[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 20 (Friday, March 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1387-S1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IDENTIFICATION BY DRIVER'S LICENSE
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this afternoon many Members of Congress,
many people across America will be headed to airports, and at the
airport checkpoint they will be asked to show some form of a photo
identification as well as a ticket. That is now the custom in America.
It is something we have come to accept as part of our effort to make
certain we have security on planes and in airports.
The most common form of identification which will be presented by
passengers across America to prove their identity is their driver's
license. More than any other documentation, that is what people use
when they travel.
But, if we look to the question of the authenticity and integrity of
a driver's license, I am afraid we find very troubling statistics and
information. It seems that with very little effort and a minimum amount
of money, virtually anyone in America can get a driver's license made
with their picture on it. It may not be their real name. It may not
have any accurate facts on it. But it will be a photo of some person
with some name.
A driver's license, as the primary source of identification in
America, is your ticket to enter our society. Once you have that
driver's license and present it, you are in the system. You are
recognized as part of the system.
You may want to get in the system for a variety of reasons. A person
who is over 21 years old and wants to buy alcohol needs a driver's
license to present so they can make that purchase. Someone who is in
the business of stealing the identity of another person will want a
driver's license with their photo on that other person's statistical
information.
Of course, if your goal is even more sinister, a driver's license
becomes critical. Timothy McVeigh knew that. That is why he used a
phony driver's license when he rented the truck which he drove into
Oklahoma City, blew up, and killed so many innocent people. Several of
the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11th attack also knew how
important a phony driver's license was. They either obtained fake
driver's licenses or licenses issued to them under false pretenses,
which gave them access to a system, which started opening doors once
the driver's license was in their name--or at least in some name with
their photo.
When we debate this, a lot of people in America get nervous. If we
are talking about identification cards, are we talking about a national
identification card system? I am not proposing that at all. Some
Members of Congress have. I am not one of them. But I do think there
are things we can do that can strengthen the process of issuing
driver's licenses all across America, which can make them more uniform,
more authentic, more credible.
I am working on legislation, and I will be holding a hearing in the
Governmental Affairs Committee in the coming weeks that will address
this issue. I have worked with the administrators of State agencies
across America. Every State agency with the responsibility of issuing
driver's licenses is part of an association which has worked with me in
an effort to come up with some standards across the States. When I walk
into a DMV, whether it is in Illinois, New York, Georgia, or
California, what do they ask to prove my identity? Is it a birth
certificate? Is it a passport? What will really prove my identity?
I think establishing minimum uniformity in the way driver's licenses
are issued State to State makes sense. It is going to eliminate forum
shopping by those who are looking for the easiest State to provide
counterfeit and illegal documents in the process of obtaining a
driver's license. That is why I worked with the association to come up
with minimum uniform standards, so that State to State everybody knows
that a person applying for a driver's license has established their
identity through the most credible means. If somebody comes to Illinois
to apply for a driver's license and they produce documentation that
indicates they once lived in another State, I think the State of
Illinois should have an opportunity to have access to that other State
and find out if there is a chance that person either applied for a
driver's license which was suspended or revoked or that State has some
information that may be of value to Illinois before issuing the
license. I think this is an excellent starting point.
We are also working with States in terms of applying standardized
verification requirements, such as validating source documents, for
example. This includes authenticating the information provided, perhaps
by cross-checking with other government agencies. So if somebody came
and said, ``Here is my birth certificate as part of the proof of who I
am,'' there would be a way to establish how you would cross-check that
to make certain the document was valid.
We are also working on ways to prevent tampering and counterfeiting
of documents. This morning, on the CBS morning show, I was a guest of
Bryant Gumbel. They featured a video segment where one of their
reporters went to Los Angeles with $150 in hand and started walking the
streets and saying, ``Where can I get a phony driver's license?'' It
didn't take long to find one. Within a short period of time, that phony
license was prepared with the reporter's photo for $150. Then he took
that license and started buying airline tickets with that new name. He
also got on several flights without anyone ever stopping him for using
a phony document.
That tells you how easy it can be even with enhanced aviation
security today. But there are ways to make these driver's licenses more
secure so they can't be counterfeited and easily manipulated. There are
also ways to authenticate the validity of the driver's license using
very inexpensive equipment. I think that ought to be part of our goal
as well.
We also need to establish tougher criminal penalties for those who
would misuse driver's licenses, who would issue phonies, or those who,
frankly, are part of a network that is trying to make a profit at the
expense of identity. Senator Barbara Boxer of California and I
discussed this issue this morning. She has legislation that addresses
some of these aspects and we are going to work together with her on
that.
We also provide Federal whistleblower protection to those who uncover
internal fraud or report suspicious activities involving State motor
vehicle agencies. Why is this important? Look at what recently happened
in Tennessee. There was a woman who--at least, it is alleged--was
involved in an illegal scheme to sell driver's licenses, which is a
very serious charge for somebody who had been a State employee in
Tennessee. Then, under the most mysterious of circumstances, within a
day of her expected court appearance, her car was set on fire, and she
was killed. We have had instances in my State where people working at
the driver's license stations have been bribed to issue commercial
driver's licenses and other things. That does not give us confidence in
the integrity of the system today.
