Democrats weigh IT money for DHS in stimulus bill

The economic stimulus package under consideration by key Democrats could include funding for the Homeland Security Department -- possibly as much as $2 billion, congressional and industry sources said today.

Talk has surfaced about the inclusion of hundreds of millions of dollars for Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard, sources said.

Funding could be sought to help states comply with the so-called Real ID law, which requires them to issue secure driver's licenses to their citizens.

The push for the funding appeared to be coming from both lawmakers and the homeland security industry. "Everything's in play," one source said. But aides for the Senate and House Appropriations committees could not confirm specific homeland security efforts that might be included in the stimulus and sources cautioned that nothing has been decided.

Sources pointed to an economic stimulus bill proposed by former Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd in November as a blueprint, which sought to provide more than $2 billion for Homeland Security agencies. Funding in the bill included $500 million for TSA to buy and install explosives detection equipment, about $300 million for the Coast Guard and another $300 million for border security, especially to expedite the deployment of technology to the southwest border.

The bill called for another $100 million to improve infrastructure at the nation's ports of entry and about $350 million to consolidate the Homeland Security Department headquarters in Washington. An industry source said it is likely that the stimulus bill will include funding to improve ports of entry and for TSA baggage-screening operations.

Another source added that other infrastructure improvements in the bill, such as for bridges, could include security measures, such as video cameras or perimeter protections.

"It's a great opportunity now. Security was an afterthought before. Now you have the opportunity to do those things up front," the source said.

U.S. to miss deadline on Mexico border fence...

WHY ????

The United States will miss its deadline to complete a security fence along the Mexican border this year, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Thursday.

"I don't think we're going to hit the nail on the head and be done by the end of the year," Chertoff told Reuters, adding that about 370 miles (595 km) of the planned 670-mile (1,070-km) fence had been completed.

Chertoff said he hoped when the Bush administration leaves office in January about 90 to 95 percent of the fence.

"We've gotten most of the way there. We will be very substantially close," he said in an interview.

Congress has mandated that the fence, which will eventually stretch from California to Texas to help stem the tide of illegal immigration, be finished this year but law suits have slowed its progress.

"We've had some delay because the court proceedings in Texas have gone more slowly than I thought ... Although every time there's actually been a legal challenge, we've won," Chertoff said.

The nearly 2,000-mile 3,200-km border with Mexico is the main entry route for illegal immigrants into the United States, which is already home to 11 million to 12 million undocumented aliens.

Better enforcement have slowed the influx however. Border patrol agents arrested 880,000 people crossing illegally in 2007, down from 1.1 million a year earlier.

Chertoff said progress was being made on other measures aimed at boosting border security, including moves to double the number of border patrol personnel on the job to more than 18,000 by the end of 2008.

"We will hit the 18,000 target," he said.

He said that plans for a $21 million expansion of a high-tech "virtual fence" along parts of the border were being implemented and the first test section was yielding results.

"We've used it to catch thousands of illegal migrants we've also seized several tons of marijuana," he said.

The government announced this year that it was awarding Boeing Co contracts to build two sections of the fence that would include fixed towers, radar and ground sensors, remote control cameras and software linking border agents.

New manager takes on troubled border security program

In less than four months, the Homeland Security Department will hand off border security programs to a new administration that are over cost, behind schedule and downsized from original plans, according to lawmakers, congressional investigators and industry officials.

Despite three years of work and nearly $1 billion in taxpayer's money, the department's so-called SBInet program has not met goals and expectations, the critics said. The program -- aimed at using technology and traditional fencing to control the nation's borders -- faces even more upheaval and overhaul as a new program manager takes over the reins.

In one of the biggest changes so far, the department had to forgo planned technology investments for the remainder of this year in order to have enough money and time to erect more physical fencing and vehicle barriers by December.

Facing a surge in fencing costs, the department notified Congress that it needs to reprogram nearly $400 million to meet its obligations, of which more than $200 million was originally intended for surveillance systems, cameras and computer software. And, most recently, the department notified its SBInet contractor, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, it does not intend to give Border Patrol agents a mobile common operating picture during the next phase of the program, CongressDaily has learned.

