The Washington Post
Motor vehicle authorities are working on a plan to create a national identification system for individuals that would link all the states’ driver databases and employ high-tech cards with a fingerprint, computer chip or other unique identifier.
The effort by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which would take several years to implement if approved by state and federal authorities, follows disclosures that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used false identities or obtained driver’s licenses fraudulently.
Association leaders asserted at a recent meeting that driver’s licenses "have become the de facto national identification card used by law enforcement, retailers, banks and other establishments requiring proof of identification."
The group pledged to work closely with the new Office of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and federal authorities. The motor vehicle officials have proposed standardizing the driver’s licensing process and linking databases before, but on a voluntary basis.
The new proposal would seek to make such changes mandatory, an official said.
Under the proposal, every state would continue to issue driver IDs. But every license and nondriver identity card would contain the same basic information and a similar set of security features to prevent tampering and fraud, association officials said Friday.
"There’s no need to create a new national ID card," said Jason King, the group’s spokesman. "Let’s just make what we have better."
The idea of a national ID card arouses fierce opposition among civil libertarians, both conservative and liberal, who believe a card would be used by government authorities to track individuals without their permission.
But public sentiment shifted after the terror attacks. One survey found that 70 percent of those questioned favored requiring citizens to carry a national identification card of the sort used in other countries.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s panel on technology, terrorism and government information, also has expressed interest in a national ID card.
Friday she announced the introduction of legislation that would require foreign nationals to use high-tech visa cards containing a fingerprint, retinal scan or other unique identifier. It also would create a centralized "lookout database" containing information about known terrorists and other U.S. visitors deemed threatening.
Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle Corp., the world’s largest database software maker, said last month that he would donate software to make it possible for the government to create a national ID card system to improve airport security.
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