I wrote the article below to give you all an understanding of what we have been doing to stop the Real ID in NC.
What I am asking you to do now is to immediately call and email each and every day this week and next to the office of Representative Cole.
We don't want any of his whitewashed Legislation, we want our proposed legislation that is designed to protect our privacy and our rights.
http://www.ncard.info/nc_real_id_bill/Stop_Real_ID.pdf
Tell him that we want him to end this Real ID / pASS ID in our state now.
Representative Nelson Cole Phone: 919-733-5779 Email: Nelson.Cole@ncleg.netSPREAD THE WORD!!
www.ncard.info
http://twitter.com/StopRealIDNOW###
Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Representative Cole on Real ID Issue in NC
June 23, 2009
info@ncard.info
I and many members of this grassroots effort to stop the Real ID / pASS id in North Carolina have worked over the past two years with Representative Cole and other legislators to stop this ID card.
Last year, Representative Cole Introduced HB 2136: “An Act to prevent the state of North Carolina from participating in or complying with the Real ID Act of 2005.” Well it was stalled in committee but finally passed before the short session ended. Unfortunately it did not pass in time to get a vote in the senate.
The person who stalled the bill in committee was none other than Representative Cole.
Fast Forward to 2009. Not one Legislator that we contacted had the time to deal with the Real ID and introduce any legislation before the filing deadline.
Not being deterred, we pushed to have an amendment added to legislation that had been filed. It was simply two pages of full proof legislation that would protect our information and our privacy. http://www.ncard.info/nc_real_id_bill/Stop_Real_ID.pdf
We caught a break when Representative Verla Insko stepped up to the plate. She told us to do the leg work. This meant we had to work with the bill drafter and find a legislator who would add the amendment to their legislation.
As luck would have it, the only legislator who said they would add an amendment was none other than Representative Cole. He told me “I don't have time to deal with it, but if Rep Inkso gets the amendment written, you have my word that I will get it filed.”
Of course, it wasn’t up to Rep Insko to write the Legislation that responsibility belonged to Bill Drafter Mikael Gross a former police officer turned attorney. When I first spoke with Mr Gross, he agreed that the legislation wouldn’t take long to write up if I sent him an email with the details.
Two weeks went by and I called Mr. Gross to find out how the legislation was going. I was informed that my email was never received by Mr. Gross. Believing that perhaps my email was accidentally deleted or perhaps gobbled up by some antispam software, I gave Mr. Gross the Legislation over the phone by directing him to our web site download center. This time he assured me that he had it. However he told me that he didn’t see anything wrong with the Real ID components.
Another two weeks go by and Mr. Gross returned my phone call from the previous week. He informed me that he spoke with Representative Cole who said “that he didn’t have the time for this,” so no amendment was written.
I immediately called Representative Cole who assured me that Mr. Gross had misunderstood him and that he would contact him to clarify it. I thanked Rep Cole and immediately called Rep Insko and informed her of the situation.
The following week came, so I contacted Rep Cole’s office again, this time, I was unable to speak with Rep Cole. I had to leave several messages with his office before finally getting a call from his legislative aide who informed me that Rep Cole would not be able to work on this issue this session.
Rep Cole, told me I had his word. I guess we all know how good Rep Coles’ word is. In the mean time NC Legislators are raising our taxes to try and recover a 4 billion dollar Budget Deficit. They are looking in every nook and cranny of our lives to see how much more they can pillage out of our already shrinking wallets.
The state is spending millions of dollars on databases and Facial Recognition software, yet they don't have time to deal with the safety and security of the information of North Carolina residents.
I implore the readers of this to contact Rep Cole and demand he make time for the Real ID/ pASS ID issue.
Phone: 919-733-5779 Email: Nelson.Cole@ncleg.net###