Things were different during the American Revolution, but in many ways they were the same. America was in a crisis. It found itself in a war whose end was difficult to see. Fluctuations in the money supply caused prices to rise dramatically. Civil liberties were difficult to assert - those who spoke against the war were often assaulted and their property destroyed.

America survived that crisis, and came out stronger for it. But 80 years later, we found our nation in a civil war. President Lincoln directed our nation's troops without permission from Congress. He ordered that citizens be held without charges, and asserted new powers for the federal government.

About 80 years after that, the stock market crash triggering another crisis. As a result of that flashpoint, we ended up with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who instituted programs like Social Security, passed the Marijuana Tax Act, and changed the very nature of the Federal Government.

And now, almost 80 years later, we are in another crisis. September 11th, 2001 fundamentally changed America. Firefighters remember their own who were lost on that day. Pilots lock cockpit doors, while the passengers swear to themselves that they will not go down without a fight. "Live free or die," they tell themselves. But the second half of the quote is more easily forgotten. Another evil grows during a crisis; government expands and our civil liberties contract. It may take two decades and another World War, but this crisis will pass eventually. But until then, our freedoms are at risk.

A decade from now, our sons, and perhaps our daughters, may be drafted to fight in another foreign war. We may lose the freedom to make choices about our healthcare under some form of socialized medicine. We may not be permitted to travel around our country without some form of internal passport. All of these possibilities have a common thread - they require a government to register and number its citizens - they require some sort of National ID.

The federal REAL ID Act sets the framework for a National ID Card. President Bush signed this bill into law in May 2005, and it was supposed to go into effect on May 11th, 2008. I'll talk more about that in a minute. First, I'm going to tell you what the REAL ID act does, what dangers it presents, and what we as citizens can do about it.

In short, the REAL ID Act sets federal standards for state driver's licenses. Imagine a schoolyard bully loitering near the entrance of the school. When a weaker child approaches, he demands that they "voluntarily" hand over their lunch money in exchange for being allowed to proceed. Is this fair? Is this right? The REAL ID Act casts the federal government in the role of the bully. Unless each state "voluntarily" complies with the standards issued by the unelected Department of Homeland Security, the federal government threatens to refuse to recognize our licenses as a form of identification in three specific areas; entering nuclear power plants, accessing Federal facilities, and boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft.

Now, the average bank teller or bartender doesn't visit nuclear plants, and hopefully they stay out of federal court. But they do fly on commercial aircraft. And that's the big stick that REAL ID uses to threaten the states. "If you don't 'Voluntarily' do what we say, we're going to inconvenience all your citizens." And if the federal government makes good on it's threat, it will be an inconvenience for the Live Free or Die state.

But what are the costs of complying? First, there is financial cost for compliance. Each state would spend tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to meet these standards. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that the nationwide cost of compliance would total more than 14 billion dollars. In New Hampshire, the price of vehicle registrations went up last year - if we spent 30 to 80 million dollars to comply, it could double the cost of a driver's license.

Then there is the cost of our privacy. REAL ID mandates a web of databases containing all of our personal information - which will be available to DMV workers all over the country. Basic privacy protections that we have here in New Hampshire - the right to remove our social security number from the state database, the right to show a mailing address on our licenses, the right to remove our digital photos from the database - all of these protections will become illegal under REAL ID. Identity thieves are just dreaming about getting access to a treasure trove of information like this. Even worse, the DHS has requested proposals for implementing RFID chips in REAL ID cards.

And of course, there is the cost to our freedom. The immigration bill in the US Senate last year contained a provision requiring all newly hired employees to show a REAL ID card. No National ID card, no work - that is not what America is about. That is not what freedom is about. "Papers, please," is the song of a totalitarian regime where honest citizens are prohibited from exercising their basic human rights without permission from the government in the form of a license.

With the financial costs, the cost to our privacy, civil liberties and freedom, it is no wonder that almost half of the states have come out publicly against REAL ID. Here in New Hampshire, I was a proud co-sponsor of House Bill 685, which would prohibit the Live Free or Die state from participating in REAL ID, I'm happy to report that on June 27th, 2007, at approximately 3:52pm, Governor John Lynch signed this binding legislation that will keep us out of the REAL ID system!

