00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19                                                                     
01 Relating to opposition to the Real ID Act of 2005.                                                                      
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the Real ID Act of 2005 was passed without hearings, testimony, or                                      
04 public discussion as part of a last-minute addition to the Emergency Supplemental                                       
05 Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005; and                                 
06       WHEREAS the citizens of the state recognize the Constitution of the United States as                            
07 their charter for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the Bill of Rights preserves the                     
08 fundamental and inalienable rights of Americans, including the freedom of privacy and the                               
09 freedom from unreasonable searches; and                                                                                 
10       WHEREAS each of the state's elected public servants has sworn to defend and uphold                              
11 the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Alaska; and                                         
12       WHEREAS the state, under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United                                  
13 States, has always exercised its exclusive power to establish standards and regulations for the                         
14 issuance of Alaska state driver's licenses and Alaska state identification cards; and                                   
15       WHEREAS the federal government imposes a huge fiscal impact on the Division of                                  
16 Motor Vehicles to implement the Real ID Act of 2005; and                                                                

01       WHEREAS compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005 will result in the display of                                   
02 Alaskans' residential addresses on their driver's licenses, but noncompliance will result in                            
03 limitations on Alaska residents' freedom of travel and access to federal facilities; and                                
04       WHEREAS the federal government has failed to show any measurable evidence that                                  
05 the implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005 will make our borders more secure and better                              
06 protect our citizens from terrorism;                                                                                    
07       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the federal                                         
08 government not to wage the war on terrorism at the expense of states' rights and essential civil                        
09 rights and liberties of citizens protected by the United States Constitution and the Bill of                            
10 Rights; and be it                                                                                                       
11       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature subscribes to the                                            
12 philosophy espoused in the following quotation attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "They that                              
13 can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor                           
14 safety"; and be it                                                                                                      
15       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature does not believe the Real                                    
16 ID Act of 2005 will make the United States measurably safer and encourages the United                                   
17 States Congress to repeal the Real ID Act of 2005.                                                                      
18       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
19 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
20 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                              
21 Representatives; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                       
22 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
23 delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 110th United States Congress.