Speech #1060000395

I rise to introduce the Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act of 1999. This act forbids the federal government from establishing any national ID cards or establishing any identifiers for the purpose of investigating. monitoring. overseeing. or regulating private transactions between American citizens. This. legislation also explicitly repeals those sections of the 1996 Immigration Act that established federal standards for state drivers licenses and those sections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a uniform standard health identifier. The Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act halts the greatest threat to liberty today: the growth of the surveillance state. Unless Congress stops authorizing the federal bureaucracy to stamp and number the American people federal officials will soon have the power to arbitrarily prevent citizens from opening a bank account. getting a job. traveling. or even seeking medical treatment unless their "papers are in orderl" In addition to forbidding the federal government from creating national identifiers. this legislation forbids the federal government from blackmailing states into adopting uniform standard identifiers by withholding federal funds.