Senate approves electronic ID card bill | CNET News.com: “Last-minute attempts by online activists to halt an electronic ID card failed Tuesday when the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to impose a sweeping set of identification requirements on Americans.
The so-called Real ID Act now heads to President Bush, who is expected to sign the bill into law this month. Its backers, including the Bush administration, say it’s needed to stop illegal immigrants from obtaining drivers’ licenses.
If the act’s mandates take effect in May 2008, as expected, Americans will be required to obtain federally approved ID cards with ‘machine readable technology’ that abides by Department of Homeland Security specifications. Anyone without such an ID card will be effectively prohibited from traveling by air or Amtrak, opening a bank account, or entering federal buildings.
After the Real ID Act’s sponsors glued it to an Iraq military spending bill, final passage was all but guaranteed. Yet that didn’t stop a dedicated cadre of privacy activists from trying to raise the alarm in the last few days.”
