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Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall have sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano asking for an extension to the REAL ID Act, which would require new drivers licenses be designed for New Mexico.
New Mexicans would need a passport to travel by plane if New Mexico’s drivers licenses do not meet national standards set by the REAL ID Act of 2005.
“As you know, more than 30 states, including New Mexico, are unlikely to meet the December 31, 2009 deadline,” Udall and Bingaman wrote in their letter to Napalitano. “While we understand the Administration’s desire to enact the PASS ID Act in lieu of granting an additional extension, the uncertainty surrounding the steps the Department may or may not take if the legislation is not signed into law is creating confusion and raising serious concerns in the many states that are not currently in full compliance with existing law.”
If the Department of Homeland Security decides not to issue an extension, Bingaman and Udall asked that Napalitano “issue a public statement as soon as possible to reassure the traveling public that you will work to mitigate the adverse impact of REAL ID.”
An extension was granted to all 50 states and six other U.S. jurisdictions in 2008 when none of the states was ready to meet the requirements of the law.
The PASS ID Act would, according to the official summary, prohibit:
(1) federal agencies from accepting state-issued driver’s licenses and personal identification cards unless the state issues such licenses and cards that are materially compliant with the minimum standards of this Act; and
(2) persons from being denied boarding a commercial aircraft solely because of failure to present a driver’s license or identification card issued pursuant to this Act. Specifies minimum document requirements and issuance standards for such licenses and cards. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to:
(1) enter into the appropriate aviation security screening database information on persons who have been convicted of using a false driver’s license at an airport; and
(2) establish a state-to-state one driver, one license demonstration program. Establishes a State Driver’s License Enhancement Grant Program. Makes it unlawful for a person knowingly and without lawful authority to copy or resell information from a driver’s license or identification card.
The PASS ID Act would repeal many provisions of the REAL ID Act and replace them with its own language.
As governor of Arizona, Napalitano was highly critical of the REAL ID Act, which was passed Congress without debate as a part of the the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief of 2005.
Last year, Napalitano said that without federal funding for the states, “the Real ID Act becomes just another unfunded federal mandate.”
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., who sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security, previously sent a letter to Napalitano about the REAL ID Act.
A 2006 study (pdf) by the National Council of State Legislatures, National Governor’s Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators found the REAL ID Act would cost more than $11 billion to implement. The Department of Homeland Security says the cost would be no more than $3.9 billion.
The full text of the letter sent by Senators Bingaman and Udall is below:
November 30, 2009
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington D.C. 20528
Dear Secretary Napolitano:
We are writing to respectfully request that the Department of Homeland Security provide an extension for states to become materially compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005. As you know, more than thirty states, including New Mexico, are unlikely to meet the December 31, 2009 deadline. While we understand the Administration’s desire to enact the PASS ID Act in lieu of granting an additional extension, the uncertainty surrounding the steps the Department may or may not take if the legislation is not signed into law is creating confusion and raising serious concerns in the many states that are not currently in full compliance with existing law.
The Department of Homeland Security has not indicated whether it will grant an extension, despite the fact that a majority of states are unlikely to be in compliance with the REAL ID Act. This is causing a great deal of anxiety for our constituents, who are seeing news reports that they will need a passport in order to fly on a commercial airline after the first of the year. Without assurances from your Department that a passport will not be necessary, many people may alter or cancel their travel plans. This uncertainty may also have a significant economic impact if the residents of non-compliant states decide not to fly or are unable to do so.
The Director of the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division sent you a request on November 25 to grant the state an extension of the December 31 deadline. We support this request; however, we also ask that if the Department does not intend to provide such an extension, that you issue a public statement as soon as possible to reassure the traveling public that you will work to mitigate the adverse impact of REAL ID.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your ongoing efforts to strengthen homeland security.
Sincerely,
_________________ _________________
Jeff Bingaman Tom Udall
U.S. Senator U.S. Senator
