[Infowarrior] - House OKs $50 million in Real ID grants

[Richard Forno]

House OKs $50 million in Real ID grants
Posted by Anne Broache
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9730100-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-
1_3-0-20

More than half of the states have passed some sort of measure scorning
national drivers license standards known as Real ID, but that didn't stop
congressional politicians on Friday from attempting to sweeten the deal by
approving an additional $50 million aimed at helping them out.

By a 268-150 vote on Friday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives
approved those new grants for states as part of a Homeland Security spending
bill covering the next fiscal year.

But will the extra dough appease states that have balked at the estimated
$14 billion pricetag --according to the Office of Management and
Budget--projected for the ten-year effort? The early indication is probably
not.

David Quam, a lobbyist for the National Governors Association, told CNET
News.com on Friday that while the move is somewhat encouraging, "this has
never been just about money. It's both about money and passing a law that
will actually make these systems more secure. You can throw all the money
you want at this, but unless you make changes to Real ID itself, it can't be
done."

According to draft rules for the program, states must issue machine-readable
licenses whose information could then be shared among individual state motor
vehicle department databases. Homeland Security officials say that's
necessary to verify that the same driver isn't licensed in more than one
state. There's no formal requirement, however, that such data be encrypted,
which has prompted concerns about the potential for identity theft.

Defenders of the regime, including Bush administration officials, claim the
overhaul is necessary to create more reliable, tamperproof identification
documents that can help to thwart terrorist attacks and to keep illegal
immigrants from obtaining false licenses. But privacy and civil liberties
advocates have dogged the plan, which was tacked onto an emergency Iraq war
spending bill that won unanimous approval in 2005, arguing that it will
create a massive burden on states and is not sufficiently
privacy-protective--nor will it stop wrongdoers with legally-obtained
documents from carrying out plots against the United States.

The additional funding did draw applause from the Information Technology
Association of America, whose 325 members include companies that stand to
benefit because they, in ITAA's words, have experience implementing "the
majority of government credentialing and identity management programs at the
federal, state and local level and provide similar solutions to commercial
companies."

Like all spending bills, this one originated in the House, but it won't take
effect unless the Senate and the president sign off, which isn't always a
speedy process. Meanwhile, there is also movement afoot in the Senate to
swap the original requirements with what supporters, such as the American
Civil Liberties Union, say is a more secure, flexible approach.
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