Bi-Partisan Opposition in Pennsylvania to REAL ID Seeks to Block Implementation

Pennsylvania also, like West Virginia, presently has bi-partisan legislation pending against REAL ID to prevent its implementation.

As the article points out this unusual bi-partisan coalition is mirrored at the national level where groups as diverse as the ACLU and American Center for Law and Justice (as well as National Rifle Association) are all finding common ground in the Constitution to defend their rights to privacy and state's rights against government intrusion. As in West Virginia, it can be seen that republicans have taken up the cause in their respective legislatures and become among the most vocal in opposition.

Note the name of the Senate bill introduced in Pennsylvania and the detailing of what "biometric" and "economic" measures are to be kept private from government intrusion (bills linked in clip):

This act shall be known and may be cited as the
REAL ID and Biometric and Economic Privacy Act.

Any governor that does not see the strength and broadness of this movement, or is blind to what the Constitution limits government from doing, will probably find bipartisan opposition to their re-election as well.

Note the legislative bills from Pennsylvania are linked in the clip below.

clipped from www.pittsburghlive.com Backlash mounts against REAL ID HARRISBURG -- Republican and Democratic state lawmakers are teaming up to oppose the federal REAL ID program, claiming it creates a national identity card that poses a threat to personal privacy. REAL ID "is a terribly invasive new government tracking system being implemented here in Pennsylvania and across this nation, without legislative approval and certainly without public knowledge," said Rep. Sam Rohrer, a Berks County Republican known as one of the Legislature's most conservative members. Rohrer and Rep. Babette Josephs, a liberal Philadelphia Democrat, are sponsoring a bill that would block REAL ID in Pennsylvania. "The potential for identity theft is gigantic, unbelievable," Rohrer said. The REAL ID program was included in a federal defense spending bill approved in 2005 without public hearings. Senate Bill 1220, by Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County. View it online. House Bill 1351, by Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks County. View it online.