Bill in U.S. Senate proposes to standardize state IDs

Michigan Daily | October 28, 2004

Working to close security loopholes identified by the Sept. 11 commission, the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 1 passed a bill that, if approved by the Senate, would reform the process of issuing state driver's licenses.

Drafted by Michigan Rep. Candice Miller (R-Harrison Twp.), the license provision in the reform bill would standardize the process of getting state identity documents, including driver's licenses.

Currently, different states have different requirements for receiving an ID. For example, Michigan requires that an individual present three documents, at least one of which must come from a list of six primary documents. In Minnesota, however, you have to present just two items, one primary document from a list of 17 acceptable documents, and one secondary document — either another primary one or a document from a list of eleven others.

Because the bill would standardize the way states confirm identification, all states would be encouraged to have an effective system to prevent identity fraud, and make it harder for illegal aliens to falsify a legal identity.

The bill would also create a “Driver's License Agreement,” an interstate database allowing states to share information on driver's identity and driving record. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators maintains an interstate database, yet Michigan and Wisconsin are not in the database.

Sean Moran, legislative director for Miller's office, said the bill would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to collaborate with the states and come up with an official list of accepted proofs of residence and identity.

“This bill will allow officials to have a high level of confidence that this person is who he says he is,” he said.

Moran said states are not forced to comply with these standards, but the new bill offers grant incentives to states that comply.

Should a state choose not to comply with the provisions mentioned in the bill, driver's licenses issued by that state would no longer be viable for proof of identification for federal purposes. For example, if Alabama did not follow the guidelines in the bill, an Alabama driver's license would not be sufficient proof of identity for receiving federal benefits or even boarding airplanes or trains.

Previously, problems with slack identification requirements in 2001 allowed four Sept. 11 hijackers to obtain driver's licenses in Virginia based on falsified information.

Following Sept. 11, many states implemented massive reforms to correct their system for issuing identification cards.

Moran said the bill is mainly to make sure that all states uniformly update their systems, saying “a lot of states have already made tremendous strides to comply with this law, even though it hasn't been effected. States are making huge driver's license reforms. We want to make sure everyone is complying.”

Adversaries of the bill, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say it will lead to the implementation of a national ID card which would be a step toward creating a police state. They also question the responsibility of creating the Driver's License Agreement database, saying it would inevitably be used for purposes other than those originally intended, and that this information would end up in the hands of credit agencies and private investigators.

Wendy Wagenheim, communications director for ACLU's Michigan branch, said, “Whether or not there is a card actually issued, the fact is that the government would have a huge database with information about every (driver) in the United States … the result of that is the further erosion of privacy.”

“The Feds do not need to pass a bill requiring states to do what states should want to do anyway — and that is make their citizens safe,” Wagenheim said.

But Moran said there are no plans to create a national ID card.

“Arguments saying this bill would create a national ID card are simply not true. States already have licenses; all this legislation is doing is standardizing the criteria to issue these and standardizing the technology,” he said.

Advocates also say standardizing the database technology would allow law enforcement across the country to make the highways safer, ensuring for example, a police officer in South Carolina to have access to a Minnesota driver's driving record.

Several documents that Michigan currently accepts as proof of ID would no longer be viable under the new law. The new law will not allow any foreign document to count for identification purposes. Michigan currently accepts foreign driver's licenses, birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees and passports as identity verification.

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