by Mark Lerner (December 17, 2010) Constitutional Alliance Stop Real ID Coalition
The story written by Jim Harper at CATO contains a key part of why Real ID is not being funded. See the bottom line of that story.
I have spoken with people in D.C. today to determine what direction Congress is going to move
As some of you know the Democrats supported PASS ID but there were not enough votes to get Title II of the Real ID Act repealed. PASS ID in our opinion was not an acceptable alternative to Real ID. At this time Real ID still remains federal law with an implementation date of April, 2011.
You can be assured that Congress is going to do something especially once the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives. It was a Republican who first introduced Real ID (Congressman Sensenbrenner).
Real ID had many aspects to it including immigration. Congress is essentially going back to the drawing board to come up with something the Republicans and Democrats can agree on.
Without wanting to get too far ahead of myself, I will say I have presented what we believe should be done to a newly elected state official. This person is not a member of a state legislature but holds a “higher” office. Once we have had the opportunity to fully explore our alternative proposal with this state official I will discuss the proposal at greater length. I want to make sure we have not overlooked anything in our proposal before releasing all the details. The basic solution we provide is in the book “Your Body Is Your ID” and also available on our web-site www.constitutionalalliance.org I wrote an article “REAL SECURITY VERSUS PERCEIVED SECURITY WHILE PROTECTING OUR RIGHTS, LIBERTY AND FREEDOM” that outlines our proposal.
It is our feeling at the Constitutional Alliance that we must take advantage of the void that now exists. No PASS ID or Real ID does not mean Congress will do nothing. I have been told that there will be something Congress works out. It is our intention to make sure our proposal does get attention and consideration.
We do believe that the issue of one person, one record it is important. Without dealing with this issue it will be very hard if not impossible to deal with the immigration issue. Our solution does provide for one person, one record without the federal government setting standards or guidelines for the issuance of state driver’s licenses. We also do not favor states providing the federal government (DHS) with American citizen’s personal information including biometrics before a citizen can obtain a state driver’s license.
Please keep in mind that the federal government (FBI) has already been provided direct access to the North Carolina DMV database through a pilot program. It would be pure speculation to suggest that this approach (direct electronic access) to state DMV databases is what the federal government will push. That being said the possibility does exist. Considering the current condition of state budgets, the federal government could pass out grant money in order to attempt to get states to go along with whatever the federal government comes up with.
I am confident that the federal government will be relying on biometric enrollment in whatever direction it goes. We strongly oppose this strategy.
It is more important now than ever that we take advantage of this time to promote our alternative. Not one state authenticates birth certificates before issuing driver’s licenses. Because of this reality currently a person in our country illegally can purchase a counterfeit or fraudulent birth certificate and social security card to obtain a state driver’s license. This is unacceptable.
Over the next few weeks I will be meeting with the state official we have provided our proposal to. This person does not take office until January.
All in all today’s news is very good news. It provides an opportunity for new alternatives to explored regarding the issuance of state driver’s licenses.
God Bless the United States of America, the greatest country on Earth
About The Author 
Mark Lerner is a co-founder of the Constitutional Alliance, an alliance of groups and individuals who support the Mission Statement.