The Republican-controlled Congress is threatening to backslide again on that ol' time religion about evils of Big Brother government and unfunded mandates on states.
Without public hearings or public comment, Congress is about to require all states to verify that applicants for driver's licenses are in the country legally.
How states comply isn't spelled out. Nor will states be reimbursed for the estimated $500 million cost of creating such a system.
This is a feel-good political scheme hatched in the name of battling terrorists—like Congress' resolution to attack Iraq because of fictional weapons of mass destruction, and the Patriot Act that sharply reduces civil liberties of Americans. States would be required to enforce federal immigration laws with no financial help from the feds.
How many terrorists are apt to need a driver's license to carry out havoc? And how tough would it be to steal a license or bribe a motor vehicle clerk to create one? Remember those license scandals a few months back? And, identity theft is a flourishing industry now, the latest being files on 600,000 current and former employees of the media giant Time Warner.
A creative terrorist also can easily obtain an International Driver License in any country that's a member of the United Nations and present it along with his or her country of origin's passport to establish identification.
When the federal government compels states to enforce immigration laws and civil liberties shrink under the growing authoritarian powers ceded to the government, the reason is clear. U.S. intelligence services have lost their ability to keep track of enemies and must treat even citizens as suspect until proven otherwise.
Congress should stop the "rush order" for this measure.
