenses, and so on.)
In response, Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, wrote back to Baker saying in
part:
I will seek legislation to halt Maine's current practice of issuing licenses
to those not present lawfully in the United States.
I will submit legislation, which includes a funding source and
appropriations, that will adopt three changes in Maine's licensing processes:
Maine will enter into an agreement with USCIS and utilize the Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlements Program to verify DHS documents presented
by non-citizens.
Maine will begin capturing and maintaining photographs of each individual
applying for a license or state identification card, even if no license is
issued.
It worked. Maine got a green check mark, and its licenses will continue to be
valid for federal purposes after May 11--even though Baldacci was, for the most
part, merely promising to introduce legislation. And the Maine legislators, who
soundly rebuked the Bush administration by nearly unanimous votes last year,
will be the ones to vote on it.
Last month, Montana took a similar approach. Its governor, Brian Schweitzer, a
Democrat, has repeatedly denounced Real ID and even called on his counterparts
(PDF) in other states to oppose it. But Homeland Security dutifully accepted a
relatively hostile letter from Schweitzer--saying he will never "authorize
implementation of the Real ID Act"--as good enough.
Now that the May 11 deadline has become effectively meaningless, the next major
deadline is December 31, 2009, at which point Homeland Security currently says
it will require "certification that the state has achieved the benchmarks set
forth in the Material Compliance Checklist."
In political terms, that's a long time--and a new presidential administration--
away. Some opponents of Real ID are already predicting that no state will
actually comply with the deadline, or, alternatively, the next administration
will find a way to quietly dispose of Real ID without much fanfare.
"DHS is not in power here," said Jim Harper, the director of information policy
studies at the free-market Cato Institute. "The states are in power. DHS has
done all it could, but from a position of weakness...DHS put the best face it
could on its capitulation to states with backbone. A lot more states will
recognize that they own this issue, they control this debate."
News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
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