| From: [HSLDA] "E-Mail Alert (Jennie Ethell)" 30-AUG-1995 12:52:30.93
To: netcad::wiebe
CC:
Subj: HSLDA Alert on National Tracking Legislation
ALERT TO ACTION!
Congress Poised To Mandate Government Registration and Tracking of
All Americans
Imagine an America in which every citizen is required to carry a
biometrically-encoded identification card as a precondition for conducting
business. Imagine having your retina scanned every time you need to
prove your identification. Imagine carrying a card containing your entire
medical, academic, social, and financial history. Now, imagine that
bureaucrats, police officers, and social workers have access under
certain circumstances to the information on your card. Finally, imagine an
America in which it is illegal to seek any employment without approval
from the United States government.
This future may be more real than many Americans would like to
think if Congressional lawmakers are allowed to proceed with their most
recent attempt at monitoring the private lives of American citizens.
Enter S. 269, the latest attempt by Congress to mandate a
computer-driven, biometrically-verifiable national identification system. If
enacted into law, S. 269 would require the most comprehensive
registration and tracking of American citizens by the federal government
in history. Some experts have speculated that once the system
envisioned by S. 269 is in place, the scope of the identity card could be
expanded to include information of a highly personal nature, such as
credit and spending history and medical, educational, and social records.
In early September, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on S.
269, The Immigrant Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1995. The
bill has already passed the Immigration Subcommittee and is sponsored
by Senators Alan Simpson (R-WY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The
House version of the bill is H.R. 1915. The Clinton Administration is a
strong proponent of both bills.
Why would Congress and the Clinton Administration consider
such a plan? Some Americans believe that America is in the midst of an
illegal immigration crisis. Politicians want to show their constituents that
they are taking strong action against illegal immigration. These politicians
argue that the best way to control illegal immigration is to give the
government the right to approve all employee hiring in America. By using
advanced technology to register, track and store information on every
citizen, they argue, it will be easy to spot illegal immigrants.
If At First You Don?t Succeed . . .
Similar (but unsuccessful) proposals to create a national registry
and tracking system were advanced in the early 1980?s by a powerful
array of government agencies who brushed aside any concerns about
personal privacy. Agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, the State
Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency, each for their own
unique reasons, craved a law which would require every American to
carry a national identity card. One attempt to register and track
Americans came close to being endorsed by the Reagan cabinet in July
1981, but it was stopped when President Reagan personally vetoed the
idea on the grounds that it was a massive invasion of privacy.
In 1993, under the guise of an immunization bill, Congress
attempted to register and track every American from birth, but the
measure was defanged of its dangerous provisions after tens of
thousands of calls and letters poured into Washington D.C. from parents
around the country asking Congress to respect their family privacy and
individual liberties. Perhaps the most famous attempt to create a national
registry came in 1994 as part of the Clinton Administration?s ill-fated
Health Security Act.
Each time these proposals have been mounted, pro-family forces
have rallied to defeat them.
Smart Cards, Retina Scans, Voice Patterns and the Coming Biometric
Privacy Invasion
Biometrics is the science of measuring unique physiological or
behavioral characteristics. In recent years, the technology which drives
this science has evolved well beyond fingerprinting and dental records.
In fact, the technology is available to identify people by the length of their
fingers, the pattern of their retinas, the sound of their voices, and the
smell of their skin. Senate lawmakers intend to incorporate advanced
forms of this technology as part of the most comprehensive identification
and information gathering program in history.
On May 10, 1995, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration met for
a hearing entitled, ?Verification of Applicant Identity for the Purposes of
Employment and Public Assistance.? The hearing was chaired by
Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) and was attended by Senators Ted
Kennedy (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Robert
Rasor, from the Financial Crimes Division of the Secret Service, provided
an explanation to the Subcommittee of the emerging ?biometric?
technologies? role in personal identification: ?The use of biometrics is the
means by which an individual may be conclusively identified? There are
two types of biometric identifiers: physical and behavioral
characteristics. Physiological biometrics include facial features, hand
geometry, retinal and iris patterns, DNA, and fingerprints. Behavioral
characteristics include voice characteristics and signature analysis.?
Although the language of S. 269 does not mandate which specific
biometric technique will be used to register, track and identify every
American, it clearly calls for the use of biometrics (Section 115(7)).
Senator Dianne Feinstein, an original drafter of the proposal, recently
explained in a Capitol Hill magazine that it is her intention to see Congress
immediately implement a national identity system where every American
is required to carry a card with a ?magnetic strip on which the bearer?s
unique voice, retina pattern, or fingerprint is digitally encoded.?
?Fifteen years ago, they would have torn the building down.?
