No support for national ID card

Hard-line as he may be on immigration, Rep. F. Jim Sensenbrenner remains firmly opposed to any efforts to authorize a national ID card.

The idea is not dead, and some still believe it is needed, the Washington Post reports, but neither house included it in their immigration bills:

"There's just no support for it," said Jeff Lungren, spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who sponsored the House immigration bill that sparked hundreds of protests this spring. Sensenbrenner wrote his disdain for the idea into his bill. Nothing in the legislation "shall be construed to authorize . . . the establishment of a national identification card," the bill says.

Sensenbrenner favors the expansion of a worker verification system that employers would check through the Internet. In its companion bill, the Senate opted for a similar tactic rather than a national ID system.