DFNH endorsed NH's rejection of the Real ID last year, and we stand firm on our position this year as well.

SOURCE: Boston.com

N.H. considers rejecting REAL ID, By Norma Love, Associated Press Writer | March 15, 2007

CONCORD, N.H. --A year after a bill that would have barred New Hampshire from complying with the federal REAL ID Act was defeated, opponents are trying again, arguing the act's requirements for driver's licenses amount to the creation of a national ID card.

Witnesses urged lawmakers at a hearing Thursday to bar New Hampshire from complying with the act that was enacted as a national security measure. About 75 people crowded into a hearing room to support a bill to enact the ban.

No one testified against the bill and House Transportation Chairman Jim Ryan predicted the committee would vote next week to recommend its passage.

REAL ID opponents said the act essentially creates a national ID card that invades citizens' privacy and promotes identity theft.

"We already have a national ID. It's a passport," said Kevin Clifford of North Conway. Clifford said Americans can't expect to get security by trading their freedom for it.

His wife, Elena, a native of Russia, said she didn't understand why Americans would want to adopt her former country's policy of requiring identification to travel inside the country. The Soviet Union requires citizens to carry an internal ID to move about the country, she said.

"You can choose any state to live in or travel to and you don't have to carry an ID," she said.

Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, said the act also poses a threat to people's privacy and identity.

The act creates a national database not just of driver's licenses but also all the documents used to identify the person and his or her address, she said. In its rules to implement the act, the government is recommending requiring birth certificates, bank statements, property tax bills and pay stubs as proof of identity and address each time someone applies for a driver's license, she said.

"All they have to do is get hold of your license and they have all your information," she said. "It will only take one breach of the national database to put at risk the privacy of 200 million Americans."

Amanda Grady of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence said the act would jeopardize domestic abuse victims' lives because by requiring people to provide their home addresses. Under New Hampshire's address confidentiality program, the attorney general's office is designated as a victim's agent for legal documents and mail.

Grady said domestic violence victims in shelters also would be affected since they could not use the shelter's post office box as an address.

For the victims, a confidential address "is not a matter of convenience or preference; it can be a matter of life or death," she said.

Last year, New Hampshire led the way in opposing the law -- a move now being considered by other states.

Earlier this month, President Bush bowed to pressure from the nation's governors and Congress and granted states until Dec. 31, 2009, to comply. Two years ago, Congress set a deadline for states to comply with uniform licensing standards by May 2008.

The law passed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It requires all states to bring their driver's licenses under a national standard and to link their record-keeping systems. States must verify identification used to obtain a driver's license, such as birth certificates, Social Security numbers and passports.

Driver's licenses not meeting the standard won't be accepted as identification to board a plane and enter federal buildings.

Maine lawmakers adopted a nonbinding resolution in January opposing the law.

Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, the prime sponsor of New Hampshire's bill, said 26 states have either legislation or resolutions pending opposing REAL ID. He said 11 states have legislation facilitating compliance -- some of which also have measures opposing the act.

Last year, New Hampshire's House voted against participating and Gov. John Lynch said he would sign the bill, but the Senate rejected it. New Hampshire also was one of two states picked to pilot the program, but Lynch and the Executive Council did not approve the $3 million grant.

Last month, Lynch reiterated his concerns that too many questions remained about the cost, privacy and turning motor vehicle workers into de facto agents of Homeland Security. He said implementing the federal identity system could cost New Hampshire tens of millions of dollars.

"The governor still has strong concerns about the cost, what information is going to be shared and with whom," Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said Thursday. "The federal government has failed to provide answers on any of this."