Statement by DHS Press Secretary Sara Kuban on Markup of the Pass ID Bill by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee

The following press release was published by the US Department of Homeland Security on July 29, 2009. It is reproduced in full below.

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. ”

Source: US Department of Homeland Security