The Constitutional Alliance has written over 100 articles about the Real ID Act 2005 since the law was enacted 17 years ago. The Constitutional Alliance provided States/Commonwealths with legislation that prevented the agency or department that oversees the issuance of drivers’ licenses or valid issued identification cards for those that do not drive, from complying with the Real ID Act 2005. Further, the Constitutional Alliance testified in many States/Commonwealths in opposition to the Real ID Act 2005. Finally, the Constitutional Alliance was invited to hearings in Congress that related to the Real ID Act 2005 and met with members of Congress, their staff and committee counsel about the Real ID Act 2005. This article is only going to address one aspect of the Real ID Act and that is the “Official Purpose” of the Real ID Act 2005.
We ask for your patience as we address the “Official Purpose.” It can be very misleading not to provide enough background information that allows the public to understand the threat the “Official Purpose” of the Real ID Act 2005 is to all freedom loving citizens.
Now that we have established our bona fides there are a few more points that need to be addressed. The Real ID Act has many tentacles that are each very egregious. Too many people and organizations comment about the Real ID Act 2005 and do not know what they are speaking about. The law, Public Law 109-13, The Real ID Act 2005 is not a terribly long law, but it does have hundreds of pages that were published as part of the Rulemaking process. Most members of Congress and state legislators have never read the law, or the Rules issued by the Department of Homeland Security with the Department of Transportation consulting.
Those that call for the complete repeal of the Real ID Act have no idea of what the consequences would be of what they are calling for. Part of the Real ID Act, Title I, has nothing to do with the issuance of drivers’ licenses but rather deals with immigration. There are some good aspects of Title I of the Real ID Act 2005 that can help to secure our borders. Also, a complete repeal of the Real ID Act 2005 would undo the repeal of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004, section 7212. Section 7212 gives the federal government control over state issued drivers’ licenses. Bottom line is if a repeal is done, the repeal must be done surgically. The repeal must only address Title II of the Real ID Act 2005 and leave in place the repeal of Section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004.
Reference "Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004": https://irp.fas.org/crs/RL32722.pdf
It is important for citizens to know the Real ID Act 2005 was only passed by Congress because it was attached to two “must pass” pieces of legislation:
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- A military spending bill, and
- Tsunami relief legislation.
The Real ID Act passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives and not one member of the United States Senate voted against the Real ID Act 2005. Finally, the Real ID Act was authored by the same congressman who authored the USA PATRIOT ACT, Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. The Constitutional Alliance has documented
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- the Democrats are the party of Big Government, and
- the Republicans are the party of Big Brother.
There are a couple of additional points that must be made about the Real ID Act before addressing specifically the Official Purposes of the Real ID Act. The Real ID Act 2005 was and is voluntary, States were not required to comply with the Real ID Act.
Reference "Congressman James Sensenbrenner claims that Real ID would have prevented 911": https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/sensenbrenner-says-real-id-would-have-prevented-911-terrorists-boarding-planes
The Constitutional Alliance had a sister organization named The Stop Real ID Coalition. There were over 600 groups representing the far right to the far left that opposed to the Real ID Act including many religious organizations.
The Constitutional Alliance to this day is the only organization over the last 50 years to bring
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- the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) and
- the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
together on the same stage, at the National Press Club to oppose the same law, The Real ID Act. State organizations joined with the Constitutional Alliance, the ACLJ and the ACLU at the event to oppose the Real ID Act.
Reference "see it happen at the National Press Club": https://constitutionalalliance.org/real-id-exposed-national-press-club/
The Constitutional Alliance is a conservative organization with members in all States/Commonwealths. The Constitutional Alliance is comprised of state legislators, state organizations, ministries, and private citizens. Steve Meyer is the Executive Director of the Constitutional Alliance.
Within the Real ID Act are the definitions. The following definition is provided for “OFFICIAL PURPOSE”:
“OFFICIAL PURPOSE- The term `official purpose’ includes but is not limited to accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, and any other purposes that the Secretary shall determine [emphasis by Constitutional Alliance].
Reference "Real ID Act of 2005": https://911familiesforamerica.org/real-id-act/
In an opinion column written by the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, after the publication of the final rule, said, “embracing REAL ID” would mean it would be used to “cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane or engage in countless other activities.”
Reference "see Epic.org's analysis page 23 for record of the above quote": https://epic.org/wp-content/uploads/privacy/id_cards/epic_realid_0508.pdf
The Constitutional Alliance was asked to write this document for those that want to see our 2nd Amendment rights protected. We felt it was necessary to provide context which explains not just how your 2nd Amendment rights are threatened, but also how the law threatening your 2nd Amendment rights was enacted.
You may wrongly believe the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security would never add purchasing a firearm and/or ammunition to the OFFICIAL PURPOSE of the Real ID Act 2005. In fact, Democrats in California have already once made a move in that direction. The attempt failed at the time because all States/Commonwealths were not yet certified as being Real ID compliant. In 2021, the Department of Homeland Security certified all States/Commonwealths as being Real ID compliant.
Reference "California requires Real ID use for all firearms and ammunition": https://crpa.org/news/blogs/crpa-alert-ca-doj-requires-ca-real-id-for-all-firearm-and-ammunition-transfers/
The fact is the Biden administration, and more specifically the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security can post in the Federal register tomorrow that a Real ID compliant drivers’ license must be provided to purchase a firearm and/or ammunition. The public comment period could be waived if the Secretary declared the action is necessary as an emergency because of rising firearm violence.
