Congress Is Quietly Passing A New Bill That Pushes A Highly Controversial ID System

At face value, H.R. 4760 – as laid out by doesn’t appear to have anything to do with privacy.

In fact, it mainly seems focused on migration, with key points including ending chain migration and the Visa Lottery, granting amnesty to DACA recipients and strengthening border security.

But tucked within the 400-page bill is a proposal that could give the federal government a slew of sensitive biological information about citizens and signal a blow to privacy rights across the nation.

As WND reports, H.R. 4760 – which Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte introduced proposes a “mandatory national identification system in which citizens would be required to carry a government-approved ID containing ‘biometric features.’”

This card would be mandatory for anyone seeking employment in the United States. It may contain fingerprints, retinal scans and scans of a person’s veins.

Former Republican lawmaker and presidential candidate Ron Paul has come out swinging against the proposal, stating in a petition that it “is exactly the type of battle that often decides whether a country remains free or continues sliding toward tyranny.”

According to WND, Paul further added that he fears the federal database that would track the cards “could expand to include American citizens’ gun ownership status, religious beliefs, political affiliation and virtually anything else at the stroke of a President’s pen.”

Paul also fears that the card could eventually be required even for routine purchases.

The effort to instate a national biometric ID is not new, of course; both Republicans and Democrats tried to pass it under the Obama administration as well.

“Using the momentum behind Trump’s tough talk on immigration and border security, I’m afraid the statists believe the best way to finally enact their National ID scheme is by promoting their bill on Capitol Hill as a ‘DACA fix’ while they sell it to the GOP base as a border ‘security’ measure,” WND further quotes Paul as stating.

Adding his voice to the fray of dissent is libertarian CATO Institute fellow Alex Nowrasteh.

“A national ID hurts American workers while pretending to help them,” he wrote in a Fox News column.

“American workers shouldn’t have to beg or plead to anybody to get permission to work,” he continued. “Being employed should be a private agreement between an employer and employee. Period. The government should get out of the way.”

If you wish to fight this proposal, visit Ron Paul’s petition here.

Sources:
Choose Liberty
Fox News
WND