Research Paper on:
National Identification Card Debate

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
identity card to all citizens and legal residents of the United States. In this hypothetical situation, the cards would only be used for law enforcement purposes and the only  ones privy to the card would be government officials or police. It is a drastic step, and does sound as if it is something out of Gattaca, but the  premise is valid. After September 11, 2001, people have suggested that giving up privacy is simply not so bad. They are in fact willing to give up a bit of  privacy in order to gain security, and the idea of the card has been discussed extensively. In discussing positive and negative aspects of the resolution it seems that the positive  does outweigh the negative. First, what might a national I.D. card be like and why is it necessary? A reader writes to U.S.A. today regarding the concept of this national  identification card. Jones (2002) suggests that the U.S. in some way already has a national identification card in the form of the U.S. passport . Of course, many  citizens do not have passports. In fact, it is a privilege and only necessary when leaving the country, and in some cases it is not even necessary. For example, one  can go to Canada without a passport. Still, designing a national ID card to resemble a passport is a sound idea, but would require that all citizens have one. The  reader recommends some changes, such as the addition of a thumbprint, but such a document could be used to allow individuals to enter airports and buildings (2002). Having a national  identification number would replace the use of the Social Security number that must be included on employment records and tax forms (2002). Obviously, those numbers would still be needed for