13 Mar URGENT – Call TODAY to Support Defunding Real ID!
March 13, 2008
Vote Expected This Week.
The groundswell against implementation of Real ID continues to gain momentum. The majority of Americans still oppose carrying, or being chipped with, any kind of mandatory national identification. This week the great state of Pennsylvania (“Virtue, Liberty, and Independence”) is conducting hearings to consider joining the seven other states — Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington – that have already enacted laws banning state implementation of Real ID. Of urgent importance, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is sponsoring an amendment (offered in the full Senate) to the Senate’s budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 70). This amendment is needed to prevent spending another $50 million this year on Real ID.
Last year our efforts greatly reduced expenditures on Real ID, which were proposed at $300 million. Instead of spending $50 million on Real ID, Senator Tester’s amendment would spend that money on our nation’s veterans.
But time is of the essence; a vote is expected in the Senate this week – likely on Thursday, March 13, or Friday, March 14.
ACTION TO TAKE
Contact your Senators, and urge a “Yes” vote on the Tester amendment. You only have time for phone calls and emails, and emails are easily deleted and dismissed.
You may phone the U.S. Senate switchboard at (202) 224-2131. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.