WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly a decade after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Governor Thomas Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, the former Chair and Vice Chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ("9/11 Commission") have released an updated report card detailing the status of the Commission's unfinished recommendations.
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Brian Zimmer, President of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, noted that, "this alarming and sober assessment of the remaining 9/11 Commission's recommendations should serve as a wake-up call to federal and state policy makers. Driver's license security, as the former chairs noted, remains a dangerous vulnerability for this country."
In 2004, the 9/11 Commission issued its report in which it recommended that, "[t]he federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification such as driver's licenses." In 2005, Congress passed and President W. Bush signed the REAL ID Act, which required the Department of Homeland Security to set minimum standards for state issued driver's licenses and identification cards use for "official purposes," such as boarding a commercial airplane. The regulations were issued in final form by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on May 11, 2008, after then DHS Secretary Chertoff extended the deadline to coincide with the three year lapse before the law was enacted.
Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton, now co-chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center's National Security Preparedness Group, released a report, "Tenth Anniversary Report Card: The Status of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations". The report stated that, "[w]hile nearly one-third of the states have complied with the first tier of benchmarks, the deadlines for compliance have been pushed back twice to May 2011, and a recent announcement pushed back compliance again until January 2013. The delay in compliance creates vulnerabilities and makes us less safe. No further delay should be authorized; rather, compliance should be accelerated."
This is the second time that the former 9/11 Commission chairs have argued for accelerated compliance. In March, Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee with the same recommendation, noting that the REAL ID Act "established the standards [recommended by the 9/11 Commission] by statute."
Mr. Zimmer agreed with Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton:
"Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton are right. The delay in compliance has created vulnerabilities in states that have not implemented the REAL ID rule. We are seeing evidence of that in New Mexico right now as Governor Susana Martinez is making a strong effort to close identity vulnerabilities in their driver's license issuance that were the same as those in Virginia where Khalid Almihdhar and Hani Hanjour obtained IDs. Within the past several months, New Mexico investigators have found fraudulent source document rings that facilitate fraudulent driver's licenses in a pattern remarkably close to the methods that eight 9/11 terrorists used to fraudulently obtain IDs from the Virginia DMV. It's international news that identity fraud operations like those that helped the 9/11 terrorists are helping people from around the world get driver's licenses in the state of Washington. We must all hope none of their customers are plotting terrorist attacks. "
To view the report, "Tenth Anniversary Report Card: The Status of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations", click here. http://bit.ly/pYlKUc
To view the testimony that was delivered by Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, click here. http://1.usa.gov/o8bV3Y
About the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License
The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License (CSDL) is a 501 (c)(3) non-partisan, not for profit, crime prevention, educational public charity, supported by donor contributions from across the United States. Our slogan, "Working to protect the identity of every American", embodies our commitment to higher standards for both government and private entities that issue identity credentials, especially state agencies that issue driver's licenses and ID cards. CSDL undertakes research addressing best practices for DMVs, compliance with federal laws, identity fraud prevention and related identity management topics. CSDL continuously collects data from each state and territory motor vehicle agency on their current identity verification and anti-counterfeit measures. CSDL's newsletter has over 9,000 subscribers in 50 states.
CSDL's website is www.secure-license.org.
Mailing address: 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 880, Washington, DC 20004
Additional Background on REAL ID Act of 2005
The REAL ID Act has five titles, of which Title Two addresses driver's license rules. In brief, Title 2 of the REAL ID Act directed the Department of Homeland Security to establish minimum security standards for state motor vehicle agencies. The Act was quite specific and proscriptive, because Congressional analysis had identified the areas in which the states' rules were absent or weak with regard to preventing imposters, including foreign terrorists, from exploiting those vulnerabilities. The law is binding on the federal government and states that documents which do not meet the standards cannot be accepted by the federal agencies after certain deadlines. The deadline for state compliance was extended by current DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to January 15, 2013.
SOURCE Coalition for a Secure Driver's License
