My letter to my Senator regarding the REAL ID Act.

[Kentucky]

I recently subscribed to your eNewsletter and I appreciate your staff providing this service to help keep citizens informed of your efforts and work inside the Capitol.

I read with particular interest the article which noted your effort to force the Federal Government to pay for the implementation of the REAL ID system.

While I appreciate the sentiment in such an effort I am writing to ask you to re-consider this position. The first reason is that the Federal Government in reality has no money of it's own, and any funding from them eventually is billed to the American taxpayers in any event.

The second and more important reason for my objection is that I feel the REAL ID act is a terrible threat to our Liberty and is an infringement upon the rights of American citizens. The state of Tennessee has already passed legislation refusing to comply with the REAL ID act. I ask that you strongly oppose any sort of implementation of this system, regardless of who initially pays for it. Thank you for your time and your efforts.

Fighting Unfunded Federal Mandates

When I was governor nothing made me madder than when someone in Washington came up with some big idea and then sent me the bill. That’s exactly what REAL ID does.

So during the Fiscal Year 2008 Homeland Security Appropriations bill I introduced an amendment to provide $300 million in funding to help states implement the REAL ID Act of 2005 – legislation that set minimum national standards for state driver’s licenses and would require more than 245 million Americans to get new drivers licenses or photo ID cards.

REAL ID is a massive unfunded federal mandate on the states. Already, 17 states (including Tennessee) have passed legislation opposing the REAL ID Act.

My amendment would have given the states a down payment towards addressing the funding shortfall created by REAL ID. Congress should either pay for REAL ID or repeal it.

I’m disappointed my proposed amendment failed by just four votes, but I will look for other ways to fight unfunded federal mandates.