Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 418. I want to thank my colleague from Wisconsin for his leadership and tireless efforts to secure our Nations borders. Last year. the Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. enacting into law many of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. Unfortunately. not all of the recommendations were included in the first round of legislation. which is why we are here today. The gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman SENSENBRENNER) and I committed to working together to make sure that one of the first orders of business. considered by the House in the 109th Congress would be to address some of the recommendations in our jurisdictions that the Congress failed to address last.year. I want to use my time today to discuss the provisions contained- in H.R. 418 that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Government Reform which I chair: security measures for Federal acceptance of stateissued drivers licenses and personal identification cards. commonly referred to as identity security. Last years 9/11 Commission report identified a number of gaps and weaknesses in our Nations intelligence and homeland security systems. providing recommendations for Congress to consider in fixing these problems. One of the most pressing recommendations proposed by the commission and one that fell within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Government Reform appears on page 390 of the 9/11 Commission report. It is the following: Secure identification should begin in the United States. The Federal Government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and solrces of identification. such as drivers licenses. Fraud in identity documents is no longer just a problem of theft. At many entry points to vulnerable facilities. including gates for boarding aircraft. sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists. For terrorists. travel documents are as important as weapons. The 9/11 hijackers relied ona wide variety of fraudulent documents. We know that the 19 hijackers held 63 drivers licenses or ID cards. Based upon guidelines proposed by State motor vehicle administrators and adopted by a number of States throughout the country. our committee worked with other interested stakeholders to craft legislation that would establish minimum standards to be accepted of stateissued identification that could be used for Federal purposes. These important provisions were overwhelmingly passed by the House as part of H.R. 10 and heralded by the 9/11 victims families. Unfortunately. the Housepassed provisions critical to strengthening identity security were dropped from the bill in conference: Instead. language was included that would set up a general framework for a Federal role in this area. but the language was filled with so many loopholes and optout clauses for States that it really. only made matters worse. We find ourselves here today to correct these mistakes and to again enact meaningful reform: H.R. 418 provideg the Congress with this opportunity. Our approach is very straightforward. Our legislation would set forth minimum document and issuance standards for Federal acceptance of drivers licenses and stateissued personal identification cards. The legislation would provide 3 years for States to come into compliance with these standards if their drivers licenses are to be recognized for Federal Government purposes and their documents as proof of an individuals identity. As the 9/11 Commission concluded. fraud in identity documents is no longer just a problem of theft. As we continue to strengthen our intelligence function to better identify and track terrorists. those individuals will be forced to find ways to conceal their identity in order to avoid detection. We know that the 9/11 hijackers used the United States as their staging area for training and preparation in the year prior to the attacks. traveling into and out of and around the country with little fear of capture. In fact. several of the hijackers lived less than 15 miles away from this building while making final preparations for their attack. We are dedicated to making sure we do not provide such a hospitable environment in the future. As chairman of the committee that oversees federalism issues. I am mindful of concerns about the Federal Government imposing burdens on States. socalled unfunded mandates. My response is threefold. One is that this is a national security issue that requires a unified national response rather than 50 separate responses. Secondly. the legislation authorizes grants to States to conform to the minimum standards set forth in the act. Third. I am confident that these minimum standards will not be a heavy lift for a majority of the States in our Nation. It is the handful of States that continue to have lax security standards more than 3 years after 9/11 that may have the most work to do. It is crucial that we do everything we can to enhance the security of the American people. and this important legislation takes a significant step in frustrating terrorists attempts to integrate into our society. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 418 and strengthen identity security. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.