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Title: 17 states stuck in license showdown
Source:
AP
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111 ... st_pe/secure_driver_s_licenses
Published: Jan 11, 2008
Author: DEVLIN BARRETT
Post Date: 2008-01-11 17:14:05 by richard9151
Keywords: None
Views: 196
Comments: 16
36 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Residents of at least 17 states are suddenly stuck in the middle of a fight between the Bush administration and state governments over post-Sept. 11 security rules for driver's licenses — a dispute that, by May, could leave millions of people unable to use their licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was unveiling final details of the REAL ID Act's rules on Friday, said that if states want their licenses to remain valid for air travel after May 2008, those states must seek a waiver indicating they want more time to comply with the legislation. Chertoff, as he revealed final details of the REAL ID Act, said that in instances where a particular state doesn't seek a waiver, its residents will have to use a passport or a newly created federal passport card if they want to avoid a vigorous secondary screening at airport security. "The last thing I want to do is punish citizens of a state who would love to have a REAL ID license but can't get one," Chertoff said. "But in the end, the rule is the rule as passed by Congress." Chertoff spoke as he discussed the details of the administration's plan to improve security for driver's licenses in all 50 states — an effort delayed due to opposition from states worried about the cost and civil libertarians upset about what they believe are invasions of privacy. Under the rules announced Friday, Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years. 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. To address some of those concerns, the government now plans to phase in a secure ID initiative that Congress approved 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. 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, said 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 ensure an ID is safe is to check it against secure government data; critics such as 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 four driver's licenses and ID cards from three states. The DHS, 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. So far, 17 states have passed legislation or resolutions objecting to the REAL ID Act's provisions, many due to concerns it will cost them too much to comply. The 17, according to the ACLU, are: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington state. 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 if someone is rejected for failure to prove identity and citizenship, the applicant's photo would be kept on file and checked if that person tried 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 already check Social Security numbers and about half check immigration status. Some, like New York, Virginia, North Carolina and California, have already 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 few states have already signed written agreements indicating they plan to comply with REAL ID. Seventeen others, though, have passed legislation or resolutions objecting to it, often because of concerns about the cost of the extra security. Can anyone say...... Dead Constitution?
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#1. To: richard9151 (#0)
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
What is stopping the 17 states from telling FEDGOV to go to hell, and take your federal buildings with you? States can take care of themselves.
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
I never thought of it like that, but yes. Civil war is imminent, IMO. It can either be started by states, or the people in those states will do it on their own, eventually.
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
Oh ye of little faith! Did you ever doubt that it would? Or is it just the shock of seeing it happen in our lifetimes?
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.
ping
Fox News Channel is the television version of Free Republic
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
Time will tell. But it could have started, easily, during the Browns' standoff in NH. If that had turned out badly, militia was there and ready to go, and a good number of them are ex-military. It was being watched very closely. If Ed and/or Elaine Brown had died, we'd be fighting right now.
I don't believe that is true. If it were, we'd be fighting anyway, because what is the difference between being dead and spending the rest of your life behind bars?
Tag Line For Rent (M, 48, NY)
States can take care of themselves. What is stopping the American people from telling FEDGOV to go to hell, and take your federal buildings with you? People can take care of themselves and have done without a National I.D. Card for hundreds of years. Chertoff should issue the Real I.D. Cards to the 160 Bin ladens he helped escape investigation on Sept 12-15 2001. Fuck that ugly little Jew.
"Give us liberty and give them death" ... Doug Scheidt 1-10-08
This is nothing more than a defacto INTERNAL PASSPORT. There is nothing legitimate about the "Real Police State I.D.". The States MUST hold the line against this intrusion upon civil liberties. It is not the FedGov's duty, or responsibility, or right to keep massive dossiers on EVERY citizen. The "Real Police State I.D." is right out of "1984" or "Brave New World". Civil Disobedience is demanded and called for. Thankfully I live in a State that told them to Fuck Off. What part of "Fuck Off" does Comrade Jerkoff not get?
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
LOL! Of course it passed! The Selfish Generation was spared. Hilarious. Apparently the government is satisfied that baby boomers cannot be threatening. No, the practical reason is that we "old folks" know what it means to be free and were the largest militant group against this unwarranted Federal intrusion upon civil liberties. The hope is, I am sure, that this will de-fang the group most militantly opposed and that we will drop back into apathy. Fat Chance! First they came for the Communists, by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
"The difference between an honorable man and a moral man is that an honorable man regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked and he is in no danger of being caught." ~ H. L. Mencken
Then why are they passing SB60 to comply with Real ID?
#2. To: richard9151 (#0)
#3. To: ghostdogtxn, ALL (#2)
#4. To: richard9151 (#0)
#5. To: PSUSA (#3)
#6. To: ghostdogtxn (#5)
Remembrances of the Civil War, perhaps?
#7. To: PSUSA (#6)
#8. To: ghostdogtxn (#4)
Wow. The shit is actually coming true.
#9. To: richard9151, *libertarians* (#0)
#10. To: richard9151 (#8)
#11. To: ghostdogtxn (#7)
#12. To: PSUSA (#11)
If Ed and/or Elaine Brown had died, we'd be fighting right now.
#13. To: PSUSA (#3)
What is stopping the 17 states from telling FEDGOV to go to hell, and take your federal buildings with you?
#14. To: richard9151 (#0)
#15. To: ghostdogtxn (#1)
Under the rules announced Friday, Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
#16. To: richard9151, *libertarians* (#0)
Most states already check Social Security numbers and about half check immigration status. Some, like New York, Virginia, North Carolina and California, have already 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.
My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. -- Winnie the Pooh
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