Minneapolis Star Tribune

12/26/04

[U]nder legislation signed by President Bush this month, those state-issued licenses will have to meet uniform national standards to be accepted as proof of identity for boarding airplanes, applying for federal benefits and other U.S. government purposes. Officials say the standards will reduce fraud and thwart terrorists. But civil libertarians worry the common driver's license is being transformed into a kind of national ID card that may allow authorities to follow movements and invade the privacy of innocent Americans. 'We are opposed to a national identification card because it creates a system where Americans must show their papers in order to travel,' said Marv Johnson, a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. 'This is something characteristic of dictatorships...

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5153380.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp