MAINE CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

MCLU Applauds Rejection of Real ID Funding Amendment
Rebukes Senator Collins; Applauds Senator Snowe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 27, 2007

Portland- The Maine Civil Liberties Union yesterday cheered the defeat of an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act that would have provided federal funding for Real ID, a de facto national ID card that the state of Maine twice rejected earlier this year.

A nay vote on S.A. 2405 was a vote in favor of appropriating $300 million dollars to fund the program.  The proposed funding was defeated 50-44.  Senator Susan Collins disregarded the broad bipartisan opposition to Real ID in her home state when she cosponsored the amendment and voted nay, which was a vote to fund Real ID.  The MCLU applauded Senator Olympia Snowe for voting against funding Real ID.

“The Senate refusal to fund Real ID is a sign that the federal government is finally sitting up and paying attention to the nationwide revolt against this dangerous program,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.  “We are disappointed that Senator Collins did not listen to the people of Maine, who were the first in the nation to refuse Real ID.”

The amendment, introduced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), would have provided a paltry amount of federal dollars that would not have come close to covering the cost to states of implementing Real ID.  The Department of Homeland Security itself has estimated Real ID will cost $23.1 billion, including $14.6 billion in costs to states and $7.9 billion in costs to individuals.  The MCLU called the $300 million called for by this amendment merely “sucker money” that would have left states facing deep expenditures.

“No amount of money could fix the fact that Real ID is a privacy nightmare and a genuine threat to our civil liberties,” said Bellows.  “Congress should go a step further and repeal Real ID.”

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