From alt.conspiracy
From: ralph@TeamInfinity.com (Ralph)
Subject: BIOMETRIC ID CARDS are coming in an IMMIGRATION TROJAN HORSE
Date: 7 May 1996 10:46:42 -0400
Organization: TEAM INFINITY  P.O. BOX 952 Greenbelt, MD 20770 USA
Lines: 300
Message-ID: <4mnnoi$4k3@dialin01.teaminfinity.com>

		
MAKE SURE you read the whole thing  !!!


-----------FWD-------------------

Date sent:        Wed, 1 May 1996 22:34:46 -0500
From:                MAWeav@aol.com
Date:                Wed, 1 May 1996
Subject:           Gov't. Tracking of Americans

Linda,

Thanks for the article on the Christian Coalition's opposition to the
immigration "reform" bills moving through Congress. You should know,
however, that many of those individuals and organizations which
opposed the so-called Immigration Reform bills---the Senate version
of which will likely have been voted on by the time you read
this---did so because of the incredibly ominous national citizen
registry and tracking provisions in the bills. I can't speak for the
Christian Coalition, but I know that Grover Norquist's opposition was
based on these problems---not his consulting work for Microsoft
Corporation.

These bills do more than attempt to stop the immigration
problem---they set in motion requirements that private employers seek
approval from a nationwide government database of "eligible
employees" before they can hire anyone. This means that every
American citizen would have to be registered in this massive
government database. This system would be implemented through a some
type of national ID card, verified through a biometric encoder such
as a fingerprint or retina scan. The way this will most likely work
is through the nationwide standardization of state driver's licences
and consolidation and sharing of this information with the federal
government. This is not some Bircher fantasy, this is fact. Please
read the attached white paper (now somewhat superceded by events)
from the National Center for Home Education, another conservative
group vehemently opposed to this legislation.

Yes, illegal immigration is a problem that must be dealt with, but
the "reform" moving through the Congress isn't the answer. To mangle
Benjamin Franklin, those who will sacrifice liberty for a little
security deserve neither.

Mark Weaver   

============================

February 1996

Congress Poised To Mandate Government Registration and Tracking of
All Americans

Imagine an America in which every citizen is required to carry a
biometrically-encoded identification card as a precondition for
conducting business. Imagine having your retina scanned every time
you need to prove your identification. Imagine carrying a card
containing your entire medical, academic, social, and financial
history. Now, imagine that bureaucrats, police officers, and social
workers have access under certain circumstances to the information on
your card. Finally, imagine an America in which it is illegal to seek
any employment without approval from the United States government.

This future may be more real than many Americans would like to think
if Congressional lawmakers are allowed to proceed with their most
recent attempt at monitoring the private lives of American citizens.

Enter S. 269, the latest attempt by Congress to mandate a
computer-driven, biometrically-verifiable national identification
system. If enacted into law, S. 269 would require the most
comprehensive registration and tracking of American citizens by the
federal government in history. Some experts have speculated that
once the system envisioned by S. 269 is in place, the scope of the
identity card could be expanded to include information of a highly
personal nature, such as credit and spending history and medical,
educational, and social records.

On February 29, 1996, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to
begin deliberation on S. 269, The Immigration Reform Act of 1996.
The bill has already passed the Immigration Subcommittee and is being
promoted by Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
In the House, Republican Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas is the key
sponsor of a similar bill, H.R.2202, The Immigration in the National
Interest Act. Although the House bill is not as extreme in its
proposals as the Senate version, it still contains provisions which
should be viewed as objectionable by family privacy advocates. H.R.
2202 is scheduled for a final floor vote on March 18. The Clinton
Administration is a strong proponent of both bills.

Why would Congress and the Clinton Administration consider such a
plan?

Some Americans believe that America is in the midst of an illegal
immigration crisis. Politicians want to show their constituents that
they are taking strong action against illegal immigration. These
politicians argue that the best way to control illegal immigration
is to give the government the right to approve all employee hiring in
America. By using advanced technology to register, track and store
information on every citizen, they argue, it will be easy to spot
illegal immigrants.

