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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 486
credit cards are now or even with a computer chip that can be read by scanners dozens of feet
away.”
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Congressman Ron Paul fears that the standards could lead to check points in America
where citizens must “show their papers.”
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The recent legislation was apposed by more “than 30 advocacy, civil liberties and
conservative groups” who “sent letters to every senator... predicting that the September 11
commission report would lead to a national ID card and asked that it be rejected. Opponents say
such a card would not prevent terrorism, and would instead be an expensive program that directs
resources away from more effective counterterrorism measures. The estimated costs for the
program ranges widely, with one at $4 billion and another at between $25 billion and $30
billion.”
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Wouldn’t this money be spent more effectively at sealing our borders? With $4
billion the Mexican border could be sealed with a secure fence. $25 billion would fund fences on
both borders and hundreds or even thousands of more border guards for years to come.
Despite opposition and legitimate concerns, the Senate passed the bill 96 to 2. During the
debates in the House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas was very explicit
regarding his concerns and he urged his fellow Congressman to reject the bill. Following is an
excerpt from his speech:
“National ID cards are not proper in a free society,” Paul stated. “This is
America, not Soviet Russia. The federal government should never be allowed to
demand papers from American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional
authority to do so.”
“A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow
the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and
transactions of every American,” Paul continued. “History shows that
governments inevitably use such power in harmful ways. The 9-11 commission,
whose recommendations underlie this bill, has called for internal screening points
where identification will be demanded. Domestic travel restrictions are the
hallmark of authoritarian states, not free nations. It is just a matter of time until
those who refuse to carry the new licenses will be denied the ability to drive or
board an airplane.”
“Nationalizing standards for drivers licenses and birth certificates, and
linking them together via a national database, creates a national ID system pure
and simple. Proponents of the national ID understand that the public remains wary
of the scheme, so they attempt to claim they’re merely creating new standards for
existing state IDs. Nonsense! This legislation imposes federal standards in a
federal bill, and it creates a federalized ID regardless of whether the ID itself is
still stamped with the name of your state.”
“Those who are willing to allow the government to establish a Soviet-style
internal passport system because they think it will make us safer are terribly
mistaken,” Paul concluded. “Subjecting every citizen to surveillance and
screening points actually will make us less safe, not in the least because it will
divert resources away from tracking and apprehending terrorists and deploy them
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