In what sources on and off the Hill described as an abrupt but necessary move, Customs and Border Protection announced Sept. 19 it was replacing its manager for the overall Secure Border Initiative with retired Air Force Col. Mark Borkowski. "There is nothing sacrosanct," Borkowski said, referring to his approach to SBInet. "It's clear to me that it looks like [SBInet] lacks focus," he added. "I'm going to presume that what it looks like is accurate and I'm going to act accordingly."

Borkowski said he needs to determine if the SBInet program has the right management structure, authorities and personnel. He said he will review whether Boeing is the right contractor for the program.

Homeland Security and industry officials admit SBInet has had setbacks, but contend the program is not as troubled as it appears. They say the system is operating around the clock in one spot south of Tucson, Ariz., and recently contributed to the seizure of 4,000 pounds of marijuana. And now that the department has made construction of physical fencing a top priority, they say, the program can focus on systems integration and testing before deploying technology for follow-on phases.

But at this point, CBP has informed Boeing it does not intend to give Border Patrol agents a mobile computer in their vehicles that connects them to a common operating picture -- essentially identical displays of visual information, congressional and industry sources said. A congressional aide said lawmakers will have no patience for more problems in follow-on phases, given that the department and Boeing now have more time to test and integrate technology.

No its NOT "Chicago Muslim Busted - Fake IDs, Passports, etc."

Story found at Homeland Security National Terror Alert website:

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/up...

Fake Passports, ID's, Social Security cards and Cash Seized from Illinois Muslim (Mohammed Afzal Sodagar) - Held On $3 Million Bail.

Homeland Security replaces head of troubled border program

After coming under heavy congressional fire for technical problems and cost overruns surrounding efforts to build virtual fencing along the nation's borders, the Homeland Security Department has replaced the official in charge of the multibillion-dollar program, CongressDaily has learned.

Sources on and off the Hill said they hope the removal of Gregory Giddens as chief of the Secure Border Initiative will breathe new life into the troubled program.

The most problem-plagued program that Giddens managed was SBInet, which is focused on using both technology and traditional fencing to secure the nation's borders.

For congressional aides, the likelihood Giddens would be removed became clearer when the department stopped sending him to Capitol Hill to testify about SBInet and instead sent top Customs and Border Protection officials.

"Given the problems with the program and the spotlight on it I don't think you'll find a lot of people surprised about them pulling Greg," a congressional aide said. "The program has suffered public blows and they want a fresh start, particularly as they transition it to the next president."

Sources said they were not aware of anything improper that Giddens did. He has been named executive director for facilities management and engineering in CBP's finance office.

The department has named Mark Borkowski as the new executive director for the Secure Border Initiative.

Borkowski has been serving as a program manager for the U.S. Border Patrol and has 25 years of experience in large systems acquisitions and program management for NASA and the Air Force, according to CBP.

"I've heard through the grapevine that's he's a good fixer," an industry source said of Borkowski.

Sources said the decision to give Borkowski the job likely means that Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar is taking more control of the program to ensure it meets the needs of agents in the field.

"On balance, I want to think that it will be very good for the program simply because whoever now comes in can have an opportunity to address the issues that have seemed to make GAO and Congress so disgruntled," another industry source said.

"Sometimes it's good to get a new coach on the team even though there might not be anything wrong with the old coach."

CBP Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern praised Giddens in a statement, saying he developed a comprehensive border security strategic plan and built up the SBI program office "to design and deploy the technological systems, tactical infrastructure, and transportation services required to gain control of our borders."

Congressional oversight committees will likely give Borkowski little time to settle into his new post before they pepper him with questions and outline their expectations. Lawmakers will let him know that patience is running thin to correct deficiencies.

"SBInet has encountered numerous setbacks ... I plan to hold the department accountable for getting SBInet back on track and securing our borders," said House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairwoman Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.

GAO released a report Monday with blistering criticism of SBInet, along with summaries of several reviews it has made of the program.

"Important aspects of SBInet remain ambiguous and in a continued state of flux, making it unclear and uncertain what technology capabilities will be delivered, when and where they will be delivered, and how they will be delivered," GAO said.

"The absence of clarity and stability in these key aspects of SBInet impairs the ability of the Congress to oversee the program and hold DHS accountable for program results, and it hampers DHS's ability to measure program progress," GAO added.

Implications of Russian Cyber Battles

Implications of
Russian Cyber Battles
By Colin Clark

When the history of the Russian invasion of Georgia is written, one of the most revealing discussions may center on the role of cyber warfare.

