"This is a great moment for all Americans; we have succeeded in defeating a program that would have deprived Americans of constitutional liberties, while imposing a massive federal bureaucracy to monitor their every step from cradle to grave," said Rep. Paul. "Thousands of Americans should feel great pride in knowing their calls and letters to Members of Congress succeeded in stopping the National ID."

Rep. Paul led the fight against the National ID, introducing the bipartisan HR2337, the Privacy Protection Act, in this Congress. He has also spoken and written extensively on the subject.

Calling on the federal government to end its war on the privacy rights of American citizens and the prerogatives of state governments, US Rep. Ron Paul (R, Texas) is leading a bipartisan team attempting to stop the national ID card, which is set for implementation on Oct. 1, 2000.

The Privacy Protection Act of 1999 was introduced Thursday, June 24, to repeal the sections of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilities Act that set the national ID in place. Co-sponsoring the legislation is US Rep. John Hostettler (R, Indiana), Maurice Hinchey (D, New York) and Bob Barr (R, Georgia).

The legislation is supported by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the National Council of La Raza, Eagle Forum, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation and Americans for Tax Reform.

"Under the provisions of the 1996 law, no American will be able to get a job, open a bank acount, apply for Social Security or Medicare benefits, purchase a firearm or even take an airplane flight unless their state's drivers' license conforms to the national ID," said Rep. Paul.

"Any Member of Congress who refuses to support this common-sense legislation obviously has not considered -- or has considered and rejected -- the reaction of his constituents when they learn they must produce their government papers in order to do just about anything." ...

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