***STATEMENT***

For Immediate Release
May 17, 2017

CONTACT:
Beth Harrison, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215.815.7716, 610.584.1096, ext. 102

Minnesota Bows to Bullying with REAL ID Passage

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom: Minnesota Legislators Gave In to Unconstitutional Threats and Gave Up Tenth Amendment Rights of All Minnesotans by Agreeing to Conform to REAL ID

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Minnesota State House and Senate this evening passed the REAL ID bill (H.F. 3), which, says Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org), negatively impacts Minnesotans’ privacy and freedom.

CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase released the following statement regarding the vote:

“REAL ID is an unconstitutional federal law” she said. “Minnesota legislators and GOP leadership should have stood up to the federal government’s bullying tactics, but instead they bowed down to the unconstitutional threats and gave up the Tenth Amendment rights of all Minnesotans by agreeing to conform to REAL ID.

“Republican leadership used two false claims to secure passage. To instill public fear, they said, ‘You won’t be able to fly,’ even though Homeland Security says that’s not true. And to calm public angst, they said Minnesotans opposed to REAL ID will be able to get a ‘non-compliant’ license. But that’s not true either. All driver’s licenses and ID cards must comply if this bill becomes law.

“Submission to the federal REAL ID Act federalizes state driver’s licenses and ID cards, requires Minnesota to share private data on every card holder through a national identity registry, and puts Minnesotans into a National ID system, which could eventually include a requirement to use REAL ID for access to medical care,” Brase continued

“As U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said when the REAL ID bill passed the U.S. Senate in 2005 without a single hearing, ‘This really is a National Identification card for the United States of America for the first time in our history.’ U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson worried about the ‘invasion of people’s privacy.’

“Privacy is the foundation of freedom,” she concluded. “The Minnesota GOP-controlled legislature just struck a severe blow to both. We call on Governor Dayton, who took an oath to defend the constitutional rights of Minnesotans, to veto the bill.”

CCHF is a patient-centered national health freedom organization based in St. Paul, Minn., existing to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights.

For more information about CCHF, visit www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. Also view the media page for CCHF here. For more about The Wedge of Health Freedom, visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom.

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For more information or to interview Twila Brase of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, contact Beth Harrison at 610-584-1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton at 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, ext. 102.