National Passport?

August 31, 1998
Issuing internal passports has been one of the methods used by communist leaders to control their people. Citizens had to carry these passports at all times and had to present them to authorities if they wanted to travel within the country, live in another part of the country, or apply for a job.

Now I ask you, does this sound a bit like the current attempt by the Clinton administration to issue a national ID card? The plan would force all Americans to carry an ID card that would be linked to a federal database, so the government can catch illegal aliens. But critics fear it would also be used to track law-abiding American citizens. It appears that you would not be able to open a bank account, apply for a job, or purchase a gun without the card.

Currently the administration is trying to distance this national ID Card from the kind of internal passports found in communist countries. But the similarities are striking when we see what the illegal immigration law requires.

The law orders the Attorney General to conduct pilot programs where the state driver's license includes a "machine-readable" Social Security number. It also orders the development of a Social Security card that uses magnetic strips, holograms, and integrated circuits.

The Law also requires that states collect Social Security numbers form all applicants for various licenses. It requires states to transmit the name, address, and Social Security number of every new worker to a Directory of New Hires. And an instant background check established by the Brady Bill requires screening of gun purchases which may eventually be tied to this national ID card.

Well, you get the idea. This national ID card is beginning to sound like an internal passport. It's time for Congress to act and stop this bad idea before it goes any further.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.

© 1998 Probe Ministries International