Hold your cards: States vs. the Real ID Act.IF THE federal government gets its way, every state will have to comply with the Real ID Act as of May 11, 2008. Each American will have an ID card encoded with vital information using an undefined machine-readable technology, with the same specs from San Diego, California “San Diego” redirects here. For other uses, see San Diego (disambiguation). San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. As of 2006, the city has a population of 1,256,951. , to Bangor, Maine For other places with the same name, see Bangor. Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, MaineGR6, United States. It is the major commercial center for eastern and northern Maine. For U.S. . Well, maybe not Maine. In January both houses of the Maine legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Augusta, where it has met since 1832. passed a resolution asking Congress to repeal the Real ID Act, which would mandate national ID cards containing name, birth date, sex, ID number, a digital photograph, address, and a "common machine-readable technology" chosen by the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States , if it hasn't been altered by the deadline. Democrats control both houses, but the vote wasn't even close: The resolution passed by 34 to 0 in the Senate and 137 to 4 in the House. "It goes back to privacy concerns," says Michael Johnson Michael Johnson or Mike Johnson may refer to:
Maine's action wasn't without precedent. From 2003 to 2005, eight state legislatures (including Maine's) passed resolutions urging Congress to revise or repeal the PATRIOT Act. And in the wake of Maine's vote, 12 states, including Montana and California, are considering similar resolutions. Maine itself is upping the ante: Democrats plan to introduce a bill prohibiting the secretary of state from spending any money to comply with the act. And in the U.S. Senate on February 9, Maine's Susan Collins--a Republican who is up for reelection re·e·lect also re-e·lect tr.v. re·e·lect·ed, re·e·lect·ing, re·e·lects To elect again. re in 2008--introduced a bill that would delay the program's implementation. "Occasionally you'll get a resolution that doesn't carry much weight," Johnson says. "This isn't one of them." |
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