Some questions that will need answering: Just when did Russian hackers begin their attacks on the Georgian websites. Just what role did NATO — especially Estonian and American — cyber warriors have in guiding the Georgian response. Was the enormous three-week attack on Estonia last April from Russia a practice run for the Georgian attack?

When the Russians crippled Estonia’s cyber infrastructure, NATO dispatched top cyber war experts to investigate and to improve the Estonians’ electronic defenses.

It seems reasonable that, in the event of a true combined operation against the Georgians, NATO dispatched cyber experts to help though I haven’t confirmed that yet. There are numerous reports that Estonia has sent cyber warriors to help the Georgians combat both countries historic nemesis.

Official and unofficial Pentagon spokesmen refused to comment on whether the US might or might not be assisting the Georgians in their efforts to protect their Internet infrastructure.

However, one source said that if any US agency would be helping the Georgians it would be the Department of Homeland Security. The reason: if the Russians were to learn the Pentagon was assisting the Georgians they could claim the US was waging cyber war against them.

And US policy is that attacks on our computer systems can be considered an act of war, a logic the Russians would be sure to follow. If DHS is assisting the Georgians then we can make it very clear that US efforts are purely defensive. Also, DHS is home to the Computer Emergency Response Team.

All this raises questions about the US approach to cyber warfare — not defensive and security measures, but the willingness to use the web to attack an enemy to blunt or cripple their offensive capabilities.

As one of my wittier sources put it earlier today: Are the Georgians really more afraid of a cyber attack than of all those missiles raining down on their heads. The global World Wide Web may be incredibly resilient, but local web connections can be seriously disrupted by those old timey capabilities known as kinetics. Destroy phone or cable connections –easily done with artillery or bombs — and you’ve made it a lot harder to rebuild and reconnect than would a denial of service attack. On top of the destruction, an enemy can send a much clearer and simpler signal than can be done through cyber attacks. On the other hand, it is the very ambiguity of a cyber attack that can make it such a powerful tool in the times before a conflict erupts. Ask the Russians and the Estonians.

Real ID documents show how stressful situation got

Real ID documents show
how stressful situation got

May 2, 2008

AUGUSTA — State officials were frustrated with the federal government as a deadline closed in for Maine to accept Homeland Security Department demands to tighten its driver's license standards, according to documents released following a Freedom of Access request.

The 14-inch stack of documents details behind-the-scenes actions by Gov. John Baldacci's office and other state officials in the form of e-mails, handwritten notes, proposed and finished press releases and copies of news stories about Real ID. Additional documents were being collected.

The papers also include government documents outlining the Real ID license-security law, reviews of draft legislation to change Maine's licensing standards and talking points provided for top state officials to emphasize certain information to the public.

The documents were requested by news organizations including The Associated Press around the time of a March 31 deadline for states to show they were making progress toward compliance with Real ID or face prospects of not having their licenses and IDs accepted for federal identification purposes.

That would have meant state licenses would not be acceptable for boarding planes or getting into federal buildings. Baldacci had made it clear that he did not want Mainers inconvenienced, so Maine like other states sought an extension for compliance. It wouldn't come easily.

Meetings were held, e-mails flew back and forth and letters began ping-ponging between Baldacci and Homeland Security offices. Montana, then in a similar spot as Maine, wrote Baldacci asking for his state's support in resisting the Real ID law.

Documents also include single-paragraph letters from some states, including Arkansas and South Carolina, requesting extensions. The fact that they were granted with comparatively little ado rankled some Maine officials.

E-mails from the public about Real ID poured into the governor's office, which counted 15,727 of them by Feb. 22, the documents show.

A letter to request an extension was drafted. A legal counsel in Baldacci's office, Karla Black, called one draft she reviewed "waaaaay too wordy."

A division between Baldacci and Maine's top motor vehicles official, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, became evident as Dunlap warned of the program's potential costs in dollars and personal freedoms.

"This has been a very, very tough ride," Dunlap said in a March 24 e-mail. "In our analysis, we've watched the license mission creep move against the Constitution to the point where our license to drive has become a license to travel."

Baldacci's request for an extension in a March 25 letter was rejected in a return letter from Homeland Security, undated and signed by Stewart Baker, the department's assistant secretary for policy.

