Driver's license rules draw fire

WASHINGTON — New driver's license rules tucked in a military spending bill will create national identification cards for Americans and stick state governments with the bill, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander said Tuesday.

Alexander, R-Tenn., joined Democrats and state officials in railing against the White House-backed driver's license rules and other immigration measures before the Senate approved the $82 billion spending bill 100-0. The House approved it last week.

Several states fear the new rules will be costly, provide little protection against invasions of privacy and identity theft and make getting a driver's license a bigger headache for Americans.

The rules are aimed at stopping illegal immigrants from getting drivers' licenses to prevent them from boarding planes or entering protected federal buildings. States will have three years to meet the new standards that include verifying applicants are American citizens or legal residents.

Earlier this year the Utah Legislature passed a bill, that has since become law, that replaces illegal immigrants' drivers' licenses with driving permits that can't be used for identification. The driving privilege card is issued to those who don't qualify for a Social Security number.

The House had included the rules and other the immigration provisions in its version of the bill paying for the U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate did not, but negotiators included them in the final bill.

Alexander and other lawmakers said the rules established in the REAL ID Act will have unintended consequences. Driver's license examiners trained to decide whether a person can parallel park will have to determine whether an applicant is an al-Qaida terrorist, he said.

"It's possible that some governor may look at this and say, 'Wait a minute. Who are these people in Washington telling us what to do with our drivers' licenses and making us pay for them, too?' " Alexander said.

Some states have threatened to challenge the new driver's license orders in court and even disobey them.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, vice chairman of the National Governors Association, has said "if more than half of the governors agree we're not going down without a fight on this, Congress will have to consider changing" the rules. Huckabee also is a Republican.

"If you think a trip to the division of motor vehicle is a bad experience today, wait until the REAL ID takes effect," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.