WASHINGTON - Hoping to keep drivers licenses out of the hands of terrorists, the House voted Thursday to make states verify that applicants are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.
Republicans pushed the measure through on a 261-161 vote despite protests from governors and state motor vehicle departments that it would be too costly and would require them to take on the role of immigration officers.
The bill also would make it easier for judges to deport immigrants seeking political asylum if they think they might be terrorists.
"Common sense says we should not allow suspected terrorists to be able to stay inside our borders if they could harm us," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The measure was rejected by Congress and the White House in December as part of a bill reorganizing intelligence agencies in response to flaws found after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks. It was revived with newly won support from the Bush administration.
"Today there are over 350 valid drivers license designs issued by the 50 states. We all know it's very difficult for security officials at airports to tell the real ID cards from the counterfeit ones," said the bill's sponsor, House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) Chairman James Sensenbrenner.
Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said the new features that states would have to include on drivers licenses would prevent terrorists from using them as IDs to board planes like the Sept. 11 hijackers did.
Governors, state legislators and motor vehicle departments have all argued that requiring verification of background information such as Social Security (news - web sites) numbers and whether a person is in the United States legally would be burdensome.
The National Governors Association and a group representing motor vehicle department administrators said in a letter to House leaders that the measure is a "massive unfunded mandate."
The bill is expected to have more difficulty in the Senate, where several Republican lawmakers have said they want it considered as part of a broader immigration package.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record) of Texas, chairman of the Senate Judiciary immigration subcommittee, has said he supports Sensenbrenner's proposals to bar illegal immigrants from using driver's licenses as identification to get on airplanes or enter federal buildings, but that this issue must be dealt with along with other immigration proposals.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
I figure you can offer illegals licenses, teach them to drive, and make a record of them. Or you can refuse them licenses and they can run around the country unchecked driving cars without any safety training, unable to get a job forced to lie, steal, and/or murder to survive.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
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