HF 2697

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 05/21/2017 10:49am

A resolution
memorializing the President and Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act.

WHEREAS, the citizens of Minnesota recognize the Constitution of the United States as our
charter of liberty and that the Bill of Rights enshrines the fundamental and inalienable rights of
Americans, including the freedoms of privacy; and

WHEREAS, any new security measures of federal, state, and local governments should be
carefully designed and employed to enhance public safety without infringing on the civil liberties
and rights of innocent citizens of Minnesota and the United States; and

WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act of 2005 creates a national system that requires uniform
information to be placed on driver's licenses and identification cards, requires this information to
be machine readable in a standard format, and requires this card for any federal purpose including
air travel; and

WHEREAS, REAL ID is a costly unfunded mandate on the state; and

WHEREAS, REAL ID requires the creation of a massive public sector database containing
the driver's license information on every person with a REAL ID compliant driver's license or
identification card, accessible to every state motor vehicle employee; and

WHEREAS, the database is certain to contain numerous errors and false information, creating
significant hardship for Americans attempting to verify their identity in order to fly, open a bank
account, or perform any of the numerous functions required to live in the United States today; and

WHEREAS, REAL ID will enable the crime of identity theft by making the personal
information of each person with a REAL ID compliant driver's license or identification card,
including name, date of birth, gender, driver's license or identification card number, digital
photograph, address, and signature, accessible from tens of thousands of locations; and

WHEREAS, REAL ID was passed without sufficient deliberation by Congress and never
received a hearing by any Congressional committee or any vote solely on its own merits; and

WHEREAS, REAL ID provides little security benefit and still leaves identification systems
open to insider fraud, counterfeit documentation, and database failures; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the citizens of Minnesota to oppose any portion of the REAL
ID Act that violates the rights and liberties guaranteed under the Minnesota Constitution or the
United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
and the Congress of the United States to repeal the REAL ID Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of Minnesota is directed to prepare
copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and Vice President of the United States,
Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and the Secretary
of the United States Senate, the United States Secretary of State, Minnesota's Senators and
Representatives in Congress, and the Archivist of the United States.