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BUSH CONTEMPLATES
NATIONAL ID CARD FOR ALL CITIZENS
**Exclusive**
http://www.drudgereport.com/id.htm
A highly controversial option has emerged for use in fighting terrorism in
the United States: A national ID card which would be issued to every
citizen.
A proposal for the creation of a national ID card was presented to
President Bush in recent days, top government sources tell the DRUDGE
REPORT.
The ID card plan was included in a classified briefing outlining steps the
nation can take to limit exposure to terror attacks.
Bush briefly discussed the ID card option with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, according to insiders.
MORE
"I can tell you this, the president is very reluctant [to issue a
national ID card]," a top White House source said on Sunday.
"But we must look at all options."
Just as House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt [D-MO] says Congress
should quickly move to open debate on security measures such as a national
ID card.
"We are in a new world," Gephardt said. "This event will
change the balance between freedom and security."
SAFETY FROM A CHIP
ORACLE Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison this
weekend called for the United States to create a national
identification system -- and offering to donate the software to make it
possible -- free-of-charge.
"We need a national ID card with our photograph and thumbprint
digitized and embedded in the ID card," Ellison said in an interview
Friday night on the evening news of KPIX-TV in San Francisco.
Blair has tentatively approved identity cards which will be introduced for
the first time in Britain.
The universal identity card leads major papers in London on Monday:
'ID CARDS FOR ALL' fronts the TIMES.
'IDENTITY CARDS ON THE WAY IN FIGHT ON TERROR' headlines the MAIL.
'WE'RE ALL GOING TO HAVE ID CARDS' splashes the SUN.
MORE
Blair has
opted for a voluntary scheme in issuing the card, rejecting a
compulsory "on demand" card because of connotations with Nazi
Germany, where lack of proper identity cards could result in instant
arrest, according to reports.
However, it will be virtually impossible for anyone to live a normal life
without the new ID card in England - possession of a valid card will be
necessary for boarding an aircraft, buying gas, opening a bank account,
starting a job or claiming government benefits.
UK. Home Secretary David Blunkett on Sunday questioned the idea of a
"voluntary card".
"It would not be a great deal of help" in the fight against
terrorism, Blunkett said on BBC1's On the Record.
Blunkett stressed the need to balance the fight against terrorism with the
freedoms of a liberal society.
But he said that his "instincts" were that beating terror must
take priority and that politicians' ability to act must not be hamstrung
by an excessively legalistic approach to human rights.
New laws are expected to be rushed through the U.K.'s Parliament in coming
weeks to allow for the legality of a mandatory ID card.
In a nationwide poll released Sunday, a
stunning 85% of Brits would welcome a national ID card system in the
wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, with an overwhelming
majority calling for the cards to be packed with information to clearly
identify the holder: These include photograph (97%), date of birth (96%)
eye color (92%), a finger print (85%), DNA details (75%), criminal records
(74%) and religion (67%).
Stateside, U.S. Rep. George Gekas [R-PA], chairman of the House
immigration subcommittee, told reporters last week that Congress could no
longer reject out of hand a national ID card system for citizens.
In a survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People
& the Press, seven of 10 Americans favored a requirement that citizens
carry a national identity card at all times. The proposal had particularly
strong support from women.
ORACLE's Ellison said in the electronic age, little privacy is left
anyway.
"Well, this privacy you're concerned about is largely an illusion,''
he told PIX's anchorman Hank Plante. "All you have to give up is your
illusions, not any of your privacy. Right now, you can go onto the
Internet and get a credit report about your neighbor and find out where
your neighbor works, how much they earn and if they had a late mortgage
payment and tons of other information."
Developing...
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Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereport.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2001
Not for reproduction without permission of the author
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