Subject: USA National Identity Cards
Date:    Wed, 1 Jul 1998 00:57:31 +0000
To:      "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

From:          Lauree Rudolph
To:            heb_roots_chr@Geocities.com
Subject:       re:mondex

Hi Eddie

Smart card from mondex is mentioned in enclosed news.
Mondex info was sent to newsgroup. 
This is more info along the same line.
I thought you might want to show some or all of this info to the group.

Lauree from Spring Hill, TN

                             +++++++++++++++++++++++

National ID card on the fast track
Transportation Department already making up rules
(WorldNetDaily 6/26/98)

By: David M. Bresnahan

Like it or not, the day is fast approaching when every American will
carry a national identification card. Those who do not have one will be
denied many basic services.

Little notice was given to the issue in 1996 when Congress passed the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. One section
of the act requires all states to make their driver's licenses comply
with certain guidelines found in Section 656 (b) of the act.

Federal agencies will be required to prohibit the use of state driver's
licenses beginning Oct. 1, 2000, unless they comply with the federal
standards. The new licenses must use the Social Security number as the
driver's license number, for example.

The act also calls for digitized biometric information to be a part of
each license, or "smart card." This information will not be required
initially. But later, the biometric information will include
fingerprints, retina scans, DNA prints, and other similar information.

Responsibility for the design and implementation of the cards has
been given to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
of the Department of Transportation. That agency has recently
published the proposed "Driver's License/SSN/National Identification
Document," which contains the guidelines which must be in force by
Oct. 1, 2000. The "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" sets out the
standards for each state to follow in the design of "identification
documents."

"These new National ID regulations violate every notion of federalism,
because they force states to comply with regulations issued by the
federal government without any constitutional authority to do so,"
says Patrick Poole of the Free Congress Foundation. "Nor are federal
agencies empowered to force state to gather detailed information on
every person in order to comply with federal mandates. The net result
of the DOT's regulations is to establish a national ID system, which
has been opposed by almost every non-governmental sector for the past
five decades."

Shortly after the passage of the act by congress, Utah state Rep. Gerry
A. Adair introduced a bill to comply with the federal requirements. The
level of opposition from the public was extensive, which Adair said at
the time surprised him. The bill was defeated and was regarded as one
of the most controversial bills of that session.

States which fail to comply with the federal requirements will impose
difficulties on their citizens. Without the new card it may become
impossible to purchase firearms, get a job, board a plane, vote, cash
a check, open a bank or investment account, purchase insurance, receive
federal benefits, obtain a student loan, receive Medicare or Medicaid
benefits, and many more basic services presently taken for granted
according to Poole.

Once the card is in use, Poole suggests that privacy will be a thing of
the past. Information will be easily available about all aspects of
every American's life. The information stored in each card will be held in a
computer chip imbedded in the card, which may one day be injected under
a person's skin. Experiments testing such an identification system have
already been conducted on military personnel and for identification
security at the Olympics.

For those who point to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, Poole
explains that President Bill Clinton recently signed Executive Order
13083 entitled "Federalism." That document effectively gives authority
to the federal government to force anything it wants on states. No
effort was made by anyone in Congress to overturn the Executive Order.

Conservatives went to their legislators in 1995 to protest an effort by
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to establish a Conference of the States to
address the issue of states rights and federalism. Leavitt campaigned hard and
pointed to a federal government that had overstepped its intended role
and authority by imposing unfunded mandates on states. Conservatives
succeeded in defeating the effort but have thus far remained relatively
silent about the recent Executive Order 13083.

Phyllis Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum surprisingly had no comment
on the Executive Order. Leavitt could not be reached for comment, but he
has been very outspoken on states rights in the past.

The executive order apparently sets the stage for the federal government
to dictate anything it wants to the states. Compliance will be mandated
and states rights will be a thing of the past, according to Poole. He
said he would not be surprised to see more mandates such as the national
ID card forced upon unwilling states and citizens.

