National ID Seen In 9/11 Panel Plan

[Guest guest]

> G

> Sun, 22 Aug 2004

> National ID Seen In

> 9/11 Panel Plan

>

> National ID Seen In 9/11 Panel Plan

> By Shaun Waterman

> UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

>

>

> The September 11 commission's recommendation for

> federal standards of identification documents such

> as driver's licenses and birth certificates is

> tantamount to the introduction of a national ID card

> system " through the back door, " some lawmakers

> believe.

> The commission stopped short of actually

> recommending the introduction of national ID cards

> but did say that the fight against terrorism

> required greater consistency and security of

> state-issued identification documents.

>

> " There needs to be consistent standards to

> ensure the integrity of both the document and the

> issuance process, " said commission member Jamie S.

> Gorelick, a former Clinton administration Justice

> Department official.

> The commission also recommended a radical

> transformation of the way government data are

> stored, to facilitate the free flow of information

> among federal agencies and between them and state

> and local governments.

> Commissioners testified Friday before the House

> subcommittee on the Constitution and will go before

> the entire House Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

> " If you have federal standards [for driver's

> licenses] and a free-flow information system between

> states and the federal government [about the holders

> of licenses] ... what's the difference between

> [that] and a national ID? " asked Rep. Christopher B.

> Cannon, Utah Republican

> Commissioner Slade Gorton, a former Republican

> senator from Washington, said the difference is that

> driver's licenses are already widely accepted and

> used as a de facto ID card but are issued according

> to different state standards and are too easy to

> obtain without proper identification.

> " We're simply saying take something that

> everyone accepts now and have it standardized in a

> way that it really identifies the people who are

> holding onto it, " he told Mr. Cannon.

> " What I hear you saying, Senator Gorton, is that

> you want a national ID, " Mr. Cannon replied, but

> " you want to get through the back door by using

> something that everybody already accepts. "

> Mr. Gorton responded that there is an important

> difference between a compulsory ID document and one

> like a driver's license that " you voluntarily go out

> and get. "

> Rep. Melvin Watt, North Carolina Democrat,

> pointed out that there is nothing voluntary about a

> birth certificate. Mr. Gorton replied that both

> documents are accepted as proof of identity, even

> though neither is secure.

> " You've already got a national ID in one or the

> other; " he told the congressman. " You just don't

> know whether it's any good. "

> Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, raised the

> issue of the so-called " legal presence requirement, "

> now part of the law in 11 states, which requires

> applicants to prove they are U.S. citizens or have a

> right to reside in the country before they can be

> issued a driver's license. Without such a

> requirement, he said, state licenses were not

> secure, which, he said, " affects all of us. "

> But the legal presence requirement has proved

> controversial.

> " Our initials are D-M-V, not I-N-S, " said

> American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators

> spokesman Jason King, referring to the acronym of

> the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which

> was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department

> last year. " We are the experts in driver licensing,

> not immigration. "

> Moreover, immigrants' rights advocates argue

> that by excluding illegal migrants or temporary

> workers from the vehicle and driver licensing

> system, legal presence makes the roads less safe

> even as they make the identity system more secure.

> Jerry Humble, homeland security adviser to Gov.

> Phil Bredesen, Tennessee Democrat, said his state

> has found a way to square that circle.

> Since July 1, the state has issued so-called

> driver certificates to anyone unable to prove legal

> presence, provided they can show they live in the

> state and can pass the driving test. The documents

> resemble driver's licenses but are stamped " Not for

> identification " at the top.

> " You can't use it to get on a plane or buy a

> gun, " Mr. Humble said. " It says we know you can

> drive, but we can't guarantee we know exactly who

> you are. "