6 Things You Didn’t Know About REAL ID

***NEWS RELEASE***

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2017

MEDIA CONTACT:
Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, or Media@HamiltonStrategies.com

6 Things You Didn’t Know About REAL ID

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Says Most Americans Don’t Realize the Dangers of REAL ID As Some States Push Back

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Americans are ignoring the dangers of REAL ID, but at their peril,
says Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org), a national health freedom and patient advocacy organization that has staunchly opposed the push to implement a national ID system.

CCHF has been educating Americans and lawmakers about the dangers of this initiative, including the half-truths proponents are telling to advance their agenda.

“In 2005, Congress added REAL ID to a war appropriations bill in the middle of the night without public discussion,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. “REAL ID is an unconstitutional power grab—a federal ID card—that eliminates states’ rights and gives the federal government control over all citizen identification, movement, and access to goods and services—but only if state legislators agree to submit to federal control by adopting REAL ID.”

In Oklahoma, it seems as though legislators are agreeing to submit to this federal control. Last week, an Oklahoma Senate committee advanced a REAL ID bill that would “guarantee access to federal government buildings and commercial airlines to valid identification card and driver license holders,” according to NewsOK. “House Bill 1845 passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning and is now eligible for a floor hearing just three weeks into the legislative session.”

In Pennsylvania and Missouri, however, lawmakers are wisely pushing back against REAL ID. In January, 116 legislators in the Keystone State penned a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to protect their residents by reexamining REAL ID, writing: “Given that the REAL ID Law inserts the federal government into a power reserved to the states, we believe that Congress had no constitutional authority to be involved in drivers’ licensing.” View the full letter here and read CCHF’s news release on this topic.

Ten Missouri lawmakers sent a letter of their own to State Attorney General Josh Hawley, where they state that the law threatens to deprive citizens of liberties they currently enjoy, concluding with: “(W)e ask that you protect the liberty of Missouri citizens from the ‘submit or else’ condition imposed by the federal government. We implore you to take action and help prevent the encroachment of the federal government’s REAL ID Act of 2005, which we sincerely believe violates our Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap also wrote a REAL ID editorial for the Bangor Daily News with the headline: “Now isn’t the time for Maine to cave against an Orwellian privacy invasion.” Read the article here.

With REAL ID being debated in several states, CCHF has a section of its website dedicated
to REAL ID, countering the misconceptions and misstatements about the national ID law. Beyond the threat to state sovereignty, CCHF fears REAL ID could be used to impose HIPAA’s “Unique Patient Identifier” requirement, which was stopped by Congressman Ron Paul’s 1999 amendment prohibiting funding for development and implementation. REAL ID could lead to a “no card, no care” mandate if the Secretary of DHS designates health care access as an “official purpose.”

Also online are CCHF’s “13 Acceptable Travel Documents” “DHS Rule stating Citizens Can Fly without REAL ID,”document on DHS’s Unilateral Power to Expand “Official Purposes,” and
a video about the REAL ID battle in Minnesota.

CCHF is also sharing six false claims and countering facts on REAL ID:

1. CLAIM: You won’t be able to fly without a REAL ID.
   FACT: The 2008 REAL ID rule issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
   (DHS) says, “Individuals without a REAL ID-compliant document will still be able to enter federal facilities and board commercial aircraft, and these rules cannot determine what alternative documents are acceptable for these purposes.” The Transportation Safety Administration says you can fly without any ID, but you’ll go through additional security screening.

2. CLAIM: States must comply with the federal REAL ID Act.
   FACT: Under the 10th Amendment, states cannot be forced to implement federal law, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Printz v. United States. DHS cannot commandeer the states. Thus, five REAL ID compliance “deadlines” have come and gone since 2008.

3. CLAIM: Citizens can choose a “non-compliant” license.
   FACT: If states conform, they’ll issue a “for federal purposes” driver’s license and ID card. States can choose to issue a “not for federal purposes” driver’s license and ID, but both cards must comply with REAL ID requirements. DHS dictates design, requirements and use of both driver’s licenses and IDs, including a requirement that the card say “not for federal purposes.”

4. CLAIM: REAL ID is not a Federal ID.
   FACT: The “for federal purposes” card must be used for “official purposes.” The federal REAL ID Act defines “official purpose” as “accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, and any other purposes the Secretary shall determine.” In the future, buying ammunition, accessing medical services (“no card, no care”), driving, hotel registration and more could be deemed an “official purpose.”

5. CLAIM: There is no national database.
   FACT: The REAL ID Act requires state motor vehicle divisions to open their database to all

other states. It’s a hub-and-spoke system, a decentralized “distributed database” with a central hub, 50 state spokes and a pointer system. Conforming states must send a list of data to the hub, which acts as a central index of all drivers and ID holders. The system is called “State to State Exchange” (S2S).

6. CLAIM: Only three states have not complied with REAL ID.
FACT: According to DHS, 25 states have not conformed (20 have been granted extensions and five have not).

“A national ID system cannot be fully implemented unless all 50 states submit to a Federal ID,” Brase said. “Americans are being misled by false claims, including the unconstitutional threat that they won’t be able to fly. We encourage the public to stop the unconstitutional REAL ID push in their states by contacting senators and representatives about this dangerous law.”

CCHF has launched The Wedge of Health Freedom (www.JointheWedge.com) to transform the entire health care system back to freedom and restore simplicity, affordability and confidentiality. Nearly 200 Wedge practices, where patients can find affordable, patient-centered care, are located in 44 states and listed online.

CCHF is a national patient-centered health freedom organization existing to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. For more information about CCHF, visit www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. Also view the media page for CCHF here. For more about The Wedge of Health Freedom,
visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom. 

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CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, R.N., has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” A public health nurse, Brase has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. She is at the forefront of informing the public of crucial health issues, such as intrusive wellness and prevention initiatives in Obamacare, patient privacy, informed consent, the dangers of “evidence-based medicine” and the implications of state and federal health care reform

For more information or to interview Twila Brase, president and co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, contact Deborah Hamilton at 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, or Beth Harrison at 610-584-1096, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com.