Oppose REAL ID in PA

Mark C of Plum had a LTE in the Trib (7/6/2010) regarding Pennsylvania's REAL ID Nonparticipation Act. Contact your state House rep and House Transportation Committee.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/s_688754.html

On June 15, 2010, the state Senate passed Senate Bill 621, the REAL ID
Nonparticipation Act, by a 50-0 vote. This legislation, introduced by Sen.
Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, would prohibit Pennsylvania from
participating in the federally mandated REAL ID Act.

REAL ID would turn each driver's license into a national ID card. It would
put us face-to-face with real-time federal monitoring, a devious form of
control.

While Pennsylvania struggles with budget deficits, we don't need another
underfunded mandate. PennDOT should fix roads and bridges, not herd us into a costly "Big Brother" system with a biometric database.

Many thanks to our state Senate, but we must now look to our state House.
The bill is in the House Transportation Committee, chaired by Rep. Joseph
Markosek, D-Monroeville. He needs to hear that this legislation should move from his committee to the full House and then to the governor's desk.

The federal government grows relentlessly in size and arrogance. Our best
hope to reverse this is the states; that 50-0 vote is a great start. Contact your state representative and urge rejection of REAL ID by supporting SB 621.

Mark Crowley, Plum