Where we last left off with the REAL ID Act, members of Congress tried and failed to expand the reach of its privacy-invasive national ID mandate. Now Congress is set to consider yet another desperate attempt to lock-in this awful law, with Senator Lamar Alexander proposing 300 million dollars in additional federal funding as an amendment attached to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.
This measly sum won't put a dent in the estimated 23 billion dollar burden that states and taxpayers will have to bear. And it doesn't do anything to fix the fundamental flaws in the policy itself: standardizing drivers licenses' into a national ID will do little to improve national security, but it will imperil your privacy by exposing you to a wide range of tracking and surveillance activities.
The Alexander Amendment may be voted on next week, and ACLU has set up an action item so you can call your representatives and oppose it. You should also use our Action Center and tell Congress to repeal REAL ID entirely.