I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3471 

To repeal title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005, to reinstitute section 

7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, 

which provides States additional regulatory flexibility and funding authorization to more rapidly produce tamper- and counterfeit-resistant driver’s 

licenses, and to protect privacy and civil liberties by providing interested 

stakeholders on a negotiated rulemaking with guidance to achieve improved 21st century licenses to improve national security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. HODES, Mr. STARK, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 

KUCINICH, and Mr. GONZALEZ) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in 

addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To repeal title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005, to reinstitute 

section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 

Prevention Act of 2004, which provides States additional 

regulatory flexibility and funding authorization to more 

rapidly produce tamper- and counterfeit-resistant driver’s 

licenses, and to protect privacy and civil liberties by 

providing interested stakeholders on a negotiated rulemaking with guidance to achieve improved 21st century 

licenses to improve national security. 


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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 ‘‘REAL ID Repeal and 

5 Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL. 

7 Title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (division B of 

8 Public Law 109–13; 49 U.S.C. 30301 note) is repealed. 

9 SEC. 3. DRIVER’S LICENSES AND PERSONAL IDENTIFICA10 TION CARDS. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) DRIVER’S LICENSE.—The term ‘‘driver’s li13 cense’’ means a motor vehicle operator’s license (as 

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

15 States Code). 

16 (2) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.—The 

17 term ‘‘personal identification card’’ means an identi18 fication document (as defined in section 1028(d)(3) 

19 of title 18, United States Code) issued by a State. 

20 (b) STANDARDS FOR ACCEPTANCE BY FEDERAL

21 AGENCIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

23 (A) LIMITATION ON ACCEPTANCE.—No 

24 Federal agency may accept, for any official pur25 pose, a driver’s license or personal identification 


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1 card newly issued by a State more than 2 years 

2 after the promulgation of the minimum stand3 ards under paragraph (2) unless the driver’s li4 cense or personal identification card conforms 

5 to such minimum standards. 

6 (B) DATE FOR FULL CONFORMANCE.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

8 under clause (ii), beginning on the date 

9 that is 5 years after the promulgation of 

10 minimum standards under paragraph (2), 

11 no Federal agency may accept, for any of12 ficial purpose, a driver’s license or personal 

13 identification card issued by a State unless 

14 such driver’s license or personal identifica15 tion card conforms to such minimum 

16 standards. 

17 (ii) ALTERNATIVE DATE FOR FULL

18 CONFORMANCE.—If the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security determines that it is 

20 impracticable for States to replace all 

21 State-issued driver’s licenses and personal 

22 identification cards before the deadline set 

23 forth in clause (i), the Secretary of Home24 land Security, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of Transportation, may set a later, 


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1 alternative deadline to the extent necessary 

2 for States to complete such replacement 

3 with reasonable efforts. 

4 (C) STATE CERTIFICATION.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall 

6 certify to the Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity that the State is in compliance with 

8 the requirements 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 Homeland Security, with the con13 currence of the Secretary of Transpor14 tation, may prescribe by regulation. 

15 (iii) AUDITS.—The Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security may conduct periodic 

17 audits of each State’s compliance with the 

18 requirements of this section. 

19 (2) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not later than 12 

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

21 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

22 with the Secretary of Transportation, shall by regu23 lation, establish 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 docu7 ments 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 (consistent with such 

15 regulations)— 

16 (i) the person’s full legal name; 

17 (ii) the person’s date of birth; 

18 (iii) the person’s gender; 

19 (iv) the person’s driver’s license or 

20 personal identification card number; 

21 (v) a photograph of the person; 

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 driv6 er’s licenses and personal identification cards 

7 are— 

8 (i) resistant to tampering, alteration, 

9 or counterfeiting; and 

10 (ii) capable of accommodating and en11 suring the security of a photograph or 

12 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 (c) NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before publishing the pro19 posed regulations required by subsection (b)(2) to 

20 carry out this title, the Secretary of Homeland Secu21 rity shall establish a negotiated rulemaking process 

22 pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 5, 

23 United States Code (5 U.S.C. 561 et seq.). 


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1 (2) TIME REQUIREMENT.—The process de2 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be conducted in a 

3 timely manner to ensure that— 

4 (A) any recommendation for a proposed 

5 rule or report— 

6 (i) is provided to the Secretary of 

7 Homeland Security not later than 9 

8 months after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act; and 

10 (ii) includes an assessment of the ben11 efits and costs of the recommendation; and 

