The Death Of Common Sense

May 28, 2003

Common sense appears to be dead in Tennessee.   The general assembly had a golden opportunity to fix our horrendous illegal alien driver’s license law and chose, instead, to roll it over until next year.   This bill would’ve put a stop to this nonsense of providing illegals with a legal document from our state.

Representative Tommy Head, Democratic chairman of the Finance, Ways and Means Committee, moved to roll the bill instead of calling for a vote that would bring it to the full House for a vote.   Republicans on the committee sat in silence as one of the most important bills in recent memory slipped through their hands and into oblivion.  

The bill, sponsored by Representative Donna Rowland, would have required United States documentation, either a Social Security card or documentation from the Citizen and Information Services – formerly the INS – in order for a driver’s license to be issued.

Head claimed the bill was not funded, despite the fact that it included a 20-cent increase in the driver’s license fee that would more than cover the cost.   What cost, you ask?   The governor figures we’ll lose $156,000 in license fees that we’re now getting from roughly 8,000 illegals who obtain licenses each year.   In other words, we’re perfectly willing to facilitate felons for the money.

Lost in this entire argument is the point State Senator Bill Ketron brings up that the cost to TennCare in millions of dollars for medical treatment of illegal aliens far outweighs the revenue from what we bring in from illegal aliens in driver’s license fees.   Ketron and Rowland have both warned that we’re leaving ourselves open to facilitating terrorists who seek legal documentation in order to board commercial airlines.   Several of the September 11 th terrorists were able to board those planes with driver’s licenses from Virginia.   That state has since come to its senses and rescinded their illegal driver’s license bill.

The Tennessee Safety Department along with the state’s Homeland Security Director, Jerry Humble, opposed the Rowland/Ketron bills.   Apparently they’re blinded by dollar signs.

Have we lost our collective minds?

Why on earth would we provide legal documentation to illegal aliens, under any circumstances, much less in this day and age of heightened alert for terrorism?   State Senator Douglas Henry voiced his opposition to the bill claiming that most illegals in Tennessee are from Mexico and Central America and not from terrorist-sponsoring countries.   Mr. Henry, that’s what Virginia thought, too.

We’re fighting two fronts here.   Illegal aliens are a huge problem in our state.   They come here wanting to enjoy the fruits of our country but don’t want to stand in line like millions of legal immigrants already have.   Those millions of legal immigrants should be the most upset at this latest dereliction of duty by our general assembly.  

But the even larger threat is from terrorists, who have been heretofore thwarted by our government from carrying out another heinous act since September 11 th , being given an open door through which to walk.

Once another terrorist act happens, it’s too late.   If, in fact, another terrorist attack does occur here in America and those terrorists were facilitated by a Tennessee driver’s license, those who have stood in the way of common sense should be held personally responsible and prosecuted.

September 11 th was our wake-up call.   Apparently those in charge of our state government hit the snooze button.   It’s time we, as citizens, rouse them out of bed.