For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
“On the same day that Secretary Napolitano highlighted the Department’s efforts to combat terrorism and keep our country safe during a speech in New York City, Congress took a major step forward on the PASS ID secure identification legislation. PASS ID is critical national security legislation that will break a long-standing stalemate with state governments that has prevented the implementation of a critical 9/11 recommendation to establish national standards for driver's licenses. As the 9/11 Commission report noted, fraudulent identification documents are dangerous weapons for terrorists, but progress has stalled towards securing identification documents under the top-down, proscriptive approach of the REAL ID Act -- an approach that has led thirteen states to enact legislation prohibiting compliance with the Act. Rather than a continuing stalemate with the states, PASS ID provides crucial security gains now by establishing common security standards for driver's licenses and a path forward for ensuring that states can electronically verify source documents, including birth certificates. ”
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