A follow-up letter was hastily drafted, spurring a flurry of internal written exchanges. Dunlap sarcastically expressed hope for approval in a March 29 e-mail to Baldacci staffers: "Hopefully Baker didn't stub his toe getting up this morning and is in a good mood."

In a single-paragraph letter to Baldacci signed by Baker, Homeland Security granted Maine an extension.

Baldacci's letter of commitment triggered preparation of a bill to require Maine license holders to show they are legal residents of the United States and meet other federal demands.

After fast-track deliberation that included drafts and redrafts of bills that were among the requested documents, lawmakers enacted a measure that was signed by Baldacci April 17. It also requires that state credentials issued to non-citizens who live in the United States legally expire at the same time as the applicant's authorized duration of stay.

Passage of the bill ended what one staff e-mail described as "a stressful time."

Chertoff: ID must comply to fly

Chertoff: ID must comply to fly
By DEVLIN BARRETT

Homeland security officials on Friday hinted at a possible face-saving deal to end their standoff with a handful of states over new driver's license rules — a dispute that, left unresolved, could cause big air travel headaches.

For weeks, the Homeland Security Department has been headed toward a showdown with some states over a law called Real ID, which would require new security measures for state-issued driver's licenses. Yet a late Good Friday letter from a top DHS official suggested Washington may be backing away from a messy fight.

South Carolina, Maine and Montana are the only states that have not sought extensions to comply, or already started toward compliance with Real ID, which was passed after the 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

On Friday, the federal agency granted Montana an extension, even though state officials didn't ask for one and insist they will not adhere to the Real ID law.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told The Associated Press that DHS "painted themselves in a corner."

A fourth state, New Hampshire, has asked to be exempted, but Homeland Security officials have not found that letter legally acceptable, so the Granite State has not received an extension.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had warned that if holdout states do not send a letter by the end of March seeking an extension, come May, residents of such states will no longer be able to use their driver's licenses as valid ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.

Such travelers would instead have to present a passport or be subjected to secondary screening.

Five senators — Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Jon Tester and Max Baucus of Montana, and John Sununu of New Hampshire — appealed to Chertoff last week to exempt all 50 states from the looming deadline.

Chertoff responded that it was not he but Congress that picked the date when the law went into effect in 2005.

"You may disagree with the foregoing law, but I cannot ignore it," Chertoff said in the letter.

The law, he said, is necessary for national security according to recommendations from the commission that studied the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Yet hours after Chertoff sent those letters Friday, DHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker wrote to the attorney general of Montana, saying that even though the state was explicitly not seeking an extension, it would be granted one anyway. Baker reasoned the state's new license security measures already met many of the Real ID requirements anyway.

"I can only provide the relief you are seeking by treating your letter as a request for an extension," Baker wrote.

Schweitzer, Montana's Democratic governor, said his state had not backed down.

"We sent them a horse. If they choose to call it a zebra, that is their business," said Schweitzer.

The agency's approach to Montana could provide an easy way out for the remaining states resistant to Real ID — and suggests the federal government doesn't want to go ahead with its plan to conduct extra screening on residents of certain states.

If the two sides can't cut a face-saving deal, Chertoff has offered a blunt warning to those critics who claim the government is bluffing. "Showing up at the airport with only a driver's license from such a state will be no better than showing up without identification," he wrote to the senators. "No doubt this will impel many to choose the inconvenience of traveling with a passport."

The end of the standoff with Montana does not necessarily mean the entire fight is over.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was considering legal action, and the state's attorney general was preparing an opinion on whether the governor would have a case if he decided to sue the federal government. A spokesman for Attorney General Henry McMaster said the opinion will be released Monday.

Chertoff has offered a plan to gradually implement Real ID requirements over a period of 10 years, so that eventually all driver's licenses would have several layers of security features to prevent forgery. They would also be issued only after a number of identity checks, including immigration status and verification of birth certificates.

Critics of the plan say it is too expensive, an invasion of privacy, and won't actually make the country safer.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report.

DHS stages cyberwar exercise

DHS stages cyberwar exercise
by Shaun Waterman
Washington

Officials from 18 federal agencies, nine states, four foreign governments and more than three dozen private companies will take part in a cyberwar exercise staged by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security this week.