If you’re thinking the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security could remove the OFFICIAL PURPOSE for firearms and/or ammunition you would be wrong. Under the law, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security can only add an OFFICIAL PURPOSE, not remove an OFFICIAL PURPOSE. It would require 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, a majority of the House of Representatives, and the signing by the President of the United States to remove an OFFICIAL PURPOSE. Without the support of Democrats, the OFFICIAL PURPOSE would stand.
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security can require the seller of the firearm and/or ammunition to swipe the back of the Real ID compliant drivers’ license and provide the information to the Department of Homeland Security. The MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) on the back of the drivers’ license is not encrypted. The MRZ contains the information on the front of your drivers’ license.
The next Republican administration can also declare that a Real ID compliant drivers’ license is needed to send money out of the United States, whether the sending of funds is done by bank transfer, Western Union, or MoneyGram. This would certainly impact people in our country unlawfully.
The fact is Republicans and Democrats have their own reasons for wanting to surgically repeal Title II of the Real ID Act 2005. So, why hasn’t this surgical repeal happened? The short answer is the Bush administration and Congressman Sensenbrenner sold the Real ID Act 2005 as a necessary tool to stop Islamic terrorism. Now, there is not the political will on either side of the aisle to repeal any part of the Real ID Act 2005 because members of Congress do not want to be seen as soft on terrorism. The Constitutional Alliance knows, and now so do you, the excuse of being soft on terrorism is just that, an excuse: Keep reading.
Why does the Constitutional Alliance call what Congress is hiding behind, the excuse of being seen as soft on terrorism both ridiculous and hypocritical? To answer this question, we must go back in time to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission said that one glaring problem with the issuance of State drivers’ licenses and/or State identification cards for those that do not drive is States/Commonwealths did not have a set of common standards that apply to all drivers’ licenses or identification cards that States/Commonwealth’s issue. The Real ID Act and the Rulemaking process for the Real ID Act put in place a set of standards that States/Commonwealths were required to meet.
To be clear, the need for common standards did not require federal intervention. All States/Commonwealths belong to an organization named AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators). AAMVA routinely issues “Best Practices.” AAMVA very simply could have published additional Best Practices to put in place common standards for the issuance of all drivers’ licenses or Valid issued ID’s for those that do not drive.
You might think the common standards make perfect sense. Perhaps, if that was really what the Real ID Act 2005 was about. The 9/11 Commission also said that States/Commonwealths must know a person is who they say they are, and not have more than one active drivers’ license or identification card at a time. Public Law 109-13, The Real ID Act calls for each applicant for a drivers’ license to provide specific documentation to prove who they are. Without going too far into the weeds, suffice it to say one document that citizens had to provide and still must provide is a birth certificate. The birth certificate must be the original birth certificate or a certified copy of the original birth certificate. The Real ID Act requires States/Commonwealths to verify the authenticity of the birth certificates presented by the applicant applying for a drivers’ license or valid issued state identification card.
You may think it would be difficult to verify birth certificates. It is not hard at all. States/Commonwealths have had 17 years to use a telecommunication system already in place that can verify birth certificates. The Constitutional Alliance has been pushing for the telecommunication system to be used. By the way – there would not be any need for a national database of birth certificates. The Constitutional Alliance provided a Power Point to explain how birth certificates can be verified.
Reference "Constitutional Alliance's PowerPoint Solution to Birth Certificate Verification": https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fconstitutionalalliance.org%2Flibrary%2Fdocuments%2FStop-Real-ID-Coalition_PowerPoint-MS-2003-SSIVS-State-to-State-Identification-Verification-System-Solution-to-Real-ID-2011-0209.ppt&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
Since birth certificates are still not all being verified, no State or Commonwealth can say they know each person who applies for and receives a drivers’ license or valid issue state ID for those that do not drive, is in fact who the applicant says they are. The idea that the members of Congress are concerned about being seen as soft on terrorism is absurd; members of Congress cannot be too concerned about terrorism if they still are not making sure States/Commonwealths are verifying birth certificates.
Do not misunderstand the Constitutional Alliance’s position. We do not think Congress ever had the Constitutional authority to get involved in the issuance of drivers’ licenses. At one point around 2009, the majority of States/Commonwealths were on record saying they would not comply with the Real ID Act 2005. Too many advocacy groups then declared Real ID was dead or on life support.
Reference "Academic Abstract": https://academic.oup.com/publius/article-abstract/39/3/476/1933812?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
The Constitutional Alliance warned advocacy groups and citizens that Real ID was not dead. As it turned out, the Constitutional Alliance was right. That leaves us where we are today – Real ID remains the law of the land.
Now you know a fraction of what there is to know about the Real ID Act 2005. Seven years ago the Constitutional Alliance published a document titled “Real ID Exposed: It is Worse Thank You Think.” If you want to learn why Real ID is a much bigger threat to every citizen’s freedom and especially religious freedom, read Real ID Exposed: It is Worse Thank You Think. If you are a Christian, you should be very concerned and engaged in making sure Real ID is surgically repealed. Since the Constitutional Alliance published the paper seven years ago, a couple of the links in the paper may not work today, but that will not prevent you from understanding the threat we face today.
Reference "Constitutional Alliance's article Real ID Exposed - It is Worse than you think": https://constitutionalalliance.org/real-id-exposed-it-is-worse-than-you-think/
You can contact the Constitutional Alliance by contacting Steve Meyer, the Executive Director. The Constitutional Alliance supports the brave men and women who serve in law enforcement and our military. What the Constitutional Alliance does not support is the federal government usurping power not specifically given to the federal government in our Constitution. Calling the Real ID Act 2005 voluntary was meaningless when the federal government used coercion to enforce the Real ID Act.
© Copyright 2022 by Constitutional Alliance.