Real I.D.

Congressman Sensenbrenner has an op-ed in today's USA Today, regarding the Real ID act, which passed the House in February and is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Excerpts:

Real ID would require all states to confirm the identities of applicants, confirm that visas are valid for foreign visitors, keep accurate records, and make driver's licenses and ID cards extremely difficult to counterfeit. This legislation would prevent the next Mohammed Atta from using his six-month visa to obtain a six-year driver's license by requiring that a foreign visitor's license term ends when the visa expires. Furthermore, once these reforms are in place with more complete state records, license renewals should be faster and lines shorter.

Real ID is estimated to cost the average state less than $2 million to comply with over the next five years, a small price for closing a large security loophole. It would authorize federal grants to help share states' costs.

When I first heard of the Real ID Act, I thought it was a national ID card. The name led me to believe that. I obviously found out differently, but Sensenbrenner's column has filled me in a little more.

I know there are concerns about privacy, and about this leading to an actual national ID (seems like we could just put a picture on our Social Security cards, though, doesn't it?)

But for crying out loud, I can't believe we're not ALREADY making sure applicants are legal and eligible, and linking license expiration dates to visa expiration dates.

UPDATE - I click over to Fighting Bob, and what do I see but a guest blog by somebody named Jason Haas, who leads with:

The REAL ID Act had been gathering attention for making it all but impossible for illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license in the United States.

Punchline: he thinks that's a bad thing.