Fwd: 9-11 Commission recommeneds National ID card

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> R

> Tue, 17 Aug 2004 06:16:10 -0700 (PDT)

> 9-11 Commission recommeneds

> National ID card

>

> http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/34562.php

>

> National ID card recommended

>

>

> Related articles:

> • CIA flaws that led to false info still exist,

> panel says

> • 120,000 on terrorism list, ACLU says

> • U.S. wastes millions on vehicle fleet

> • Terror attack in U.S. feared; 7 sought

> • Border beef-up falls short

>

>

> National ID card recommended

>

> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

>

> WASHINGTON - Sept. 11 commissioners told Congress on

> Monday they want the federal government to set

> standards for getting driver's licenses to make it

> harder for terrorists to fake their identities.

> Commission Chairman Thomas Kean told the Senate

> Commerce Committee that ID cards helped terrorists

> prepare for the Sept. 11 hijackings by allowing them

> to board commercial flights.

> " The time at which terrorists are most vulnerable is

> when they move around, " Kean told the committee.

> The Sept. 11 report issued last month said the

> United States must expand its border-security system

> into a larger network of screening points, including

> places where people enter the transportation system

> or other possible targets, such as nuclear reactors.

>

> Amtrak and the airlines already check passengers'

> IDs before they board.

> The commission recommended the federal government

> issue standards for other forms of identification,

> such as birth certificates.

> " Sources of identification are the last opportunity

> to ensure that people are who they say they are and

> to check whether they are terrorists, " the report

> said.

> Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who said he

> would file bills to implement the commission's

> recommendations, indicated he was interested in a

> national ID card.

> The American Civil Liberties Union says a standard

> driver's license would lead to a national database

> that would allow the government to keep track of

> where people go.

> " We're objecting to the nationalization of the

> driver's license and databases that are going to

> have to be implemented in order to track driver's

> licenses, " said Marvin Johnson, legislative counsel

> for the ACLU.

> Hamilton said federal standards for issuing driver's

> licenses could lead to a national identification

> card, but people might accept it.

> " The American public is becoming more and more

> agreeable to intrusiveness in order to protect

> themselves from a terrorist attack, " Hamilton said.

>

> Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson told

> the panel he didn't read any Sept. 11 commission

> recommendations that he disagreed with but didn't

> explicitly say he supported federal standards for

> driver's licenses.

> Some states have already tightened requirements for

> getting a driver's license in order to screen out

> people who try to fake their identities and people

> who try to hide bad driving records.

> Jason King, spokesman for the American Association

> of Motor Vehicle Administrators, said the group

> wants states to accept a standard set of credentials

> before issuing a driver's license.

> " We must upgrade the practices, " said King, whose

> group represents U.S. and Canadian departments of

> motor vehicles and highway law enforcement

> organizations.