HR 2337 IH

To repeal section 656 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

June 24, 1999

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. MEEKS of New York, and Mr. CAMPBELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

To repeal section 656 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Section 656 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (referred to in this Act as `IIRIRA') requires States to collect, certify, and display social security account numbers on State-issued driver's licenses and conform with federally mandated uniform features for driver's licenses.

(2) Section 656 of IIRIRA threatens the privacy of all people living in the United States.

(3) Section 656 of IIRIRA expands the use and dissemination of the social security account number.

(4) Section 656 of IIRIRA requires Federal agencies to accept only documents that meet the standards laid out in that section, thus creating a de facto national identification card.

(5) Section 656 of IIRIRA preempts State authority over the issuance of State driver's licenses, violating the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1994 (referred to in this Act as `UMRA').

(6) The actual costs of compliance with section 656 far exceed the $100,000,000 threshold established by UMRA.

(7) Section 656 of IIRIRA preempts the traditional State function of issuing driver's licenses and places it in the hands of officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(8) Section 656 of IIRIRA requires States to conform their driver's licenses and other identity documents to a detailed Federal standard.

(9) Section 656 of IIRIRA requires that each license contain either in visual or electronic form the individual's social security account number unless the State goes through the burdensome and invasive procedures to check each individual's identity with the Social Security Administration.

(10) Section 656 of IIRIRA will greatly expand the dissemination and misuse of the social security account number at a time when the Congress, the States, and the public are actually taking measures to reduce the use of social security numbers as drivers' identity numbers.

(11) Only 7 States require the social security account number to be displayed on driver's licenses.

(12) 9 States have repealed their requirement that driver's licenses display the social security account number since 1992.

(13) The 10th amendment to the Constitution deprives the Federal Government of all constitutional authority to establish standards for State driver's licenses, or any other sort of national identification card.

(14) On June 17, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promulgated in the Federal Register (23 C.F.R. part 1331) a proposed rule (entitled `State-Issued Driver's Licenses and Comparable Identification Documents; Proposed Rule') that provides the basis for a national identification card.

(15) On October 20, 1998, the House of Representatives voted 333 to 95 to pass the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999. This Act contains a provision which prohibits the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from issuing a final rule on national identification cards, as required under section 656 of IIRIRA.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF SECTION 656 OF IIRIRA.

Section 656 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 301 note) is repealed.

END