![](media/image1.wmf){width="6.002083333333333in" height="1.1125in"}

![](media/image1.wmf)**A CASE FOR THE REAL-ID ACT**

*By*

*Barbara Cubin*

Consider for a moment the case of Ziad Jarrah. On September 9, 2001, Mr.
Jarrah was stopped for speeding. He showed the officer his license. The
officer, having no way to use the license to determine any information
about Mr. Jarrah, including that he possessed three ID's, and had
entered the U.S. illegally, issued him a speeding ticket, and let him
go. Two days later, he helped to hijack United Flight 93.

Among them, the 9/11 terrorists had some 30 valid driver's licenses or
state ID's. Some were obtained through legal processes, others
fraudulently. Either way, their ID's granted them access and legitimacy
to plan and carry out their attacks.

Like it or not, these are the facts.

In the aftermath, the 9/11 Commission recommended that a secure ID
replace the patchwork system that had been exploited to kill thousands
of Americans. In response, Congress passed the REAL ID Act of 2005.
Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its
long-awaited rules on how states will implement the program.

Last week, Wyoming's largest newspaper, [The Casper Star
Tribune]{.underline}, responded to the new rules with an incomplete,
one-sided editorial bursting at the seams with misinformation. Please
allow me to inject some truth about REAL ID into the debate.

*False claim #1: "The national political landscape is different today
than it was three years ago, when the GOP-controlled Congress bowed to
the Bush administration on security issues."*

> Truth: REAL ID was a top recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, not
> President Bush. That Congress created REAL ID in response to the 9/11
> Commission cannot be construed as bowing to the Bush administration.
> If the Democrat controlled Congress repeals REAL ID, it will be
> because they bowed to the ACLU at the expense of our safety.

*False claim #2: "REAL ID will be the first-ever national identification
card\..."*

> Truth: In no way is REAL ID a national ID. In fact, by designating
> states as the issuer of the REAL ID, Congress definitively put to rest
> the notion that it would be a centralized, national ID. The idea that
> REAL ID is designed to keep track of Americans in a huge centralized
> database is a scare-tactic developed by the ACLU that has no basis in
> fact.

*False Claim #3:* *"The closer America comes to implementing a federal
driver's license law, the worse it looks."*

> Truth: REAL ID is not a federal driver's license. The ID's will be
> designed and administered by each individual State, not the federal
> government. States are only required to meet minimum security
> standards.
>
> Rather than looking worse, the final rules are the product of a year
> of collaborative work with nearly every state Department of Motor
> Vehicles, including input from nearly 21,000 interested parties. The
> results are rules that provide states more flexibility, more time to
> comply, and ultimately cost less.

*False claim #4: "It will compile private information for government
agencies to share and for computer hackers to steal."*

> Truth: Government agencies will not share information except to check
> the legitimacy of the ID. The purpose of REAL ID is to empower a
> Wyoming State Trooper to know quickly and accurately if a pulled-over
> out of state resident (or someone like Ziad Jarrah) is exactly who
> they claim to be. The Trooper would not be able to access personal
> information, they would only be able to confirm if the ID was real and
> legitimate. In fact, the Fraternal Order of Police has said that it
> will oppose any effort to repeal REAL ID.
>
> As for identity theft, the security and non-duplication measures of
> REAL ID will make it more difficult for thieves to steal your
> identity. States must submit a security plan to DHS, including how
> data will be secured against theft. Additionally, the REAL ID system
> will prevent a thief from obtaining a new license from a different
> state under your name.

*False claim #5: "The program threatens individual privacy in the name
of national security."*

> Truth: REAL ID is no more a threat to your privacy than your current
> license. REAL ID's will contain the following information: Full name,
> date of birth, address, gender, signature, issuance date, expiration
> date, unique license number, digital photo, and machine readable
> technology. Sound familiar? It should, because these items are on your
> current Wyoming license. In fact, the Wyoming license you carry today
> already exceeds REAL ID expectations in many respects.

The newspaper got one thing right. The cost to implement REAL ID ought
not rest unfairly on states. I have said repeatedly that I will work to
ensure that the federal government does its part to fund states'
transition to REAL ID. However, even in this, the paper confuses the
issue. The estimated \$3.9 billion cost is a nationwide estimate.
Wyoming will spend only a fraction of that amount, in part because
Wyoming's Division of Driver Services has already made great strides to
ensure that your license is a secure, official ID. I congratulate them
on their quick progress.

In another recent editorial, the editor-in-chief of the CST boasted that
his paper is "scrupulously fair." Given their apparent disinterest in
actual facts regarding REAL ID, I leave it to Wyoming's capable readers
to determine how far the laugh-o-meter should move in response to such a
preposterous claim. The truth is that using scare tactics and
misinformation is not fair, and the CST's willingness to use both is no
laughing matter.

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