New Hampshire is not alone. Montana, Idaho, Washington, Maine, Louisiana, Arizona, South Carolina, and Alaska have all passed binding legislation to declare they will not participate in REAL ID. Georgia and Oklahoma passed legislation delaying implementation until all the problems with privacy and civil liberties have been fixed - that could take a while.

These 11 states are joined by 10 others that have passed resolutions condemning REAL ID and calling for its repeal. More than 80% of the states have considered legislative opposition to REAL ID.

REAL ID was to go into effect in May of this year. But in the text of the law, it says, "the Secretary may grant a State an extension to meet the requirements IF the State provides adequate justification for noncompliance." What does adequate justification for noncompliance mean? The Department of Homeland Security let it be known that it would grant all requests for extensions - even from states who had declared they wouldn't participate - thereby delaying enforcement of REAL ID until January 1st, 2010.

This was the showdown a number of states had with the Department of Homeland Security this spring. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer was especially adamant that his state would not ask for an extension. He wrote letters to all the other Governors, including Governor John Lynch, asking them to stand with him, and refuse to ask for an extension. DHS put up a map on its web site, showing in grey the states that had refused to ask for extension, and in green the states which had been granted an extension. But one by one, the map turned green, and with the deadline only a few weeks away, there were only a handful of grey states left.

In New Hampshire, NHPR aired a story announcing that Governor Lynch was drafting a letter to request an extension. This was on a Thursday. I called Rep. Neal Kurk, the prime sponsor of the bill that opted New Hampshire out of REAL ID and said, what should we do? His advice to me? There's nothing we can do. If Lynch has already said it publicly, he's not going to change his mind. Don't fight the governor's office - you can't win.

I had trouble sleeping that night. Rep. Kurk was right - we couldn't win. But why did that mean we shouldn't try? The best chance of getting REAL ID repealed is to force a showdown in an election year. Imagine McCain and Obama both campaigning in New Hampshire, an important battleground state. If REAL ID was being enforced on Granite Staters right now, I guarantee you that the candidates and major parties would be tripping over themselves promising to repeal it.

So I got up early the next morning before work and wrote an email to all the other Representatives and Senators. And I asked them to contact Lynch and ask him not to send that letter. I didn't know what the consequences would be, coming out publically against the Governor on this issue - but I knew it was the right thing to do. The REAL ID act gives us a National ID card - how can we do anything less then to fight it at every opportunity?

So when I got home that night, I checked my email. I had dozens of responses from Representatives from both parties, telling me that they had contacted Lynch's office and urged him not to request the extension.

I'd love to tell you that there was a happy ending, but there wasn't. New Hampshire, and all the other states were granted an extension, even Montana, who didn't request one. The new deadline is January 1st, 2010. The bureaucrats have passed the buck - let another presidential administration, a new Secretary of Homeland Security, let someone else deal with it. It's someone else's problem now.

Well, it's going to be our problem, each and every one of us, if something isn't done. There are some important decisions that are going to be made over the next two years. So I'd challenge every one of you here today - before you vote for your state and federal representatives in November, find out where they stand on REAL ID.

The future of REAL ID is still uncertain. This is an expensive poker game that we are involved in. At stake is our freedom, our privacy, our civil liberties. Will TSA screeners bar New Hampshire families from flying to Disneyworld? Will they stop the New Hampshire businessman from attending trade conventions? Will they prevent New Hampshire lawyers from entering federal courthouses? If I am re-elected, I will continue to fight to protect our privacy and civil liberties, and keep New Hampshire out of the REAL ID act.

The crisis that America is in may be a long and painful one. Our children depend on us to give them the best America that we can. We will not win every battle, but we must fight every fight. We must zealously defend each and every one of our freedoms. We must resist every intrusion on our civil liberties. And most importantly, let us never forget the complete toast that General Stark proposed almost 200 years ago. Live free or die - death is not the worst of evils.