Iowa Congressman Tom Latham Drafts Legislation Condemning Illegal Immigrant Drivers Licenses

On Tuesday, Iowa Congressman Tom Latham's office announced that the seven-term Republican will introduce legislation Tuesday in the United States House of Representatives that reinforces the conviction that "states should not issue drivers' licenses or other government-issued photo identification to illegal aliens."

Latham has drafted the legislation in the wake of a public outcry against the proposal by Democratic New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to permit New York to join with three other states in allowing illegal aliens to acquire state driver's licenses.

Law enforcement and Border Patrol officials have also decried the proposal, saying it would only serve to undermine national security and could permit voter fraud, thereby allowing elections to potentially be rigged.

"These states have implemented a policy that rewards illegal behavior with government recognition. It sends a clear message that breaking the immigration laws of America holds absolutely no consequences," said Latham.

Latham and his supporters say that the proposal just highlights the need for the United States to have a better defined and much better enforced immigration policy.

"The September 11th, 2001 hijackers had at least 35 licenses, which helped them to rent cars and open bank accounts," stated New York Republican Congressman Randy Kuhl.

The issue of Spitzer's proposal recently prompted Senator Hillary Clinton to receive what are likely the harshest bi-partisan criticisms to be brought against her since she began her run for President, as she openly supported the proposal but at once said that it was not the best idea.

Clinton, appealing to what her critics say is her absurdly over-used mantra of the "failed policies" of the Bush Administration, said that because there has not been comprehensive immigration law reform enacted by the federal government, Governor Spitzer was simply doing the best he could to try to "fill the gap" between worker documentation and the safety and financial hazards posed by unlicensed, uninsured drivers on American highways. Clinton at one point asked what other documentation an illegal worker could be expected to carry.

After having it pointed out to her by Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut that obtaining a driver's license is a privilege and not a right, and privileges should not be granted to those who do not respect United States laws, Senator Clinton backpedaled and claimed that she did not say that the proposal should be enacted.

Dodd, unrelenting, pointed out to her that she had just said she supported the measure.

Senator Dodd further stated that Spitzer's proposal, which actually would include the issuing of three different IDs --one to be used for crossing the Canadian border, a second for boarding domestic airlines, and the third for illegal immigrants to be able to use for driving and identity purposes, supposedly all in conformity with the Department of Homeland Security's "Real ID" program--would be "a bureaucratic nightmare".

Supporters of the proposal say that there is not only a public safety issue involved that needs to be addressed, but furthermore issuing the licenses would help to draw illegal immigrants out of the shadows.

Some critics of the proposal have opined that it seems like Spitzer and the Democrats might be trying to "pick a fight" by raising the issue and then invoking their oft-repeated "failed policies" phrase.

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