HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 13

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

W. Ken Martinez

FOR THE COURTS, CORRECTIONS AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

OPPOSING THE CREATION OF A NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REAL ID ACT OF 2005.

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico recognizes the constitution of the United States as our charter of liberty and the bill of rights as affirming the fundamental and inalienable rights of Americans, including freedom of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has a diverse population whose contributions are vital to the state's economy, culture and civic character; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is proud of its tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of all its residents, affirming the fundamental rights of all people and providing more expansive protections than are granted by the United States constitution; and

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico denounces terrorism in all its forms and condemns all acts of terrorism by any entity, wherever the acts occur; and

     WHEREAS, any new security measures to protect from terrorist attacks should be carefully designed to enhance public safety without infringing on the civil liberties and rights of citizens; and

     WHEREAS, the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, creates a national identification card by mandating federal standards for state drivers' licenses and identification cards and requiring states to share their motor vehicle databases; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act mandates the documents that states must require to issue drivers' licenses and requires states to place uniform information on every driver's license in a standard, machine-readable format; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act prohibits federal agencies and federally regulated commercial aircraft from accepting a driver's license or identification card issued by a state that has not fully complied with the act; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act places a costly unfunded mandate on states, with initial estimates for New Mexico of more than thirty-seven million dollars ($37,000,000) over five years and national estimates of more than eleven billion dollars ($11,000,000,000) over the next five years; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act requires the creation of a massive public sector database containing information on every American that is accessible to all motor vehicle agency employees and law enforcement officers nationwide and that can be used to gather and manage information on citizens, and this is not the business or responsibility of government; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act enables the creation of additional massive private sector databases, combining both transactional information and driver's license information gained from scanning the machine-readable information contained on every driver's license; and

     WHEREAS, these public and private databases are likely to contain numerous errors and false information, creating significant hardship for Americans attempting to verify their identities 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, the federal trade commission estimates that ten million Americans are victims of identity theft annually, and, because identity thieves are increasingly targeting motor vehicle agencies, the REAL ID Act will enable the crime of identity theft by making the personal information of all Americans, including date of birth and signature, accessible from tens of thousands of locations; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act requires a driver's license to contain a person's actual home address and makes no exception for individuals in potential danger, such as undercover law enforcement or victims of stalking or criminal harassment; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act contains onerous record verification and retention provisions that place unreasonable burdens on the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department and on third parties required to verify records; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act will place enormous and costly burdens on businesses, public utility companies and governmental and nongovernmental service and health agencies by mandating them to respond to documentation verification requests by the motor vehicle division; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act will place enormous burdens on consumers seeking new driver's licenses such as longer lines, higher costs, increased document requests and a waiting period; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act will place state motor vehicle division staff on the front lines of immigration enforcement by forcing state employees to determine federal citizenship and immigration status, excessively burdening both foreign-born applicants and motor vehicle division staff; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's policy to permit qualified persons to obtain driver's licenses regardless of immigration status has increased the safety and financial responsibility of the driving public and has provided substantial benefit to the residents of this state; and

     WHEREAS, compliance with the REAL ID Act would require New Mexico to create two classes of driver's licenses, or to provide a national identification card to only some of its residents, creating division and promoting discrimination among the people of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act was passed without sufficient deliberation by congress and did not receive a hearing by any congressional committee or a vote solely on its own merits, despite opposition from more than six hundred organizations, including national and local organizations such as the national conference of state legislatures, the national governors association, the American association of motor vehicle administrators and the New Mexico municipal league; and

     WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act eliminated a process of negotiated rulemaking initiated under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which had convened federal, state and local policymakers, privacy advocates and industry experts to solve the problem of the misuse of identity documents; and

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

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it support the government of the United States in its campaign against terrorism, while affirming the commitment of the United States that the campaign not be waged at the expense of the essential civil rights and liberties of the citizens of this country; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the policy of the state of New Mexico to oppose implementation of any portion of the REAL ID Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislature defend the rights of states to create their own driver's license procedures and to grant driver's licenses in a manner that best reflects the diversity and unique public safety needs of the states; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislature enact no legislation nor authorize an appropriation to further the implementation of the REAL ID Act in New Mexico, unless such appropriation is used to mount a constitutional challenge to the act by the state attorney general; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislature call upon the United States congress to repeal the REAL ID Act and urge the New Mexico congressional delegation to support measures to repeal the REAL ID Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to President George W. Bush, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Pete Domenici, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Representative Tom Udall, Representative Heather Wilson and Representative Steve Pearce.

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