We need enhanced criminal penalties in place for anyone involved in
any aspect of the fake driver's license trade, and also we need to
establish whistleblower protections to get people to come forward with
information.
We should also require States to implement effective auditing
programs in order to scrutinize every aspect of the issuing process for
driver's licenses. One way to cut down on internal fraud and abuse is
to protect the integrity of the agency's process. So a State should be
able to find out for example, through routine audits, if some of their
equipment used to manufacture driver's licenses are missing or
inventory is
[[Page S1388]]
unusually low for the number of applications received.
Frankly, these things would move us toward a system which would give
more credence to the current process of presenting identification. I
don't mind standing in line at airports. Last week, I was at Chicago
Midway, and I twice stood in lines for a half hour each to present my
identification and plane ticket. That is part of the cost of making
certain that when I got on that airplane, it was safe. I think people
all across America understand that. It is sad, and I wish it weren't
the case, but it would be sadder still if the wrong person using fake
documents got on the plane and ended up endangering many innocent
lives. But if this process is worth anything, and if it is going to
work, the identification presented has to be valid and validated. That
is why this effort is so important.
I have discussed this in terms of terrorism and security, but two
other aspects should be mentioned. All across America now, we have
problems with drunk driving. Fortunately, the percentage of drunk
drivers has gone down dramatically in this country, and I give credit
to effective law enforcement, as well as to organizations such as
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Drunk Driving
(SADD). They have changed the climate and environment, advocating
designated drivers and a more responsible use of alcohol. Even some of
the beer and alcoholic beverage companies have gone that extra step to
try to advertise the dangers of drinking and driving, and the need to
be suspicious of those who do.
The biggest problem we face here is the number of young people under
21 who are easily able to obtain phony driver's licenses and
identifications who can then purchase alcohol. Once they purchase and
consume it and end up in an intoxicated state, they endanger their
lives and others. If we toughen the standards by which States issue
these driver's licenses, and if we go after the manufacturers and
marketers of fake documents with heavy penalties, and if we make the
cards more resistant to counterfeiting, then I believe we can diminish
the likelihood that a young person will end up with a phony license or
identification, buy alcohol, and cause a death in the process.
The next area I will mention is one that I know personally--identity
theft. You may not be aware of the fact that this is the largest
growing consumer fraud complaint in America. Last year, at the Federal
Trade Commission, 204,000 complaints were filed for a variety of
deceptive practices, and 42 percent of them related to identity theft.
This means that in just one year, close to 100,000 Americans were
victimized when somebody took their name and their information and did
something with it without their approval. It has happened to me as a
Member of the Senate. I got a call a couple of years ago at home, and
they said:
We finally caught up with you, Richard Durbin. Did you
think you were going to avoid this bill you incurred in
Denver, Colorado?
I said:
I haven't incurred any bills in Denver, Colorado.''
They said:
Yes, you did. You applied for a credit card, and here is
your Social Security number. You made several thousand
dollars in purchases and you never paid for it.
I said:
It never happened. I never went to that store. I haven't
been in Denver, Colorado, for that purpose.
Someone had stolen my identity, and they applied for a local credit
card, and they ran up several thousand dollars in purchases. Of course,
they didn't make any payments. Eventually, I straightened it out. There
are ways to do that although it could take a long time. I give credit
to the credit agencies that accepted the truthful information and
cleared my credit record.
Identity theft is growing, and part of the scam is to come up with
phony documentation. One of the key elements in documentation is your
driver's license which is the most widely used form of identification.
Once you have that license, doors start to open. You use that phony
license to match the name on a stolen credit card, and you are off to
the races. It is pretty easy. Sadly, we have to acknowledge that it is
a growing problem in America.
So coming up with minimum uniform standards on driver's licenses,
making sure that when they are issued, they are truly issued to the
person who is applying for them, providing ways to make certain that
other States haven't revoked a driver's license when a new State is
being asked to issue one, making certain that States improve their
internal processes to prevent fraud and abuse, putting in tougher
penalties for those who would abuse them, incorporating security
features on driver's licenses so they can't be counterfeited--all of
these things move us forward to improve our nation's security.
And all of these common sense solutions add up to a process that is
far from anything remotely resembling any national identification card.
There would not be any new nationally issued cards or databases or
tracking systems or collection of sensitive information. There would
not be intrusion on privacy--if the FBI needed information about a
potential criminal's information contained in his DMV record, they
would go through the same process they do today--by going to each State
and following the established process to obtain that information.
What I propose is a system where the States would have an incentive
to move forward--a better system, more accurate, with more integrity,
with ability to work more effectively with other States. I think this
is a step in the right direction. I commend my colleagues who have
expressed an interest in this issue. In the next several weeks, we will
have a hearing in the Governmental Affairs Committee, where we will
bring in people from across the spectrum--law enforcement, State
leaders and representatives, those who have been deceived, and those
who have had their identity stolen from them.
I will ask them to come together to help us with legislation that
will take this commonsense step forward, to make sure that the most
commonly used photo identification presented at an airport or a train
station or at the bank is really is an indication of true identity of
the cardholder.
I yield back my time, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Reed). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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