Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 11, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"We will not advance, we will not tolerate, we will not accept any form of a national ID card. Free people do not have to check in with government officials and show them their papers! That does not work in these United States of America...
...We affirm the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or de facto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards." Aug. 11, 2008 Chuck Baldwin
Bob Barr, former US House Representative (R-GA), in an Aug. 1, 2008 press release titled "Barr Blasts McCain, Obama for Supporting National ID, Again Urges Congress to Repeal Real ID Act" on his official candidate website, stated:
"'September 11' has become the catch-all excuse for virtually every proposed expansion of government power...One example is a national identification card and database, long desired by some in government, and which was mandated by legislation passed by the Congress in 2005...Although I was no longer in the Congress when this bad legislation was passed, I had vigorously opposed it in the years since it became law, just as I led the successful effort to rescind a previous mandate for a national ID card...
Creating anything close to a national ID card threatens Americans' basic civil liberties and privacy while doing little or nothing to make us more secure." Aug. 1, 2008 Bob Barr
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated in a Sep. 30, 2004 speech titled "National Intelligence Reform Act: Amendment 3807" in the Congressional Record:
"...[T]his amendment [McCain/Lieberman S.Amdt.3807 to the "National Intelligence Reform Act" (S.2845)] would implement 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the Federal Government set standards for the issuance of birth certificates, driver's licenses, and other sources of identification...
Our amendment would require birth certificates and driver's licenses to meet new minimum Federal standards in order to be accepted by a Federal agency for any official purpose...
This amendment would not mandate a national ID card. It would not infringe upon the right of the States to determine who can get a driver's license. It would not establish a national database with information on all drivers. And it would prohibit the establishment of a single design for driver's licenses and birth certificates. We believe it fulfills the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission without trampling on States' rights, privacy, or civil liberties." Sep. 30, 2004 John McCain
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), issued the following statement through her Press Secretary, John Judge, in a Nov. 1, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, issued the following statement through his Communications Director and Policy Writer, Loralynne Krobetzky, in an Oct. 20, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Hillary Clinton, US Senator (D-NY), stated in a Feb. 11, 2003 PHXnews.com article titled "Hillary Calls for National ID Cards to Keep Illegals Out of the Country":
"Clearly we have to make some tough decisions as a country...And one of them ought to be coming up with a much better entry and exit system so that if we're going to let people in for the work that otherwise would not be done, let's have a system that keeps track of them.
...[A]t least a visa ID, some kind of an entry and exit ID. And, you know, perhaps, although I'm not a big fan of it, we might have to move towards an ID system even for citizens." Feb. 11, 2003 Hillary Clinton
Mike Gravel, former US Senator (D-AK), stated in a Sep. 8, 2007 Q&A forum in Tampa, FL on a YouTube video titled "Mike Gravel on the Real ID Act (National ID Card)":
"I have no problem with a national ID card. I know it disturbs a lot of people but you know something? I've got one in my wallet right now. It's called a license...All they can do is design a better ID card than this. A real serious ID card...
Getting a better ID can protect you as an individual - it's not bad." Sep. 8, 2007 Mike Gravel
Alan Keyes, former Assistant US Secretary of State, stated in a July 24, 1998 WorldNetDaily.com article titled "The National ID Number":
"...[W]e must be especially vigilant in our time, when issues are arising which appear to invite the creation of an apparatus that would extend control to a more pervasive and deeper level than ever before in the history of man. This is a time when a people serious about retaining its liberty must insist that its representatives show foresight and statesmanship in anticipating such threats to liberty, without rejecting the great promise of technological advances.
What do we have instead? Specious arguments for efficiency and effectiveness are being heeded by the Congress, while arguments concerning precautions necessary to protect our liberty aren't even being considered. That's why I am so upset with the Republicans for letting the national ID card go through the Congress. Such decisions lack even a trace of the kind of statesmanship that is needed to protect a free people." July 24, 1998 Alan Keyes
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated in an article titled "Issue: Privacy and Personal Liberty" on his official candidate website (accessed May, 8, 2008):
"The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens' personal matters.
We must stop the move toward a national ID card system. All states are preparing to issue new driver's licenses embedded with 'standard identifier' data - a national ID. A national ID with new tracking technologies means we're heading into an Orwellian world of no privacy. I voted against the Real ID Act in March of 2005." May 8, 2008 Ron Paul