JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Will Kraus, R–Lee’s Summit, today issued the following statement regarding the Missouri Senate’s passage of REAL ID legislation:
“Overnight the Senate signed off on House Bill 151, which allows the Department of Revenue to issue REAL ID compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards. Although many lawmakers, including some of my fellow Republicans, have touted this bill as a compromise and a choice, I continue to see it as anything but. With REAL ID, we’ve got the federal government saying give us your documents or you can’t fly on an airplane. That isn’t a real choice — it’s a false choice, and I’m not going to pretend to hide my disappointment in how things have played out.
Republicans are supposed to be about smaller government, but REAL ID creates a database that will only result in a larger, more intrusive government. It is one of the worst invasions of privacy the federal government has perpetrated on our citizens. In addition, the whole premise behind forcing states to comply with the REAL ID Act was to strengthen our national security. However, the bill we passed today gives Missourians the choice to opt out. So I ask, how secure will these new processes really make us if hundreds or thousands of citizens choose not to comply?
I realize HB 151 is well on its way to being signed into law, but I see no reason why Missouri should stand down in its attempts to push for the federal government to repeal the REAL ID Act. With that, I once again call on the people of Missouri, state lawmakers and the attorney general to continue advocating for the rights granted to us, both as citizens and as a state, by the U.S. Constitution.”