Article Archive

October Update

October 9, 2007

Policy Statement on Governor Spitzers Driver's License Rule Changes

The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License (CSDL) is a grass roots organization with members in 48 of the 50 states. More than 150 of our members reside in New York. Our central objective is to educate the public and elected officials regarding the critical importance of higher driver’s license identity and physical security standards. We believe the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens and legal residents support our view. In a recent poll, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) found that 82% of adults favor secure driver’s licenses. The poll also found that 85% of Americans believe that secure driver’s licenses improve homeland security and reduce fraud and identity theft.

REMARKS FROM SECRETARY MICHAEL CHERTOFF
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2007

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Senator Leticia Van de Putte ( Texas ), NCSL president
• Rep. Donna Stone ( Delaware ), NCSL president-elect
• Speaker Joe Hackney ( North Carolina ), NCSL vice president
• Senator Richard Moore ( Massachusetts ), chair, NCSL standing committees and co-chair, NCSL Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Task Force

The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License,” a group that includes family members of 9/11 victims, Thursday said it was “alarmed and stunned” by Governor Eliot Spitzer’s campaign vow to eliminate what they call “a key anti-terrorist safeguard” at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

In his campaign for governor, Eliot Spitzer repeatedly expressed support for the licensing of all New York drivers regardless of their immigration status. Now expectations are running high among those urging the governor to change policies that deny licenses to 250,000 drivers in the state, most because they cannot prove they are legal immigrants.

The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License (CSDL) has a single mission: making drivers licenses secure — harder for terrorists to get — as quickly as humanly possible. We support the provisions of the REAL ID Act, with modest changes.