12 (B) a final rule is promulgated not later 

13 than 12 months after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 (3) REPRESENTATION ON NEGOTIATED RULE16 MAKING COMMITTEE.—Any negotiated rulemaking 

17 committee established by the Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include 

19 representation from— 

20 (A) the Department of Transportation; 

21 (B) among State elected officials; 

22 (C) among State offices that issue driver’s 

23 licenses or personal identification cards; and 

24 (D) among interested parties, including ex25 perts in privacy protection, experts in civil libVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:12 Aug 04, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3471.IH H3471

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1 erties and protection of constitutional rights, 

2 experts in immigration law, experts in fraud de3 tection, and experts in vital records manage4 ment. 

5 (4) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.—The regula6 tions required by subsection (b)(2)— 

7 (A) shall facilitate communication between 

8 the chief driver licensing official of a State, an 

9 appropriate official of a Federal agency and 

10 other relevant officials, to verify the authen11 ticity of documents, as appropriate, issued by 

12 such Federal agency or entity and presented to 

13 prove the identity of an individual; 

14 (B) may not infringe on a State’s power to 

15 set criteria concerning what categories of indi16 viduals are eligible to obtain a driver’s license 

17 or personal identification card from that State; 

18 (C) may not require a State to comply with 

19 any such regulation that conflicts with or other20 wise interferes with the full enforcement of 

21 State criteria concerning the categories of indi22 viduals that are eligible to obtain a driver’s li23 cense or personal identification card from that 

24 State; 


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1 (D) may not require a single design to 

2 which driver’s licenses or personal identification 

3 cards issued by all States must conform; 

4 (E) shall include procedures and require5 ments to protect the privacy rights of individ6 uals who apply for and hold driver’s licenses 

7 and personal identification cards; 

8 (F) shall include procedures and require9 ments to protect the Federal and State con10 stitutional rights and civil liberties of individ11 uals who apply for and hold driver’s licenses 

12 and personal identification cards; 

13 (G) shall not permit the transmission of 

14 any personally identifiable information except 

15 for in encrypted format; 

16 (H) shall provide individuals with proce17 dural and substantive due process, including 

18 promulgating rules and rights of appeal, to 

19 challenge errors in data records contained with20 in the databases created to implement this Act; 

21 (I) shall not permit private entities to scan 

22 the information contained on the face of a li23 cense, or in the machine readable component of 

24 the license, and resell, share, or trade that in25 formation with any other third parties, nor 


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1 shall private entities be permitted to store the 

2 information collected for any other than fraud 

3 prevention purposes; 

4 (J) shall not preempt State privacy laws 

5 that are more protective of personal privacy 

6 than the standards, or regulations promulgated 

7 to implement this Act; 

8 (K) may provide for excluding from a driv9 er’s license or personal identification card an 

10 address of principal residence in circumstances 

11 which justify such an exclusion, such as for rea12 sons of personal security of domestic violence 

13 victims or judges or other law enforcement offi14 cials; 

15 (L) shall not infringe on a State’s power to 

16 reasonably accommodate a person’s sincerely 

17 held religious belief in granting a driver’s li18 cense or personal identification card; and 

19 (M) shall not require verification of birth 

20 certificates until a nationwide system is de21 signed and implemented to facilitate such 

22 verification. 

23 (d) GRANTS TO STATES.— 

24 (1) ASSISTANCE IN MEETING FEDERAL STAND25 ARDS.—Beginning on the date a final regulation is 


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1 promulgated under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary 

2 of Homeland Security shall award grants to States 

3 to assist them in conforming to the minimum stand4 ards for driver’s licenses and personal identification 

5 cards set forth in the regulation. 

6 (2) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security shall award grants to States 

8 under this subsection based on the proportion that 

9 the estimated average annual number of driver’s li10 censes and personal identification cards issued by a 

11 State applying for a grant bears to the average an12 nual number of such documents issued by all States. 

13 (3) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Notwithstanding 

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

15 0.5 percent of the grant funds made available under 

16 this subsection. 

17 (4) SEPARATE FUNDING.—Funds appropriated 

18 for grants under this section may not be commingled 

19 with other grant funds administered by the Depart20 ment of Homeland Security and may not be used for 

21 any purpose other than the purpose set forth in 

22 paragraph (1). 

23 (e) EXTENSION OF EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Sec24 retary of Homeland Security 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 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security $300,000,000 for each of the 

7 fiscal years 2010 through 2017 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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