The war game, codenamed Cyber Storm II, will run Monday to Thursday, based at U.S. Secret Service headquarters in Washington. It is the second DHS biannual cyber-exercise, designed to test the ability of federal agencies and their partners in state, local and foreign governments and the private sector to respond to and recover from cyberattacks on their computer networks.

"The goal of Cyber Storm II is to examine the processes, procedures, tools, and organizational response to a multi-sector coordinated attack through, and on, the global cyber infrastructure," says a fact sheet from the department.

Details of the planning for the event are closely held, in part to avoid tipping off participants. The fact sheet says only that the exercise -- the culmination of more than 18 months of planning led by DHS' National Cyber Security Division -- will simulate a series of coordinated physical and cyberattacks on IT and communications systems and chemical, rail and pipeline infrastructure.

The attacker is not identified, but has "a specific political and economic agenda," says the fact sheet. In the last Cyber Storm exercise in 2006, the enemy was an anarchistic coalition of "hacktivists" -- politically motivated hackers -- called the Worldwide Anti-Globalization Alliance, joined by a number of "independent actors."

In the scenario, the attackers penetrated state health records' databases, attacked Federal Aviation Administration systems and defaced newspaper sites.

"Key elements of the hacker attack plan were to strike at trusted cyber systems that were used to control both physical infrastructures and digital commerce and services," says the DHS' after-action report, released in September 2006. "The attackers focused on maximizing economic harm and fomenting general distrust of big business and government by disrupting services and misleading news media and other information outlets."

The choice of adversary -- which the report stressed "was neither a forecast of any particular threats currently existing nor an expression of any specific concerns" -- raised some eyebrows. Among U.S. military planners, nation states, and in particular China, are considered the actually existing adversaries with the most significant capabilities to launch attacks on, or through, the Internet.

One report, by Washington Post blogger Brian Krebs, said Cyber Storm II will feature a nation-state attacker, but a DHS official familiar with the planning said only that this was "a possibility."

The official added that the adversary was "more sophisticated" than in 2006. The scenario was "designed to examine the response to some of the threats that are out there in the real world," he said.

Having a nation-state adversary would make sense, former DHS preparedness chief George Foresman told UPI.

"The top candidates for adversaries would be states, terrorist groups and criminal enterprises" as they were in the real world, said Foresman, who was only involved in the very early stages of planning the event.

As in 2006, the attacks this week will be simulated on special systems set up for the exercise "and will not impact any live networks," says the fact sheet.

Participants in the exercise, which consists of a series of detailed scenarios unfolding according to a strict timetable, will learn of developments via more than 1,700 pre-scripted "injects" in the form of phone calls or e-mails from exercise managers, or through a mock TV news channel set up for the event.

But some of what players will learn from the channel will be bogus, former DHS official Jerry Dixon told Krebs' Security Fix blog.

"They'll inject some red herring attacks and information to throw intelligence analysts and companies off the trail of the real attackers," said Dixon, who helped plan the exercise.

The $6 million event will involve thousands of participants across the world, including from departments of the Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand governments, and from U.S. agencies including the Department of Defense, CIA, National Security Agency and FBI.

Foresman said the foreign countries participating, all signatories to the 1947 UKUSA intelligence-sharing accords with the United States, were chosen because "there is a shared basis by which you can deal with classified information."

In Australia, which has ramped up its level of participation since the last exercise in 2006, officials from the federal police, Attorney General's Department and AUSCERT -- the Australian national Computer Emergency Response Team -- will all take part, Attorney General Robert McClelland told a news conference Friday.

In New Zealand, participating agencies include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Health, the Customs Service and the New Zealand Defense Forces, according to ComputerWorld.co.nz.

Companies taking part include ANZ National Bank, Cisco Systems Inc., which owns much U.S. Internet infrastructure, Dow Chemical, IBM, computer security firm McAfee, software giant Microsoft and Verizon.

International and private-sector participation is essential, said Foresman. "A cyberattack against the United States with real-world effects inside our borders can be launched from anywhere in the world," he said, adding that the attacks would target or utilize infrastructure owned by the private sector.

Cyber-warfare is "inherently international and inherently private (sector)," he said.

The 2006 after-action report said Cyber Storm I was designed to test basic elements of communication and decision-making in a complex environment of interdependent systems and multiple stakeholders.

"Effective response to the scenario was designed to require rapid communications and de-confliction of critical information between players in all sectors and organizations, as well as strategic integration of information to gain accurate situational awareness," it said.

