Secretary Michael Chertoff at the National Conference of State Legislatures, August 8, 2007

INTRODUCTION

• Thank you for that introduction and for inviting me here this morning.
• I’m honored to speak to members of the National Conference of State Legislatures and with representatives from states across this country.
• As Secretary of Homeland Security, I am deeply aware and appreciative of your vital role in helping us protect our nation.
• We all know that the job of securing our homeland is a shared responsibility that simply cannot be discharged in Washington alone.
• It has to be done on the state and local level as well. So I am pleased that we have continued to work together on a host of issues that are of national significance.
• You are all vital partners in this job and so let me thank you for doing your part to promote the safety and security of America and its people.

SECURE ID - WHTI

• In the context of our homeland security partnership, I want to talk to you this morning about the critical issue of secure identification.
• Clearly, if we wish to secure our homeland, it is absolutely essential that we have secure documentation.
• The 9/11 Commission spoke directly to this issue when it wrote these words [and I quote], “[S]ources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists.”
• The Commission put it well when it added [and I quote], “For terrorists, travel documents are like weapons.”
• Indeed, when we investigated the 9/11 attacks, we discovered that 18 of the 19 perpetrators had been issued U.S. identification documents and that some of these documents had been obtained fraudulently.
• Fraudulent documents are undeniably a growing problem. Since 2005, our Customs and Border Protection officers have intercepted more than 90,000 fraudulent documents and apprehended more than 60,000 people trying to enter our country with such documents.
• Currently, our Customs and Border Protection officers must wade through nearly 8,000 different kinds of travel documents we currently accept at the border. There is no way these officers can quickly or effectively tell whether those documents are real or fraudulent. Obviously, this puts our nation at risk.
• That’s why, in June of this year, we announced our proposed rule for the land and sea portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, or WHTI.
• Beginning January 31st, we’re going to end oral declarations at the border and require two forms of identification to enter the United States . Then, as early as the summer of 2008, we will start to require WHTI-compliant credentials – a passport, PASS card, a NEXUS card, or a similar document.
• This is a significant change and so we’re going to be reasonable in implementing the provisions. We’re deliberately taking a phased approach that will allow people to get the necessary documents and adjust to the requirements. And we’re also making accommodations for children and groups of minors crossing the border, as well as members of our armed forces, round-trip cruise ship passengers, and first responders.
• And as part of WHTI, we’re also working with the States to develop an enhanced driver’s license that would be suitable for use to cross the land border. We have such a program in place with Washington State , and we welcome the opportunity to discuss the same program with those of you in other states as well.

SECURE ID - REAL ID: SUMMARY

• Indeed, if we’re going to have secure identification, we’re going to have to have secure driver’s licenses.
• Let’s recall that the 9/11 Commission specifically recommended that the federal government “set standards for the issuance of….sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.”
• And let’s also recall that two years ago, Congress responded by passing the REAL ID Act.
• This landmark statute aims to make it harder for dangerous people to obtain licenses fraudulently -- and easier for law enforcement to detect documents that have already been falsified. The idea is to give us a critical new tool to prevent terrorism and protect our homeland.
• Last March, in accordance with the REAL ID Act and in fulfillment of the Congressional mandate, I announced a rule that proposed specific minimum standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to be accepted for federal purposes, such as air travel.
• Under these standards, applicants for driver’s licenses would need to bring documents to their state DMV office for the purpose of validating five things: their identity, their date of birth, and their legal status in the US, their Social Security number, and their address.
• Now as for the DMV offices, they’d have to take photos of applicants, scan or copy the documents the applicants are providing, and then go through a common-sense process of verifying the accuracy or legitimacy of those documents.
• And we also required the states to prepare a comprehensive security plan to safeguard their DMV offices, their driver’s license storage and production facilities, and their databases and systems. The goal was to make sure that the states would protect the data they’d collect as well as the actual places where the licenses would be produced and issued.
• Now as for the licenses themselves, we proposed standards for the states to ensure that the REAL ID licenses being produced would be hard to tamper with, counterfeit or duplicate for fraudulent purposes.
• And finally, we wanted to ensure that drivers couldn’t hold multiple licenses in multiple jurisdictions, so our rule required that each state check to make sure that no other state was also licensing them.
• Taken together, these measures would clearly make our nation stronger, safer, and better protected against terrorism and against other threats to our people.

