II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 126 

To amend the Real ID Act of 2005 to repeal provisions requiring uniform 

State driver’s licenses and State identification cards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Real ID Act of 2005 to repeal provisions 

requiring uniform State driver’s licenses and State identification cards, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Repeal ID Act of 

5 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR UNIFORM STATE 

2 DRIVER’S LICENSES AND STATE IDENTIFICA3 TION CARDS. 

4 (a) REPEAL.—Title II of the Real ID Act of 2005 

5 (division B of Public Law 109–13) is amended by striking 

6 sections 201 through 205 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note). 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) CRIMINAL CODE.—Section 1028(a)(8) of 

9 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘false or actual authentication features’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘false identification features’’. 

12 (2) INTELLIGENCE REFORM AND TERRORISM

13 PREVENTION ACT OF 2004.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title VII 

15 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Pre16 vention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–458) is 

17 amended by inserting after section 7211 the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 7212. DRIVER’S LICENSES AND PERSONAL IDENTI20 FICATION CARDS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) DRIVER’S LICENSE.—The term ‘driver’s li23 cense’ means a motor vehicle operator’s license (as 

24 defined in section 30301(5) of title 49, United 

25 States Code). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.—The 

2 term ‘personal identification card’ means an identi3 fication document (as defined in section 1028(d)(3) 

4 of title 18, United States Code) that has been issued 

5 by a State. 

6 ‘‘(b) STANDARDS FOR ACCEPTANCE BY FEDERAL

7 AGENCIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION ON ACCEPTANCE.—No 

10 Federal agency may accept, for any official pur11 pose, a driver’s license or personal identification 

12 card newly issued by a State more than 2 years 

13 after the promulgation of the minimum stand14 ards under paragraph (2) unless the driver’s li15 cense or personal identification card conforms 

16 to such minimum standards. 

17 ‘‘(B) DATE FOR CONFORMANCE.—The 

18 Secretary of Transportation, in consultation 

19 with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 

20 establish a date after which no driver’s license 

21 or personal identification card shall be accepted 

22 by a Federal agency for any official purpose un23 less such driver’s license or personal identifica24 tion card conforms to the minimum standards 

25 established under paragraph (2). The date shall 


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1 be as early as the Secretary determines it is 

2 practicable for the States to comply with such 

3 date with reasonable efforts. 

4 ‘‘(C) STATE CERTIFICATION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall 

6 certify to the Secretary of Transportation 

7 that the State is in compliance with the re8 quirements of this section. 

9 ‘‘(ii) FREQUENCY.—Certifications 

10 under clause (i) shall be made at such in11 tervals and in such a manner as the Sec12 retary of Transportation, with the concur13 rence of the Secretary of Homeland Secu14 rity, may prescribe by regulation. 

15 ‘‘(iii) AUDITS.—The Secretary of 

16 Transportation may conduct periodic au17 dits of each State’s compliance with the re18 quirements of this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 

20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with 

22 the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish, 

23 by regulation, minimum standards for driver’s li24 censes or personal identification cards issued by a 


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1 State for use by Federal agencies for identification 

2 purposes that shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) standards for documentation required 

4 as proof of identity of an applicant for a driv5 er’s license or personal identification card; 

6 ‘‘(B) standards for the verifiability of doc7 uments used to obtain a driver’s license or per8 sonal identification card; 

9 ‘‘(C) standards for the processing of appli10 cations for driver’s licenses and personal identi11 fication cards to prevent fraud; 

12 ‘‘(D) standards for information to be in13 cluded on each driver’s license or personal iden14 tification card, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) the person’s full legal name; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the person’s date of birth; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the person’s gender; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the person’s driver’s license or 

19 personal identification card number; 

20 ‘‘(v) a digital photograph of the per21 son; 

22 ‘‘(vi) the person’s address of principal 

23 residence; and 

24 ‘‘(vii) the person’s signature; 


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1 ‘‘(E) standards for common machine-read2 able identity information to be included on each 

3 driver’s license or personal identification card, 

4 including defined minimum data elements; 

