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Monitoring
Americans by I.D. and Federal Database
July 15, 1998 by Phyllis
Schlafly
Two of the principal mechanisms by which the rulers of 20th
century police states maintained their control over their people were the File
and the Internal Passport. The government kept a cumulative file (called the
Dangan in Communist China) on every individual's performance and attitudes from
school years through adult employment, and the internal passport was an
identification that had to be presented to authorities for permission to travel
within the country, even a few miles away from home or job.
These two
methods of personal surveillance -- efficient watchdogs that prevented any
emergence of freedom -- required an army of bureaucrats fortified by a Gestapo,
a Stasi or a KGB, plus the ability to commandeer an unlimited supply of paper
and file folders. Technology has now made the task of building personal files
on every citizen, and tracking our actions and movements, just as easy as
logging onto the Internet.
Unknown to most
Americans, coordinated plans are well underway to give the Federal Government
the power to input personal information on all Americans onto a government
database. The computer will record our school, business, medical, financial,
and personal activities, and track our movements as we travel about the United
States.
These plans were authorized by the so-called conservative
Congress and are eagerly implemented and expanded by the Clinton Administration
liberals. They plan to force all Americans to carry an
I.D. card linked to a federal
database, without which we will not be able to drive a car, get a job,
board a plane, enter a hospital emergency room or school, have a bank account,
cash a check, buy a gun, or have access to government benefits such as Social
Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
Of course, all that information on a
government database means the end of privacy as we know it. Daily actions we
all take for granted will henceforth be recorded, monitored, tracked, and
contingent on showing The Card.
Legislative authority for these
dramatic changes in what we endearingly call the American way of life was
buried in several bills passed by Republicans and signed by Clinton, including
the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
(especially Section 656(b)), the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reform Act (known as Welfare reform), the 1998 Child Support
Performance and Incentive Act (known as Deadbeat Dads), and the 1993 Brady
Bill.
The Immigration Act prohibits the use of state driver's licenses
after Oct. 1, 2000 unless they contain Social Security numbers as the unique
numeric identifier "that can be read visually or by electronic means." The act
requires all driver's licenses to conform to regulations promulgated by the
Secretary of Transportation.
The Immigration Act orders the
development of a smart card that "shall employ technologies that provide
security features, such as magnetic stripes, holograms, and integrated
circuits." This magnetic stripe is expected soon to contain a digitized
fingerprint, retina scan, voice print, and other biometric identifiers, and it
will leave an electronic trail every time you use it.
It's significant
that the law orders "consultation" with the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators. AAMVA has long urged using driver's licenses, with
Social Security numbers and digital fingerprinting, as a de facto national ID
card that would enable the government to track everyone's movements throughout
North America.
The welfare reform act requires that, in order to
receive federal welfare funds, states must collect Social Security numbers from
"commercial driver's license" applicants. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997,
under the pretense of making "technical corrections" to the welfare act,
deleted the word "commercial," thereby applying the requirement to all driver's
license applicants.
The Deadbeat Dads act established a federal
"instant check" New Hires Directory. Employers are now required to "screen"
every new employee or job applicant against the new government database of
child support order obligees.
Under the Brady Act, starting Dec. 1, no
one will be allowed to buy a gun without an "instant background check" with
various government databases.
The New Jersey Legislature gave up last
week trying to pass Governor Christine Whitman's new driver's license called
"Access New Jersey" containing a computer chip capable of storing large amounts
of personal data. The bill was derailed by a left-right coalition complaining
that Big Mother was trying to play the role of Big Brother.
On June
17, the Department of Transportation announced proposed regulations for the
Immigration Act that will start the process of requiring all drivers' licenses
to display a Social Security number by Oct. 1, 2000. These regulations will
overturn the Privacy Act, which provides that "It shall be unlawful for any
Federal, State or local government agency to deny to any individual any right,
benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to
disclose his Social Security account number."
If you don't want the
Federal Government to convert driver's licenses into a national I.D. card that
will allow Big Brother to build a computerized dossier on every American, rush
your comments by August 3 to Docket Management, Room PL-401, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh St., S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20590 marked Docket No. NHTSA-98-3945.
He also forced
everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark of
his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he
had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
[Revelation 13:16-17]
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