JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO REPEAL THE REAL ID ACT OF 2005

your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-Third Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Congress of the United States, as follows:

WHEREAS,  the federal REAL ID Act of 2005 mandates an unfunded national driver's license on the people of Maine and was passed as a rider on a military spending bill; and

WHEREAS,  implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005 will cost Maine taxpayers approximately $185 million; and

WHEREAS,  the REAL ID Act of 2005 national database will invite theft of identity and invasion of privacy; and

WHEREAS,  the REAL ID Act of 2005 will impose inconveniences and higher taxes on Mainers with no attendant benefit such as protections from terrorism; now, therefore, be it

That the Maine State Legislature refuses to implement the REAL ID Act of 2005, and we thereby protest the treatment by Congress and the President as agents of the Federal Government; and be it further

That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the Congress of the United States repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005; and be it further

That official copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States; the Honorable Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security; the Honorable John E. Baldacci, Governor of the State of Maine; the Honorable Richard Cheney, President of the United States Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; and each member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.