5 ‘‘(F) security standards to ensure that 

6 driver’s licenses and personal identification 

7 cards are— 

8 ‘‘(i) resistant to tampering, alteration, 

9 or counterfeiting; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) capable of accommodating and 

11 ensuring the security of a digital photo12 graph or other unique identifier; and 

13 ‘‘(G) a requirement that a State confiscate 

14 a driver’s license or personal identification card 

15 if any component or security feature of the li16 cense or identification card is compromised. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.—The regula18 tions required under paragraph (2)— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall facilitate communication be20 tween the chief driver licensing official of a 

21 State, an appropriate official of a Federal agen22 cy and other relevant officials, to verify the au23 thenticity of documents, as appropriate, issued 

24 by such Federal agency or entity and presented 

25 to prove the identity of an individual; 


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1 ‘‘(B) may not infringe on a State’s power 

2 to set criteria concerning what categories of in3 dividuals are eligible to obtain a driver’s license 

4 or personal identification card from that State; 

5 ‘‘(C) may not require a State to comply 

6 with any such regulation that conflicts with or 

7 otherwise interferes with the full enforcement of 

8 State criteria concerning the categories of indi9 viduals that are eligible to obtain a driver’s li10 cense or personal identification card from that 

11 State; 

12 ‘‘(D) may not require a single design to 

13 which driver’s licenses or personal identification 

14 cards issued by all States must conform; and 

15 ‘‘(E) shall include procedures and require16 ments to protect the privacy rights of individ17 uals who apply for and hold driver’s licenses 

18 and personal identification cards. 

19 ‘‘(4) NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before publishing the 

21 proposed regulations required by paragraph (2) 

22 to carry out this title, the Secretary of Trans23 portation shall establish a negotiated rule24 making process pursuant to subchapter IV of 


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1 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (5 

2 U.S.C. 561 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(B) REPRESENTATION ON NEGOTIATED

4 RULEMAKING COMMITTEE.—Any negotiated 

5 rulemaking committee established by the Sec6 retary of Transportation pursuant to subpara7 graph (A) shall include representatives from— 

8 ‘‘(i) among State offices that issue 

9 driver’s licenses or personal identification 

10 cards; 

11 ‘‘(ii) among State elected officials; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the Department of Homeland 

13 Security; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) among interested parties. 

15 ‘‘(C) TIME REQUIREMENT.—The process 

16 described in subparagraph (A) shall be con17 ducted in a timely manner to ensure that— 

18 ‘‘(i) any recommendation for a pro19 posed rule or report is provided to the Sec20 retary of Transportation not later than 9 

21 months after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act and shall include an assessment of the 

23 benefits and costs of the recommendation; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a final rule is promulgated not 

2 later than 18 months after the date of en3 actment of this Act. 

4 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO STATES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE IN MEETING FEDERAL

6 STANDARDS.—Beginning on the date a final regula7 tion is promulgated under subsection (b)(2), the 

8 Secretary of Transportation shall award grants to 

9 States to assist them in conforming to the minimum 

10 standards for driver’s licenses and personal identi11 fication cards set forth in the regulation. 

12 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 

13 of Transportation shall award grants to States 

14 under this subsection based on the proportion that 

15 the estimated average annual number of driver’s li16 censes and personal identification cards issued by a 

17 State applying for a grant bears to the average an18 nual number of such documents issued by all States. 

19 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Notwithstanding 

20 paragraph (2), each State shall receive not less than 

21 0.5 percent of the grant funds made available under 

22 this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(d) EXTENSION OF EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Sec24 retary of Transportation may extend the date specified 

25 under subsection (b)(1)(A) for up to 2 years for driver’s 


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1 licenses issued by a State if the Secretary determines that 

2 the State made reasonable efforts to comply with the date 

3 under such subsection but was unable to do so. 

4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

6 Transportation for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 

7 2009, such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

8 section.’’. 

9 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 7212 of 

10 the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Preven11 tion Act of 2004, as added by subparagraph 

12 (A), shall take effect as if included in the origi13 nal enactment of such Act on December 17, 

14 2004. 

Æ 


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