If At First You Don't Succeed . . .

Similar (but unsuccessful) proposals to create a national registry
and tracking system were advanced in the early 1980's by a powerful
array of government agencies who brushed aside any concerns about
personal privacy. Agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, the
State Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency, each for their
own unique reasons, craved a law which would require every American
to carry a national identity card. One attempt to register and track
Americans came close to being endorsed by the Reagan cabinet in July
1981, but it was stopped when President Reagan personally vetoed the
idea on the grounds that it was a massive invasion of privacy.

In 1993, under the guise of an immunization bill, Congress attempted
to register and track every American from birth, but the measure was
defanged of its dangerous provisions after tens of thousands of
calls and letters poured into Washington D.C. from parents around the
country asking Congress to respect their family privacy and
individual liberties. Perhaps the most famous attempt to create a
national registry came in 1994 as part of the Clinton
Administration's ill-fated Health Security Act.

Each time these proposals have been mounted, pro-family forces have
rallied to defeat them.

Smart Cards, Retina Scans, Voice Patterns and the Coming Biometric
Privacy Invasion

Biometrics is the science of measuring unique physiological or
behavioral characteristics. In recent years, the technology which
drives this science has evolved well beyond fingerprinting and
dental records. In fact, the technology is available to identify
people by the length of their fingers, the pattern of their retinas,
the sound of their voices, and the smell of their skin. Senate
lawmakers intend to incorporate advanced forms of this technology as
part of the most comprehensive identification and information
gathering program in history.

On May 10, 1995, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration met for a
hearing entitled, "Verification of Applicant Identity for the
Purposes of Employment and Public Assistance." The hearing was
chaired by Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) and was attended by Senators
Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Jon Kyl (R-AZ).
Robert Rasor, from the Financial Crimes Division of the Secret
Service, provided an explanation to the Subcommittee of the emerging
"biometric" technologies' role in personal identification: "The use
of biometrics is the means by which an individual may be conclusively
identified There are two types of biometric identifiers: physical
and behavioral characteristics. Physiological biometrics include
facial features, hand geometry, retinal and iris patterns, DNA, and
fingerprints. Behavioral characteristics include voice
characteristics and signature analysis."

Although the language of S. 269 does not mandate which specific
biometric technique will be used to register, track and identify
every American, it clearly calls for the use of biometrics (Section
115(7)). Senator Dianne Feinstein, an original drafter of the
proposal, recently explained in a Capitol Hill magazine that it is
her intention to see Congress immediately implement a national
identity system where every American is required to carry a card with
a "magnetic strip on which the bearer's unique voice, retina pattern,
or fingerprint is digitally encoded."

"Fifteen years ago, they would have torn the building down."

Despite the fact that this bill could dramatically increase the role
of the federal government in the private lives of Americans, the
proposal has received relatively little media attention. Senate
sponsors seem to be pleased by the opportunity to act covertly.
During his closing remarks following the last panel of the May 10
subcommittee meeting, Senator Simpson mused on the relative lack of
media attention given the hearings and the overlap between a national
ID card and President Clinton's proposal for a "Health Security Card"
two years ago: "There is much to do here, but I was just saying to
Ted [Kennedy] before he left, a hearing like this fifteen years ago,
they would have torn the building down. And here we are today just a
bunch of us, kind of sitting around and no media, no nothing. This is
fine with me. I get tired of them on this issue."

Key Problems With The Bill

Congressional attempts to include privacy safeguards in the language
offer little hope or consolation. Agencies like the IRS and the
Social Security Administration (SSA) have recently been subject to
criticism for their lack of control over employees who, in violation
of the privacy safeguards, were opening confidential files and making
the information available to outsiders. Among other things, the bill
establishes: 

*    That the federal government create a national database
containing information on all Americans and immigrants eligible to
work in this country (S. 269, Sec. 111).