There is still time for individuals to comment on the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking. All comments must be in writing and are limited to a maximum
of 15 pages and must be received no later than Aug. 3, 1998. Two copies
of your comments should be sent to Docket No. NHTSA-98-3945, Docket
Management Room PL-401, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. Place
the docket number on each page of your comments.

Poole also suggests individuals contact their congressional
representatives. "They passed this thing, and they can change it if
they hear from enough people," he said.

*******

Wal-Mart Looks at Biometric Check-Cashing Machine
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 6/24/98)
By: Lois Flowers

Wal-Mart shoppers may soon be able to cash their
paychecks by using only their Social Security
numbers and facial features for identification.

Fort Worth-based Mr. Payroll Corp. has been
negotiating with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and a potential
ank partner to put its automated check-cashing machines
in the Bentonville retailer's stores. The machines use technology
known as "facial biometric imaging" to recognize customers.

The machines could provide another means for Wal-Mart to
trap dollars.  The company could see an increase in traffic and
spending from shoppers who cash their checks in the stores.

Mr. Payroll spokesman David Doremus said the company expects to
make an announcement about Wal-Mart in a few weeks.
"We're anticipating a favorable outcome," he said.
But Doremus would not reveal how the deal would
be structured, nor would he say how many of Wal-Mart's 3,400-plus
stores could get the machines. If past deals are a
guide, the machines could be owned by the bank, by
Wal-Mart or by both, he said.

Wal-Mart officials would not comment Tuesday on
the negotiations. Mr. Payroll is a subsidiary of
Cash America International, a publicly traded chain of
pawnshops. The company has been in the check-cashing
business about nine years and began developing its
automated machine about 18 months ago, Doremus said.

Since the first prototype was introduced in Fort
Worth a year ago, 45 units have been deployed at grocery
stores, banks and convenience stores in 15 states.
Retailers view the machines the same way they look at
automated teller machines -- another way to increase traffic
at their stores, said Dennis Telzrow, an analyst with
Dallas-based investment firm Hoak Breedlove Wesneski
& Co. The assumption is that if a customer cashes a
check or withdraws money from an ATM, he'll spend
some of that money at the store, he said.

"Most of the retailers who put these in have
seen an increase in traffic and an increase in retail sales,"
he said of the Mr. Payroll machines.  Users include BankAmerica
Corp., which is testing the machines at three Dallas-area Kroger
stores, and Wells Fargo, which has 11 machines at branches in
California. McLane Co., a Wal-Mart subsidiary that supplies
merchandise to convenience stores, has a Mr. Payroll machine at
its distribution center in Temple, Texas.  Two of the machines
are being used at convenience stores in Arkansas --
one at Dusty's in Conway and a second at the Shell
Superstop in Springdale.

The machines are simple to operate. The first time a customer
uses one, he enters his Social Security number and the amount
of his check, Doremus said. Then, using a telephone
handset on the machine, he answers a few qualifying
questions.  Once the operator at the service center is
satisfied the customer is who he says he is, a camera mounted
inside the machine takes his photograph. The digitized image is
then married to the customer's Social Security number,
Doremus said.

For subsequent transactions, the customer simply
enters his Social Security number. The biometric device inside the
machine creates a new image of the customer's face,
which is compared to the image already on file.
"If the software determines there is a match,
the transaction proceeds,"Doremus said.

The machines deployed so far have cashed more
than 170,000 checks worth nearly $50 million, Doremus said.
Customer fees range from 1 percent for payroll
checks to 3 percent for personal checks. Mr. Payroll, which
does all the back-office processing and assumes liability for any
bad checks, keeps 40 percent of the fee, Telzrow  said.  The
machine owner -- in many cases a bank partner -- gets the rest.

The automated machines sell for $54,800, with
another $5,000 needed for a high-speed data transmission line
and other incidental expenses, Doremus said. The owners also
have to supply cash to stock the machine --
typically $20,000 to $40,000 -- at startup, he said.

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