The REAL ID Act: The First Step Away from the Abyss?
Posted by Ronald London
First it was Maine and then Montana and Washington, and now concerns have come full circle as opponents of the REAL ID Act in the newly Democrat-controlled Senate have taken the first concrete steps toward retrenchment against adoption of a de facto national identification card. A recent floor debate over a massive immigration bill saw preservation of an amendment sponsored by Senators Baucus and Tester that would prohibit the identifications cards to be required by the REAL ID Act from being mandated as the document required for employment verification. Senators Baucus and Tester, both Democrats, are both from Montana, the first state to adopt a law refusing the implement the REAL ID Act (Maine was the first to adopt a resolution opposing the law, and others have followed suit, but Montana was the first to adopt a law in this regard).
The Real ID Act establishes criteria that beginning May 11, 2008, will be required for most IDs needed to enjoy and/or obtain government and some commercial services – including air travel, banking, Social Security, and others. The Bush administration-backed immigration bill has drawn the ire of many conservatives as well as others, who oppose the REAL ID Act, by among other things requiring that employers demand Real ID-compliant identification for all new hires starting in 2013. The amendment sponsored by Senators Baucus and Tester not only deletes the employer REAL ID-verification but also states that “no federal funds may be provided” to any state for purposes of establishing such a system.
While the recent vote was merely preliminary – the amendment itself still awaits a vote – the pulse-taking suggests a potential shift in the political winds for the REAL ID Act’s long-term prospects. Indeed, it suggests that a majority in the Senate are willing to place significant limits on the law’s potential impact in practical terms. Although the Act does have its supporters, key Democrats taken the position that the new national ID measure, which the last Congress enacted with hardly any debate as part of emergency Iraq-war appropriation legislation, requires refinement and – more specifically – retrenching.
