Real Progress on Real ID

All but one of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers carried government-issued IDs – mostly state driver’s licenses. The hijackers found it easy to obtain these documents, often by taking advantage of an underground network that services illegal workers.

The 9/11 Commission was as dismayed as the rest of us by how easy it was for the hijackers to beat the system, and it recommended an overhaul of the way states issue such documents. Congress responded with the REAL ID Act, which sets minimum standards for states to issue IDs.

Unfortunately, while many states have begun to secure their driver’s licenses, others have been slow to do so, claiming that security improvements are too costly. In any event, we do not think that the cost of secure identification is too high, especially compared to the cost of keeping the current system, which helped not just the 9/11 hijackers but millions of illegal workers who use fake documents to get jobs in the U.S. and identity thieves who take advantage of easily forged ID to invade the privacy and ruin the credit of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

At the same time, we recognize that the states do need time and help to build a more secure system for issuing driver’s licenses. DHS has found two ways to provide relief to the states while sticking to the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation.

First, after listening hard to the states’ concerns, we have recognized that the federal standards for secure licenses will need to give the states more time and flexibility. We hope that the new regulations, to be released in the next several weeks, will cut costs substantially. Based on the new flexibility, states as far apart as Arizona and New York have recently signed formal agreements to implement REAL ID, and we expect others to join once the regulations are published.

Second, today the department is issuing grant guidance to provide direct assistance to the states in meeting the new requirements. One of the new security features in the REAL ID act is a requirement that states double-check the documents that allow people to get licenses. There’s no point in having hard-to-forge licenses if they can be obtained by an easily forged and unchecked birth certificate.

The best way to stop such forgery is through an electronic network that allows one state to double-check birth certificates or licenses issued in other states. By allowing states to query each other’s records, we can avoid creating a consolidated database while ensuring that the data is kept up-to-date. (Such a system is already in effect to make sure that unsafe truckers don’t get commercial licenses from a dozen different states to beat the “points” system.) The federal government is taking the lead in getting such an electronic network off the ground. Today we are issuing grant guidelines that will give states access to $31 million dollars that could be used for that purpose. Once it’s built, all states will be able to hook up to the system, so all will benefit. An additional $4 million will help states electronically check birth certificates.

This is a good day for our nation’s security. It has been a long time coming, but REAL ID is finally building a head of steam. In the past few weeks, we have reached agreement with New York and Arizona on implementing the law and issued a blueprint for building an antifraud network. In the coming weeks we will provide detailed and flexible standards for improving the security of driver’s licenses across the board. And one of the last unimplemented recommendations of the 9/11 Commission will be on its way to completion.

Stewart A. Baker
Assistant Secretary for Policy