Comment on DHS Docket No. DHS-2006-0030

National security is the only issue we care about. The Coalition is non-partisan and non-profit. We are ordinary citizens, some of us 9/11 family members, who want to help protect our country from another terrorist attack. Until each of the fifty states has a secure licensing system, ALL fifty states remain vulnerable.

The United States is no safer today from terrorists than on September 11, 2001. A terrorist who slips through our borders can get a drivers license in a half-dozen states in a matter of hours. The drivers license was the key tool used by the 9/11 terrorists. They used them to receive money wire transfers from Al Queda overseas, to rent safe-houses, to attend flight schools, to rent cars and, ultimately, to board the murder planes. The licenses also provide entry to top national targets.

The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License (CSDL) submits the comments below in connection with the proposed regulation 6 CFR Part 37, Minimum Standards for Drivers Licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes.

The 9/11 Commission insisted on REAL ID because of the extraordinary security problems that lax licensing laws pose. Lax licensing laws put the life of every single American at risk. The proposed regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are a critical development in making the REAL ID Act a reality. They must be supported by every state in order to ensure the overall security of this nation, and the individual lives of all Americans. CSDL lauds the substance of the proposed regulations, but strongly recommends that neither the extended compliance period date nor the phased-in date of REAL ID be extended any further.

Proposed Regulations Part VI

In Part VI of the proposed regulations, DHS solicits comments on specific issues in the proposed regulations. CSDL makes the following comments:

1. Military identification cards should be included as a document acceptable in establishing identity; they are fully vetted by the U.S. military.
2. The data elements currently identified for proposed inclusion in the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) of the drivers license or identification card should be expanded to include a digital signature, greatly increasing security of the drivers license or identification card without great cost and little new technology at state DMVs or places which mandate use of REAL ID. Thus, CSDL believes the cost-benefit analysis of including a digital signature in the MRZ is wise, and advocates it. Law enforcement will be greatly aided by an unencrypted MRZ, as the proposed regulations themselves note at Part H. 9 . “DHS believes that access by law enforcement is essential to the requirements of the Act…” The overriding concern of the 9/11 Commission in proposing tighter restrictions on the issuance of drivers licenses was to increase the security of all Americans; therefore law enforcement personnel, charged with ensuring that security, should be aided by the physical elements of the drivers licenses and identification cards.
3. American citizens born before 1935 should be fast-tracked to a secure driving license. American senior citizens with established histories with a state should be “grandfathered” into the document verification requirements of the Act. CSDL explicitly proposes using the term “American citizens born before 1935” rather than the term “individuals” used by DHS. Individuals and groups posing a national security threat may now live in this nation as non-citizens. Use of the term “individuals” potentially exempts the very people the REAL ID Act is designed to identify.
4. The citizenship designation should be put into the MRZ, rather than denoted somewhere else on the card, making it WHTI compliant.
5. CSDL recommends that driving licenses be renewed in person no less frequently than every eight (8) years.
6. CSDL strongly recommends that no-one be exempted from supplying a photograph for inclusion on the license. Driving is a national privilege; if one refuses to be photographed he should not be permitted to drive.
7. CSDL recommends the federal government assist the states financially in verifying information against existing federal databases by making the appropriate investment in updating existing databases and making them uniform and available from state to state.
8. REAL ID is an extremely effective tool in uncovering and combating many forms of fraud – including voter, insurance, welfare, bank and credit card fraud, combating identify theft, locating fathers currently evading child support responsibilities and in increased traffic safety. New York, which currently has some of the most stringent licensing laws in the nation, has had very positive experience with several benefits ancillary to increased security. CSDL vigorously urges DHS to make each and all of these benefits apparent to states currently opposing the implementation of REAL ID.
9. The wording of §33.3(c) results in an outcome contrary to REAL ID. One important function of REAL ID is to ensure that individuals are unable to obtain drivers licenses from multiple jurisdictions. The proposed §33.3(c) language states: “Prior to issuing a REAL ID drivers license or identification card, states must check with all other states to determine if any state has already issued a REAL ID drivers license or identification card to the applicant.” The choice to use “REAL ID drivers license” in this provision, instead of the “non-REAL ID” license, means that there is no check on whether individuals have obtained drivers licenses from multiple jurisdictions. CSDL strongly advocates that §33.3(c) be amended to read “Prior to issuing a REAL ID drivers license or identification card, states must check with all other states to determine if any state has already issued a non-REAL ID drivers license and identification card ”, or simply left at “drivers licenses” as originally specified in the Act.
10. REAL ID licenses should be distinguished by standardized color or design. This distinction will aid TSA personnel in ensuring that only REAL ID compliant individuals board airplanes.

CSDL appreciates the opportunity to present our views on REAL ID.