Despite the fact that this bill could dramatically increase the role of
the federal government in the private lives of Americans, the proposal
has received relatively little media attention. Senate sponsors seem to be
pleased by the opportunity to act covertly. During his closing remarks
following the last panel of the May 10 subcommittee meeting, Senator
Simpson mused on the relative lack of media attention given the hearings
and the overlap between a national ID card and President Clinton?s
proposal for a ?Health Security Card? two years ago: ?There is much to
do here, but I was just saying to Ted [Kennedy] before he left, a hearing
like this fifteen years ago, they would have torn the building down. And
here we are today just a bunch of us, kind of sitting around and no
media, no nothing. This is fine with me. I get tired of them on this issue.?
Key Problems With The Bill
Congressional attempts to include privacy safeguards in the
language offer little hope or consolation. Agencies like the IRS and the
Social Security Administration (SSA) have recently been subject to
criticism for their lack of control over employees who, in violation of the
privacy safeguards, were opening confidential files and making the
information available to outsiders. Among other things, the bill
establishes:
* That the federal government create a national database containing
information on all Americans and immigrants eligible to work in this
country (S. 269, Section 111; H.R. 1915, Section 403(b)(6)).
* Pilot projects to determine whether the federal government should
require everyone to have a national identity card (S. 269, Section
111(b)(2); H.R. 1915, Section 104).
* Beginning in 1999, all employers must receive authorization from the
national computer database before hiring any new employee?this does
not just apply to immigrants. For each new employee, the company
would be required to transmit his name and identification number via
modem and then wait for the national database to respond with an
authorization code. If the person?s name is not in the database, he can
not work (S. 269, Section 111; H.R. 1915, Section 115(5?6).
* All American children must register with the SSA by age sixteen. When
they register, they must provide the agency with a ?fingerprint or other
biometric data.? The agency would place the fingerprint ?or other
biometric data? on the child?s birth certificate, hoping to make the birth
certificate more fraud-resistant (S. 269, Section 115(7)).
A National Database Would Be a Nightmare!
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) called the national computer
registry and move toward a national identity card, ?an abomination and
wholly at odds with the American tradition of individual freedom.?
Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) recently joined Armey in signing a letter
denouncing the tracking system. Jack Kemp wrote in the New York
Times, ?An anti-privacy, anti-business and anti-American approach is no
way to run immigration policy.?
Pro-family leaders agree. Michael Farris of the Home School Legal
Defense Association, Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, Paul Weyrich of
the Free Congress Foundation, and others have indicated their opposition
to national registry.
These bills would create an unprecedented increase in the
government?s ability to collect information. For the first time:
* The government would have a comprehensive registry of every
American?name, date of birth, place of birth, mother?s maiden name,
Social Security number, gender, race, and other information.
* Personal information that is now scattered in many different places
would be consolidated in one database, controlled by a single federal
agency.
* Personal information would be accessible to local agencies and anyone
who claims to be an employer.
* The government would have to grant approval before a company
enters into private contract with a private citizen. Before a company
could hire a new employee, it would be required to receive authorization
from the government database.
The Legislation Is Likely To Pass Unless Significant Opposition Develops
Soon
Currently, the national identification system enjoys broad
bipartisan support. Under the current political climate, the bill is likely to be
enacted into law. Most Senators and Representatives do not even
realize that the bill would create a national, computer-linked registry and
tracking system driven by biometric technology. Those who do
understand have not properly evaluated the tremendous threat to
individual liberties and family privacy posed by such a measure.
Action Is Urgently Needed
The registry and tracking system currently before Congress must
be defeated. Now is the time to write and call your Representative and
Senators in opposition to the bills.
The House version of the bill is H.R. 1915. It was introduced on
June 22, 1995, by Rep. Lamar Smith and is called the Immigration in the
National Interest Act of 1995. Although the language of H.R. 1915 is not
as offensive as the Senate version at this time, House lawmakers have
indicated that they will attempt to bring the bill into greater conformity with
the Senate version. Representative Bill McCollum (R-FL) is expected to
introduce an amendment which would include in the language of the bill a
national registry driven by biometric technology.
Urge your lawmakers on Capitol Hill to oppose any national
registry, tracking and identification system. Tell them that the threat to
individual liberty and family privacy far outweigh any potential benefits
that such a system might provide in curbing illegal immigration. Ask your
Senator to vote to strike Sections 111 through 115 from S. 269 and ask
your Representative to strike Sections 403(b), 104, and 809 from H.R.
1915. Tell them that there are acceptable solutions to America?s illegal
immigration problem but giving the government the power to register and
track its citizens is not one of them.
Call your Senator at (202) 225-3121, and your Representative at
(202) 224-3121
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Copyright 1995, Home School Legal Defense Association
P.O. Box 159, Paeonian Springs, Virginia 22129
(540) 338-5600
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