NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

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Why all Americans are in danger

The 911 Commission report explicitly recommended tighter identity standards in light of the fact that those who attacked our state and the Pentagon on 911 obtained driver licenses even though they were here illegally. The 911 report noted the following,  "For terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons". "In their travels, terrorists use evasive methods, such as altered and counterfeit passports and visas, specific travel methods and routes, liaisons with corrupt government officials, human smuggling networks, supportive travel agencies, and immigration and identity fraud". 1

It is the Governor's belief that a foreign passport is sufficient to prove one's identity, however the 911 commission determined otherwise. "Yet today, a terrorist can defeat the link to electronic records by tossing away an old passport and slightly altering the name in the new one". 2 By requiring the use of social security numbers, the Department of Motor vehicles has the ability to verify their validity and thus one's actual identity through the Social Security Administration. If this requirement is eliminated, these gateway or feeder documents will enable those who are here illegally to create a lawful identity and utilize these documents to travel anywhere in the United States. Due to reciprocity from state to state, these licenses must be recognized by all of the other 49 states. This change will effect federal, state and local travel infrastructure requiring identity documents. The 911 Commission validated this concern, "All but one of the 9/11 hijackers acquired some form of U.S. identification document, some by fraud. Acquisition of these forms of identification would have assisted them in boarding commercial flights, renting cars, and other necessary activities."  3

The federal "Real Id Act" of 2005 (which the Nassau County Civic Association, Inc lobbied for) requires that all states come into compliance with the current standards now in force in New York by May 2008. As New York will no longer be in compliance, New York state driver licenses will not be accepted for identification purposes by the federal government such as boarding planes. This will require every New Yorker to obtain a U.S. passport for a cost of $67.00 in order to board a plane. Why should over taxed New Yorkers have to foot the bill for granting driver licenses to illegal aliens?  

If national security concerns are not enough, there is the issue of illegal immigration. The 911 Commission noted "the need for attention to America's porous borders and the weak enforcement of immigration laws." 4 The Governor's desire to bring illegal aliens "out of the shadows" was repudiated by the people in the defeat of several amnesty proposals before congress. The operative word in this debate is legal versus illegal. The Governor has a legal and moral obligation to enforce the law. 

In the world of politics, nothing seems to matter. While running for Governor, Elliot Spitzer promised to grant driver licenses to illegal aliens regardless of the law and our security. He addressed the throngs of illegal aliens who demanded amnesty last year in downtown Manhattan. To his critics, he engages in vicious personal attacks and allows his administration to misuse governmental agencies. To the People, he believes he is a steamroller who can run the government,  "We will use the capacity of the executive branch to govern the state, whether or not the legislature joins us in this pursuit." 5  His decision to pander to those who are not even legal residents is dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong and ethically wrong.