Re: US Unveils New Driver's License Rules
- From: "JC" <dontbother@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:26:50 GMT
< sordo@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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US Unveils New Driver's License RulesI haven't been stopped by the police in probably 40 years. And I havn't had
Jan 11 12:22 PM US/Eastern
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get
more secure driver's licenses in the next six years under ambitious
post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials.
The Homeland Security Department has spent years crafting the final
regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for
terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government- issued
identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has
been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials.
Even with more time, more federal help and technical advances, REAL ID
still faces stiff opposition from civil liberties groups.
To address some of those concerns, the government now plans to phase in
a secure ID initiative that Congress passed into law in 2005. Now, DHS
plans a key deadline in 2011-when federal authorities hope all states
will be in compliance-and then further measures to be enacted three
years later, according to congressional staffers who spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity because an announcement had
not yet been made. DHS officials briefed legislative aides on the
details late Thursday.
Without discussing details, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
promoted the final rules for REAL ID during a meeting Thursday with an
advisory council.
"We worked very closely with the states in terms of developing a plan
that I think will be inexpensive, reasonable to implement and produce
the results," he said. "This is a win-win. As long as people use
driver's licenses to identify themselves for whatever reason there's no
reason for those licenses to be easily counterfeited or tampered with."
In order to make the plan more appealing to cost-conscious states,
federal authorities drastically reduced the expected cost from $14.6
billion to $3.9 billion, a 73 percent decline, according to Homeland
Security officials familiar with the plan.
The American Civil Liberties Union has fiercely objected to the effort,
particularly the sharing of personal data among government agencies. The
DHS and other officials say the only way to make sure an ID is safe is
to check it against secure government data; critics like the ACLU say
that creates a system that is more likely to be infiltrated and have its
personal data pilfered.
In its written objection to the law, the ACLU claims REAL ID amounts to
the "first-ever national identity card system," which "would irreparably
damage the fabric of American life."
The Sept. 11 attacks were the main motivation for the changes.
The hijacker-pilot who flew into the Pentagon, Hani Hanjour, had a total
of four driver's licenses and ID cards from three states. The DHS, which
was created in response to the attacks, has created a slogan for REAL
ID: "One driver, one license."
By 2014, anyone seeking to board an airplane or enter a federal building
would have to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, with the
notable exception of those more than 50 years old, Homeland Security
officials said.
The over-50 exemption was created to give states more time to get
everyone new licenses, and officials say the risk of someone in that age
group being a terrorist, illegal immigrant or con artist is much less.
By 2017, even those over 50 must have a REAL ID-compliant card to board
a plane.
Among other details of the REAL ID plan:
_The traditional driver's license photograph would be taken at the
beginning of the application instead of the end so that should someone
be rejected for failure to prove identity and citizenship, the
applicant's photo would be kept on file and checked in the future if
that person attempted to con the system again.
_The cards will have three layers of security measures but will not
contain microchips as some had expected. States will be able to choose
from a menu which security measures they will put in their cards.
Over the next year, the government expects all states to begin checking
both the Social Security numbers and immigration status of license
applicants.
Most states currently check Social Security numbers and about half check
immigration status. Some, like New York, Virginia, North Carolina and
California, already have implemented many of the security measures
envisioned in REAL ID. In California, for example, officials expect the
only major change to adopt the first phase would be to take the
photograph at the beginning of the application process instead of the
end.
After the Social Security and immigration status checks become
nationwide practice, officials plan to move on to more expansive
security checks, including state DMV offices checking with the State
Department to verify those applicants who use passports to get a
driver's license, verifying birth certificates and checking with other
states to ensure an applicant doesn't have more than one license.
A handful of states have already signed written agreements indicating
plans to comply with REAL ID. Seventeen others, though, have passed
legislation or resolutions objecting to it, often based on concerns
about the billions of dollars such extra security is expected to cost.
a driver's license for probably 20.
.
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