Barney Frank: “I have heard the pejorative ``anti-American'' used in some ludicrous contexts, and I think I have seen now the champion…”

“I have heard the pejorative ``anti-American'' used in some ludicrous contexts, and I think I have seen now the champion application of that inappropriately. If you are not for a complicated amendment, adding some language to a disclosure that is somewhat controversial, you are anti-American. I hope the debate bounces up from here. I would then also say to the gentleman from Georgia, my colleague from Georgia quite correctly pointed out that his amendment would call on people to reaffirm the value of the REAL ID Act. And it is true that the REAL ID Act is only one of four things, but some Americans don't have passports. In fact, the majority of American citizens don't have passports. A Social Security card with a photo ID issued by the Federal Government, some people don't have that. And a certificate from the Department of Homeland Security Immigration, if you are a regular American citizen, you don't have that. So of the things people would have of those four, that would be the most common. We don't prescribe it in the amendment adopted by the gentleman from Arkansas. We leave it up to the director because things may change. Things may evolve. There may be new documents. Prescribing this now for 4 and 5 years from now seems to be an error. But it is true, the gentleman from Georgia does give Members a chance to vote once again in favor of the REAL ID Act, as a major, not as an exclusive, but a major premise here.”