Real ID Act of 2005
REAL ID ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - February 10, 2005)
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Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 418, the REAL ID Act. Not only has the House failed to consider the sweeping changes in this bill through the thoughtful and deliberative committee process, we have failed our duty to the American people to ensure that this bill will not have unintended consequences.
You may ask, ``Dingell, what unintended consequences? Doesn't this bill just keep the bad guys from harming us again?''
Well, my friends, read the fine print. .
Look at Section 102 of the bill. That section allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive ANY and ALL federal, state, or local law that the Secretary determines should be waived to ensure the construction of physical barriers and roads to deter illegal border crossings.
It would also allow waiver of laws to knock down existing structures or other obstacles.
It would give power to the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any public health law such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, as well as transportation safety, hazardous materials transportation and road construction standards.
In addition, it would grant DHS unchecked authority to abrogate criminal law, child labor laws, laws that protect workers, civil rights laws, ethics laws for clean contracting and procurement policy.
It goes even further. No procedures for using this authority are established, and judicial review by federal or state courts is expressly prohibited. It even appears there would be NO judicial review concerning the taking of private property.
The breadth of this provision is unprecedented and must not stand.
Now let's look at Section 101. This section requires that in certain asylum claims, applicants must prove that their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion ``was or will be a central reason'' for their persecution.
In effect, this will bar many legitimate refugees who have fled brutal human rights abuses, including torture, rape, and other horrific violence, from receiving asylum.
This section creates new burdens on those seeking asylum, including a corroborating evidence test, empowering an immigration officer or immigration judge to deny asylum to a refugee because he believes, in his discretion, that the refugee should have somehow been able to obtain a particular document when fleeing her country.
Mr. Chairman, I understand that we must protect our borders, but we must still allow those decent freedom loving people fleeing their countries to be able to continue to seek asylum.
I would also note that Sec. 103 specifically identifies officers, officials, representatives or spokesmen of the Palestinian Liberation Organization as terrorists, thus not able to enter the United States. Mr. Speaker, this would mean that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be barred from the United States. Given the great progress we have seen in the Middle East in the past week and that the Bush Administration is in the process of setting up meetings with Dr. Abbas in Washington, it hardly seems wise to pass a bill barring the newly elected President of the Palestinian Authority from the country.
Finally, I note that I have concerns about this bill and its unintended consequences on the Second Amendment rights of gun owning Americans like myself.
Section 203 calls for the linking of databases and creates a floor for the requirements of what can be included in the database. However, this legislation fails to create a ceiling. What could stop a State from requiring databases to contain information about gun licenses issued and gun ownership records?
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose this broad overreaching legislation. Let's have hearings. Let's have real deliberation and debate. I will vote against this legislation.
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