Urges Congress to extend deadline for implementation of federal Real ID Act of 2005 and to provide states with adequate funding to implement Real ID Act.


 
 
 
     74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 2155
 
                     House Joint Memorial 11
 
Sponsored by Representatives BEYER, GILMAN
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Urges Congress to extend deadline for implementation of federal
Real ID Act of 2005 and to provide states with adequate funding
to implement Real ID Act.
 
                         JOINT MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States and the Senate and the
  House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
  Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-fourth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the State of Oregon denounces and condemns all acts of
terrorism by any entity, wherever the acts occur; and
  Whereas terrorist attacks against Americans, such as those that
occurred on September 11, 2001, have necessitated the crafting of
effective laws to protect citizens of the United States and
others from terrorist attacks; and
  Whereas any new security measures by federal, state and local
governments should be carefully designed and employed to enhance
public safety without infringing upon the civil liberties and
rights of citizens of the United States; and
  Whereas the federal Real ID Act of 2005 will be a costly
unfunded mandate because the federal government has no plans to
reimburse the states for the costs of implementing the Real ID
Act and the National Governors Association, the National
Conference of State Legislatures and the American Association of
Motor Vehicle Administrators estimate that the Real ID Act will
cost at least $11 billion nationally over the next five years;
and
  Whereas the Real ID Act contains onerous record verification
and retention provisions that place unreasonable burdens on
Oregon's Department of Transportation and on third parties
required to verify records; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act places enormous burdens on citizens
seeking to renew or obtain a driver license including longer
lines, higher costs and delays in obtaining original documents
from out of state; and
  Whereas many Oregonians will not be able to obtain a driver
license, driver permit or identification card that conforms to
the Real ID Act because they are unable to locate necessary
original documents, such as birth certificates, due to
destruction in fires, floods or other natural disasters like
Hurricane Katrina or because they were born in other states and
cannot locate or obtain birth documents from 30, 40, 50 or even
60 years ago, or they were born at home and a birth certificate
was not created, or they are foreign born United States citizens
without access to birth certificates from their countries of
origin, or because they are elderly, homeless, low-income or
physically or mentally disabled people without the abilities or
resources to locate or pay for the necessary documents; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act would expose all Oregonians to an
unprecedented level of identity theft by requiring, for the first
time, Oregon's Department of Transportation to store copies of
all birth certificates, Social Security numbers and other
documents used to establish identity, making the repository a
gold mine for identity thieves; and
  Whereas the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10 million
Americans are victims of identity theft annually; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act will increase the crime of identity
theft by making the personal information of all Americans
including name, date of birth, gender, driver license or
identification card number, digital photograph, address,
signature and copies of all identity documents accessible from
tens of thousands of locations; and
  Whereas the Seventy-third Oregon Legislative Assembly enacted
chapter 775, Oregon Laws 2005, (Enrolled Senate Bill 640),
requiring centralized issuance of driver licenses and use of
biometric data for the purpose of reducing identity theft,
requiring full compliance by July 1, 2008; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act creates a national identification card
by requiring that all state driver licenses contain uniform,
machine-readable information and requiring this card for any
federal purpose, including air travel; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act requires the creation of a massive
nationwide government database containing the driver license
information of every American, accessible by the federal
government and by each state's motor vehicle department; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act enables the creation of an additional
massive private sector database of driver license information
gained from scanning the machine-readable information on every
driver license; and
  Whereas these public and private databases are certain to
contain numerous errors and false information, creating
significant hardship for Americans attempting to verify their
identity for air travel, to open a bank account or to perform any
of the numerous functions required to live in the United States
today; and
  Whereas with the use of some common types of machine-readable
technology, licenses containing personal information may be
readable by anyone on the street in close proximity to an
individual carrying a driver license; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act requires that each driver license
contain the driver's home address without exception and makes no
provisions for securing the personal information of individuals
in potential danger such as undercover police officers, judges
and some victims of domestic violence, stalking or criminal
harassment; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act threatens the privacy and liberty of
individuals who belong to minority or unpopular groups, including
some racial and cultural organizations, faith-based and religious
organizations, political parties and social movements and
individuals who own or collect firearms; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act eliminates a process of negotiated
rulemaking initiated under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 in which federal, state and local
policymakers, privacy advocates and industry experts convened to
address the problem of misuse of identity documents; and
  Whereas the Real ID Act would provide little security benefit
and still leave identification systems open to insider fraud,
counterfeit documentation and database failures; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  (1) The Oregon Legislative Assembly supports the government of
the United States in its campaign against terrorism, but the
campaign must not be waged at the expense of essential freedoms
and protections for every Oregonian. In particular, the Oregon
Legislative Assembly opposes implementation of a common
machine-readable technology requirement as part of the Real ID
Act that compromises personal identifying information of Oregon
drivers. The Oregon Legislative Assembly will neither enact
legislation nor authorize any appropriation to further the
implementation of the Real ID Act in Oregon until Congress
addresses the issues specified in this joint memorial.
  (2) The Congress of the United States is respectfully urged to:
  (a) Extend the deadline for implementation of the Real ID Act
until at least two years after the federal government approves
the rules necessary for states to determine which state laws,
administrative rules and practices are necessary to implement the
Real ID Act;
  (b) Extend the deadline for implementation of the Real ID Act
until privacy protections and safeguards are implemented to
ensure that copies of all identification documents such as birth
certificates and Social Security cards, and personal information
including name, date of birth, gender, driver license or
identification card number, digital photograph, address,
signature and personal data submitted to, copied or retained by
Oregon's Department of Transportation are sufficiently protected
against unauthorized or illegal access and use;
  (c) Provide appropriations to cover the costs of implementing
the Real ID Act in Oregon and other states; and
  (d) Provide an easily accessible, low-cost system that allows
all Oregonians, regardless of place of birth, to obtain the
documents necessary for a driver license, driver permit or
identification card that conforms to the Real ID Act.
  (3) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to the President of
the United States, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
Secretary of Transportation, the United States Attorney General,
the Governor of Oregon, and each member of the Oregon
Congressional Delegation.
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