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ID proof for driver’s licenses
will bolster security

THE ISSUE Congress is near enactment of a bill that would require states to verify identities of driver's license applicants.

THE possession of driver's licenses by the hijackers who attacked America nearly four years ago showed how easily identities can be created. A bill in Congress that would require driver's license applicants to prove their identities would bolster homeland security and should be enacted.

The 9/11 commission noted last year that all but one of the 19 hijackers had some form of U.S. identification document, some by fraud. "The federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses," the commission recommended.

The rules being considered in Congress would have states require that driver's license applicants show documents proving their U.S. citizenship or legal presence, an address and a Social Security number. The legal status of noncitizens would be checked against a national immigration database for verification.

News reports that Hawaii is among 11 states that now grant driver's licenses to noncitizens who do not have visas are misleading. The counties issue driver's licenses and require documents such as passports, birth certificates, military documents or alien registration or refugee cards.

One document that counties allow for proof is a state ID card, for which the state requires a birth certificate, original Social Security card, alien or refugee card or valid foreign passport and visa. The Legislature should need only to enact a law allowing counties to continue doing what they do.

If the bill before Congress is enacted, it may need changing before it takes effect three years later. By one account, it would require a license applicant to provide a birth certificate, photo ID, proof of Social Security number and a document with full name and home address -- not one of those, all of them. Many Americans don't have their birth certificates or Social Security cards.

A state's refusal to comply will invalidate its residents' driver's licenses to be used for federal identification purposes, such as boarding a commercial flight, entering a government building or opening a bank account. Obviously, all states will comply, even though the cost is estimated at $500 million nationwide.

Immigration rights advocates complain that it will make America's roads more dangerous, forcing illegal aliens to drive unlicensed and uninsured. However, the bill reportedly will allow states to create a two-tiered system for issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Tennessee began using such a system last year, issuing licenses that declare: "For driving purposes only. Not valid for identification." The license is printed vertically, distinguishing it from the horizontal licenses for drivers who can prove legal presence. In March, Utah issued a similar license that can be used for identification by private entities but not government agencies.

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