The push for a national identification system is in full swing by state driver’s license bureaucrats. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) has launched a campaign to convince the federal government to allow them to add customers’ most sensitive information to state-issued driver’s licenses. This information could include everything from fingerprints to biometric data. In addition, AAMVA is lobbying for federal money to create a national database that would be linked to every state, and would therefore house each individual’s information in a centralized locale.

Of course, by having all 50 states work together to "standardize" driver’s licenses, the national ID nazis hope to skirt much of the controversy that would surround a blatantly federal program. But make no doubt about it, the end result is the same, dreaded, national ID system that privacy advocates have been fighting for years.

This is happening FAST. In fact, the process is already underway. Betty Serian of AAMVA stated on January 14^th at a press conference: "We want to move swiftly. As swiftly as we can. First and foremost, we want a short-term legislative agenda which we hope to move forward within the next thirty to sixty days to include such things as uniformity, security features on licenses that would be standardized across the states."

Not only would a national ID system be rampant with fraud and abuse, but mistakes made by bureaucrats alone would make citizens’ lives a living hell. Currently, 30% of the information stored in federal databases is incorrect. A single mistake on your new national ID card could make it impossible for you to drive a car, apply for a credit card, or even get a job. Moreover, a national ID system WILL NOT PRODUCE A SAFER MORE SECURE NATION. ID cards can be forged and information can be falsified—just as the terrorists did on September 11.

Bottom line: the choice between liberty and security is a false one. Choose liberty, and you’re just as secure. Choose security, and you’re no safer—possibly even less safe. Government officials simply want to be able to track your every movement, purchase and doctor’s visit from cradle to grave.

We need to act FAST—before we are all forced to "show our papers."

Please read the Action to Take below.

*Action to Take*

1. Call your state legislators and urge them to do everything in their power to stop your state’s participation in a national ID system. This means blocking the sharing of any and all information collected by your state with other states or the federal government—and, of course, blocking any establishment of a centralized national database.

2. Call both of your Senators and your Representative and demand that they vote against any legislation that would help create a national ID system. Such legislation would include funding for states to create a uniform driver’s license or a data-sharing system. House Switchboard: (202) 225-3121. Senate Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

3. Click here:  to send this urgent Action Alert to up to ten of your friends.

Recall that last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service issued "biological opinions" that claimed the water level in the Klamath River Basin was too low and thus was endangering the "threatened" coho salmon and the bottom feeding, "endangered" sucker fish. One problem: 1,500 farms in Oregon and California depended on irrigation water from the Klamath Basin to feed their crops. The farmers also had legal rights to the water. No matter. Prompted by the "biological opinions" of the two federal wildlife agencies, radical environmental groups threatened to sue the federal Bureau of Reclamation if they didn’t cut off water to the farmers. The Bureau cut off the irrigation water to farms, and the farmers lost their crops and their livelihood.

Recently, National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released an interim report stating that there was no clear connection between water levels in the basin and the health of the sucker fish. The report even noted that the highest recorded increase in the number of adult suckers occurred in a year when water levels were low. NRC also found no benefit in increasing the water flow for the salmon.

It is an absolute crime that 1500 families had to lose their livelihood before the radical environmentalists and federal agencies were proven wrong. For years, these two entities have worked in tandem, using phony science and bad laws like the Endangered Species Act, to confiscate private property and shut people out of the wilderness. Eco-zealots keep few secrets about their ultimate goals of shutting humans out of rural America and herding them into cities. How many more lives will be destroyed by this radical agenda? When will Congress wake up?

We need to wake them up!

*Action to Take*

1. Call your Representative and both of your Senators and urge them to support property rights and serious reform of the Endangered Species Act. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121. Senate Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

2. Click here:  to send this urgent Action Alert to up to ten of your friends.

Reps. Pombo and Peterson: 
Brave Defenders of Property Rights

From our good friends at the American Land Rights Association (www.landrights.org):Congressmen Richard Pombo (R-CA) and John Peterson (R-PA) have taken the lead in Congress in investigating the ongoing fraud and abuses of the Endangered Species Act!

Rep. Pombo has been a champion for private property and the wise use of public lands for all of his nearly ten years in Congress. He is chairman of the Western Caucus, a group of about forty members of the House of Representatives who advocate private property rights, access to public lands, payment in lieu of taxes, and local control.

Rep. Peterson is communications director of the caucus, and has been a leader for property owners since he entered Congress in 1997.

*Action to Take*

1. Please call both Rep. Pombo and Rep. Peterson and thank them for defending property rights and exposing the green agenda. Property rights advocates need more like them! Rep. Pombo: (202) 225-1947. Rep. Peterson: (202) 225-5121.

*Note: 2002 is shaping up to be a vital year. Good patriots are defending liberty on many different fronts. We want to make APC’s Action Alert System the most effective in the nation. If you know of activists who should be receiving these alerts—especially those with distribution lists of their own—please have them contact us via feedback form or fax us at: (540) 341-8917. Thank you.