REAL ID - POINTS OF AGREEMENT

• Now let me make a few points about the REAL ID law and the rules.
• First, I think that everybody in this room agrees with the 9/11 Commission and with the United States Congress that in our post-9/11 world, secure IDs, especially driver’s licenses, are an imperative.
• So at least in principle, I believe we are on the same page when it comes to REAL ID.
• Second, I think it’s commendable what some of the states have done totally on their own since 9/11 to improve the security and integrity of their driver’s licenses and ID cards.
• Third, I am pleased that you and I agree that our REAL ID rules give the states some real flexibility through the self-certification process. They allow states to come up with waiver and exception processes, to define which DMV employees must submit to background checks, and to possibly choose the physical security requirements of their DMV buildings.
• Fourth, I would emphasize that under these rules or standards, the states can still make their own policy choices in nearly every area. To cite an obvious example, it will be the states, and not the feds, who will still decide who may or may not drive a car.
• And finally, it’s equally clear that under our standards, personal privacy will be protected by states issuing REAL ID driver’s licenses.
• Our proposal requires that each state conduct name-based and fingerprint-based criminal history record checks on DMV employees who will be involved in REAL ID in relevant ways.
• Neither the REAL ID Act nor our proposed standards mandates anything like Big-Brother-style government. Moreover, our Department of Homeland Security will not build, own, or operate any central database containing personal information.
• And let me stress that through REAL ID, we’re not only preserving people’s privacy but strengthening it. By improving the quality of our ID documents, we’re protecting against one of the fastest growing crimes in America today – the crime of identity theft. There is no greater violation of privacy than when criminals gain total access to your personal information in the process of stealing your identity.

REAL ID CONCERNS

• While protecting privacy and state prerogatives, the REAL ID law does envision a partnership between Washington and the states that entails mutual obligations.
• We should all agree that in our post-9/11 world, every level of government, not just Washington, must do its part to safeguard our society. Partnership is essential and with partnership comes the kind of shared responsibility I alluded to earlier.
• That includes responsibility for the costs of enhancing the security of our people through initiatives such as REAL ID.
• And it also includes the need to implement the requirements of REAL ID in a timely fashion.
• These two variables – money and time – are clearly the key points of disagreement over implementation of REAL ID.
• Let me say a few words about each of them.
• Some would argue that it’s unfair to require the states to pay for any of this.
• My response is, again, that everybody, not just Washington, must share the responsibilities of homeland security, including the costs. And since we agree in principle that REAL ID is needed to protect us from dangerous people, it must follow that its costs must be shared. How they are to be shared can be debated; whether they should be shared cannot.
• So that’s how I believe we should approach the question about money as it relates to REAL ID.
• Now as to the question about time, I believe we have demonstrated a continued willingness to be flexible. When we announced the REAL ID rules in March, we said that states which seek justifiable extensions and timetables will have through December 31, 2009 to come into compliance. Since March, we’ve extended that deadline to the year 2013.
• While I fully understand the time challenges that every state faces in implementing REAL ID, the truth of the matter is that time is running out.
• In the National Intelligence Estimate that was released last month, it clearly states that Al Qaeda will “intensify” its efforts to put operatives inside our country.
• Make no mistake: time waits for no one… and neither do our enemies. These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary efforts to counter extraordinary threats.
• The bottom line is this: either we believe in REAL ID or we don’t. If we believe it is truly essential to keep us safe, we have a moral obligation to act on that belief by implementing it sooner rather than later.

CONCLUSION

• Secure identification that can’t be exploited or forged by terrorists is precisely what we need to prevent another catastrophic attack on our soil. That’s what the 9/11 Commission asserted and in passing the REAL ID law, that’s what Congress affirmed.
• By enacting that legislation, we as a nation chose to shut a window of vulnerability that would have been exploited repeatedly by those who seek stolen or false identities in order to do us harm. We chose to make a commitment to do our utmost to prevent another 9/11. Now, with the issuance of these standards, it’s time to fulfill that commitment and help repair the security gaps that were so tragically exploited on 9/11.
• Thank you.