Benefits of a Secure License

Elements of a Perfect Driver's License

1. Proof of legal presence in the United States;
2. Proof of state residency;
3. Social Security number verification, and;
4. Biometric identifiers, like a digital photograph.

Licenses also should expire on the same date as visitor visas expire. And applicant names should be screened against a federal terrorist watch list.

Quick Facts

Driver's licenses are a proven terrorist weapon. Each of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists carried state-issued licenses or non-driver ID's. Many of them, including Mohammed Atta, carried several. They used them to board the airplanes that day.

Driver's licenses allow holders to board airplanes, rent vans or small trucks, enter sensitive governent and commercial buildings, open bank accounts and send and receive international wire transfers, among other things.

The 9/11 Commission recommended national identification standards for driver's licenses as a way to prevent future terrorism in its report to Congress. That key Commission recommendation was removed from the Intelligence Reform Bill immediately prior to its passage last year.

Outgoing Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said national standards for driver's licenses are necessary.

Some states have made it easier to obtain driver's licenses since 9/11.