Hill worries PASS ID bill would weaken security of driver's licenses

Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee expressed concern during a hearing on Wednesday that new regulations for government-issued identification cards could make it easier for terrorists and criminals to obtain fraudulent identification documents.

The new rules are part of the 2009 Providing Additional Security in States' Identification Act, known as PASS ID, which was introduced in May to address concerns with the 2005 Real ID Act, which requires states to enforce more stringent procedures for people applying for a driver's license. Many states consider the law an unfunded mandate that infringes on citizens' privacy rights and have refused to comply.

REAL ID requires states to use electronic procedures to verify source documents, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards, which an individual provides when applying for a driver's license. PASS ID allows states to determine their own processes to check the validity of the documents, eliminating the need to adopt what DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano called "untested technologies" during her testimony before the committee.

PASS ID's flexibility would reduce the cost associated with the mandate, but some panel members questioned if it would make it easier for individuals to obtain driver's licenses using fraudulent documents. "I worry that the identification verification procedures may have been weakened, and that we'll wind up where none of us want to be -- back where we were before 9/11 when the license itself would be valid, but the documents [from] which [the license] is based upon are not," said committee chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

Napolitano noted that states are required to verify Social Security numbers with the Social Security Online Verification database and an applicant's immigration status with the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. States also would develop additional document verification processes. Napolitano mentioned that the Health and Human Services and State departments are developing federal databases for birth certificates and passports, which could serve as resources for states. But she provided no details on the progress of the systems.

Napolitano added that states' refusal to adopt the REAL ID standard required relaxing the mandate. "Because the states by and large are not implementing REAL ID, you cannot assume it sets a higher security standard than PASS ID," Napolitano said. "REAL ID in a way is [dead on arrival]."

Lieberman also expressed concern about the provision included in PASS ID that eliminates the requirement for information sharing among states and prohibits the creation of a national identity database containing driver's license information, noting that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 had licenses from multiple states.

"The technical feasibility needs to be considered," Napolitano responded. "As we stand, we really don't have the capacity to say, 'We're going to have in one place easy electronic [verification] of every type of license document.' "

DHS is continuing to operate with the Mississippi Pilot program, which will test an information sharing initiative among select states in the region.

"I'd like to work with you and this committee to strengthen this section of the PASS ID [bill] without going over the tipping point, where we continue to encourage states to not comply," Lieberman said.

Committee ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, expressed concern about another provision included in PASS ID that would prevent security officials with the Transportation Security Administration from prohibiting a passenger from boarding a plane based solely on lack of a compliant license. This would eliminate an incentive for states to adopt the federal standard, she said, and diminish the authority and discretion of TSA security officials.

"Let's say the individual does not have the compliant ID. There's now a law that says that cannot be the basis for keeping the individual off the airplane," she said. "[What if] security screening finds nothing, but the security official still feels the individual should not board the plane? You're creating a situation where that official feels he has no choice," while also opening DHS up to lawsuits by individuals who claim their rights under PASS ID were violated.

Napolitano agreed to work with the committee to adjust the provision's language to eliminate that loop hole, but added, "with or without the language, the policy is going to be that if you appear without a compliant document, some investigation is going to be done before you can board."