[Infowarrior] - NCSL (state legislatures council) calls for the repeal of REAL ID Act

[Richard Forno]

NCSL Home >  State & Federal Issues: State-Federal Relations >  NCSL Letter
of Support for S. 717 Repealing the Real ID Act       Add to MyNCSL


http://www.ncsl.org/statefed/RealID040408.htm

April 4, 2008

RE: NCSL Supports The Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2007
(S.717)


Dear Senators Akaka and Sununu:

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) expresses its support
for your legislation ­ S. 717, the Identification Security Enhancement Act
of 2007 ­ that would repeal the REAL ID Act and reinstitute the negotiated
rulemaking process that preceded it.

State legislators are extremely concerned about homeland security and place
security and emergency preparedness as a very high policy and budgetary
priority.  State legislators share the goals of REAL ID and are committed to
making sure that state-issued identity credentials are tamper-resistant,
free from fraud and abuse, and reliable documents.  Many state legislatures
initiated efforts to improve state-issued driver¹s licenses even before the
tragedy of September 11, 2001.

However, lacking the full policy and financial commitment of the federal
government to ensure the success of the state-federal partnership needed to
make REAL ID possible, NCSL now calls upon Congress to repeal REAL ID and
reinstate the negotiated rule-making process.  This approach  will achieve
our shared goals for security in a manner that respects states¹ rights,
privacy protections, and fiscal responsibility.

Please have your staff contact Jeremy Meadows (202-624-8664;
jeremy.meadows at ncsl.org) or Molly Ramsdell (202-624-3584;
molly.ramsdell at ncsl.org) in NCSL¹s Washington office with any questions or
concerns.  Thank you for your courage to seek this reasoned approach to
security measures.  We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,  

Representative Donna D. Stone                      Speaker Joe Hackney
Delaware House of Representatives                North Carolina House of
Representatives
President          
President-Elect

 

CC:      Members, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
            Members, U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security &
Governmental Affairs