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US issues new plan to replace drivers' licenses
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| Contributor | Gerald Farinas |
| Last Edited | Gerald Farinas Jan 12, 2008 01:53pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | News Service - Reuters |
| News Date | Saturday, January 12, 2008 07:50:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Announced by US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, driver's licenses or other identification issued by states must be electronically readable, with new safeguards to protect against fraud. Congress passed legislation in 2005 mandating the so-called Real ID program.
17 states have passed legislation opposing the program, including six that have banned participation. Unless those six states -- Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington -- seek an extension by May, residents will have to submit other identification such as a passport, or face extra screening if they want to board a commercial flight, Chertoff said.
Critics say the program will amount to a national identification card -- which Americans have long opposed as a symbol of an overly powerful central government. They also say the program fails to prevent businesses from reading the digital information on the cards to sell or use in marketing. Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would seek to repeal the program. |
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