Next step: Goes to the full House.

Some lawmakers want Utah to go on record opposing the federal REAL ID Act that makes states implement a national identity card.

A House committee on Tuesday passed a resolution urging Congress to repeal or suspend enforcement of the Act. The vote came after interest groups from both sides of the political spectrum showed their support.

Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and Utah Eagle Forum told lawmakers the act was an intrusion on privacy and a waste of tax-payers money.

The REAL ID Act was approved by Congress without any public hearings and is supposed to help tighten national security, said Jim Harper, of the conservative Cato Institute.

Harper told lawmakers it is supposed to create a national database of everyone's identity that will be available to some government entities.

States are supposed to complete implementation of the national ID card by May 2008, Harper said.

It has been estimated that implementing the national ID card would cost Utah some $250 million.

Rep. Glenn Donnelson, a North Ogden Republican who sponsored HR2, said Utahns need to protect their privacy rights.

"[The act] tracks people and it's getting into their private business," Donnelson said. "[The national ID database] can fall into the wrong hands."

Other state legislatures are debating similar resolutions.

jsanchez@sltrib.com