PA State Reps speak out against REAL ID

PA Representatives John Hornaman(D), Florindo Fabrizio(D), Curtis Sonney(R), Patrick Harkins(D), Brad Raoe(R), and Michelle Brooks(R) speak their minds on REAL ID.

This took place at the fourth and final IGA Committee Hearing on REAL ID in Erie, PA on May 22, 2008.

All six representatives are now co-sponsoring H.B. 1351, which will kill REAL ID in Pennsylvania. The bill now has over 90 co-sponsors, but IGA Committee Chairman W. Curtis Thomas will not allow it to come out of committee to the floor for a vote. Instead, he is trying to "pull a fast one" by introducing a watered down version of the bill which does NOT stop biometric data from being included in drivers licenses.

Since 2006, PennDOT has been taking high resolution photographs for new and renewed drivers licenses, converting them into digital biometric images that can identify individuals just as uniquely as their fingerprints, and storing that in a potentially vulnerable database along with other personal information.

Please help us stop this unconstitutional violation of our rights by calling or meeting with your PA State Rep. ASAP and urging them to support HB 1351.

For more information, please contact Jim Compton at comptonjr@comcast.net and/or visit the following sites:

http://www.NVCCA.net
http://www.realnightmare.org

UPDATE 4/12/09: HB 1351 was killed in Committee by Rep. Thomas. A gutted version of the bill (HB 2537) was introduced in its place by Thomas. This bill was stripped of the language about biometrics present in 1351. When that bill got to the floor Rep. Sam Rohrer tried to amend it to essentially match 1351. Sonney, Roae, Brooks, and Hornaman voted for that amendment, but Harkins and Fabrizio voted against it, despite claiming at the hearing shown in this video that they supported 1351. The battle against Real ID continues in PA, as does PennDOT's biometric "faceprinting" policy.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Real
• ID
• Pennsylvania
• Representatives
• Reps
• HB
• 1351
• Erie
• PA
• Unconstitutional

[TotenkamphVerbande]

Go PA. End this tyranny or leave this Union!

[blagnarok]

I am a Pennsylvanian. If I am forced to choose between a license that has a computer chip, or no license at all, I will simply refuse to renew my license. I will drive with my expired one, and if it goes to court I will represent myself and my own rights and not sell them out to some lawyer along with my savings. I'm sure I am not the only one. The representatives should be wary that while they attempt to secure the licensing system, they may destroy the current system in the process.