Biometric
ID Reality Set For US Too With Real ID
Like it or not —
and many in the Obama administration don't —
Real ID is coming to a driver's license near
you. Having
failed to get Congress to revise the tough new
security rules for state-issued licenses in
the Real ID Act, the Department of Homeland
Security says it is working out how to
implement the law. But
critics fear Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano plans to gut the intent of the
legislation's authors. There
is broad agreement among those following the
issue on Capitol Hill and in statehouses
across the country that Pass ID, the
legislative alternative to Real ID that the
Obama administration was pushing last year, is
dead in the water. "Pass
ID is not moving forward," David Quam,
director of federal relations for the National
Governors Association, told The Washington
Times. "Although
[Homeland Security] is still working with
Congress on a comprehensive solution that
allows cost savings and flexibility to the
states, we are obligated to continue moving
ahead with efforts to improve the standards
for state-issued driver's licenses and
identification under the REAL ID framework
pending any legislative changes by
Congress," Homeland Security spokeswoman
Amy Kudwa told The Times in an e-mail.