*    That all Americans may be required to obtain a national
identification device, like an ID card (S. 269, Sec. 111(b)). 

*    Beginning in 1999, all employers must receive authorization from
the national computer database before hiring any new employee this
does not just apply to immigrants. For each new employee, the company
would be required to transmit his name and identification number via
modem and then wait for the national database to respond with an
authorization code. If the person's name is not in the database, he
can not work (S. 269, Sec. 111). 

*    All American children must register with the SSA by age sixteen.
When they register, they must provide the agency with a "fingerprint
or other biometric data." The agency would place the fingerprint "or
other biometric data" on the child's birth certificate, hoping to
make the birth certificate more fraud-resistant (S. 269, Sec.
116(7)).

*    In violation of the Tenth Amendment, the Senate bill would
create federalize rules pertaining to the creation of driver's
licenses, and would unconstitutionally mandate that 1) social
security numbers be attached to the license; and that 2) all drivers
licenses "shall contain a fingerprint or other biometric data." (S.
269, Sec. 116(b)).

A National Database Would Be a Nightmare!

Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) called the national computer
registry and move toward a national identity card, "an abomination
and wholly at odds with the American tradition of individual
freedom." Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) recently joined Armey in
signing a letter denouncing the tracking system. Jack Kemp wrote in
the New York Times, "An anti-privacy, anti-business and anti-American
approach is no way to run immigration policy."

These bills would create an unprecedented increase in the
government's ability to collect information. For the first time:

*    The government would have a comprehensive registry of every
American name, date of birth, place of birth, mother's maiden name,
Social Security number, gender, race, and other information.
Personal information that is now scattered in many different places
would be consolidated in one database, controlled by a single federal
agency.

*   Personal information would be accessible to local agencies and
anyone who claims to be an employer.

*    The government would have to grant approval before a company
enters into private employment contract with a private citizen. 

The Legislation Is Likely To Pass Unless Significant Opposition
Develops Soon

Under the current political climate, the bill is likely to be enacted
into law. Most Senators do not even realize that the bill would
create a national, computer-linked registry and tracking system
driven by biometric technology. Those who do understand have not
properly evaluated the tremendous threat to individual liberties and
family privacy posed by the measure.

The House Version

In its current form, H.R. 2202 calls for pilot programs to test the
idea of an computer-linked verification system. It calls for new and
unprecedented databases and data sharing and computer link-ups
between state and federal agencies, thus expanding the government's
ability to monitor private citizens. Like S. 269, it would, for the
first time, require private employers to receive approval from a
federal computer database before entering into private employment
contracts with individuals.

Opposition To The Bills

More than fifty influential organizations representing groups on both
the right and left of the political spectrum have joined together in
an effort to defeat these bills. A number of Representatives and
Senators have responded favorably to their concerns. Two of them,
Senators Spence Abraham (R-MI) and Rus Feingold (D-WI) have joined
together to offer amendments to delete all references to registries,
ID cards, or employment verification programs from the Senate bill.

Action Is Urgently Needed

The registry and tracking system currently before Congress must be
defeated. Now is the time to write and call urging your lawmakers on
Capitol Hill to oppose any national registry, tracking and
identification system. Tell them that the threat to individual
liberty and family privacy far outweigh any potential benefits that
such a system might provide in curbing illegal immigration. If your
senator is a member of the Judiciary Committee urge him to support
the Abraham/Feingold Amendment. Tell them that there are acceptable
solutions to America's illegal immigration problem but giving the
government the power to register and track its citizens is not one
of them. [Note: S. 269 may be officially redubbed S.1394.]

     Call your Senator at (202) 225-3121 and your Representative at
     (202)  224-3121.

This special report was prepared by the legal staff of the National
Center for Home Education, P.O. Box 125, Paeonian Springs, VA 22129.
Permission is granted to reprint this report in its entirety.

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