"It's all about the information," Foresman said, adding that "the ability to communicate highly technical information in real-time" between government officials without a common vocabulary had been a major challenge identified by Cyber Storm I.

"Collaboration between the government and the private sector" was something planners continued to wrestle with. "We haven't mastered that piece yet," he said.

DHS revamps driver's license rules to cut costs to states

DHS revamps driver's license
rules to cut costs to states
By Jill R. Aitoro

The Homeland Security Department today announced revamped guidelines for its program of how states issue driver's licenses that the government hopes will curb the criticism from states that previous approaches cost too much and by extending the deadline to issue the more secure licenses by six years to 2014.

The guidelines, spurred by the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and passed into law by Congress in 2005 in the REAL ID Act, establish national standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards to make it harder for illegal immigrants and terrorists to obtain a valid license.

DHS' plan to implement REAL ID was heavily criticized by states and civil liberties groups as being too onerous on citizens and costly, with states claiming REAL ID could cost more than $14 billion. More than a dozen states passed laws or resolutions indicating that they would not comply with the law.

DHS has responded with new guidelines that back away from previous requirements viewed as more onerous, such as requiring a biometric identifier, such as a fingerprint, be attached to the driver's license. The only significant difference now is a requirement that states photograph every person who comes into a department of motor vehicles office to apply for a driver's license. The photograph will be stored in a database so other DMV offices in the state would know if an individual has been denied a license because of improper identification.

"There are burdens states expressed concerning business processes and cost," said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, noting the department has received 21,000 comments on the REAL ID law. "[DHS] has taken steps to ... give states flexibility and extend the period of enrollment.

"Chertoff said the revamped guidelines should reduce the costs to states to comply with the law by 75 percent -- from the original estimate of $14.6 billion to $3.9 billion. In addition,

DHS will provide to states $80 million in grants and another $280 million in general funding to help offset costs more.DHS reduced the costs to comply with REAL ID by offering a phased approach, Chertoff said.

In the first phase, to be completed by Dec. 31, 2009, DHS requires states to verify whether applicants are legally eligible to obtain a driver's license by electronically verifying their Social Security numbers with the Social Security Administration. By that date, states also must check if applicants have more than one driver's license, and must conduct background checks for DMV employees and contractors to ensure that they follow proper processes when issuing licenses.

In the second phase, to be completed by May 11, 2011, DHS requires states to begin issuing the new driver's licenses. States have until Dec. 1, 2014, to issue licenses to citizens who are 50 years of age and younger. Individuals older than 50 have until Dec. 1, 2017, to obtain a DHS-compliant driver's license.

As part of the second phase, states also must verify applicants' identification documents by accessing existing databases to make sure the records are valid and be able to confirm the tamper-resistant features of the licenses. In addition, states must store in their DMV database the full name of applicants according to the identity documents that DHS accepts as valid.

Referring to terrorists, illegal immigrants and identity thieves, Chertoff said, "We're going to disappoint all three categories of people" with the guidelines.

But some argue that a 10-year plan for program implementation simply passes off responsibility to future administrations. "In its new REAL ID regulations, the Department of Homeland Security appears to have dumped the problems of the state on a future president," wrote Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Program, and Tim Sparapani, senior legislative counsel for ACLU's Washington legislative office. "REAL ID needs to be repealed; it is not only a threat to Americans' privacy, but it is utterly unworkable.

"States are not required to adopt REAL ID, but licenses that are issued and are not in compliance with REAL ID requirements will not be accepted for boarding commercial flights or for accessing a federal facility. In addition, Chertoff said, states that opt out might face a rush of illegal immigrants entering their borders.

Chertoff dismissed claims that REAL ID infringes on people's privacy, saying no additional information will be collected, nor will any information be needlessly shared. "You could make the argument that you should have a right to get on an airplane and not identify who you are, but if so, you're against all identification," he said. "I don't think that makes sense, and I don't think the American [people] think that makes sense. ... We have to get over [the idea] that every time DHS does something it's evil."

(Oklahoma) State officials not sold on new DHS rules

State officials not sold on new license rules

By Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org Staff Writer

State officials and some in Congress remain skeptical about new federal rules for driver’s licenses, even after major changes designed to cut the cost of those rules and provide more flexibility.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Friday (Jan. 11) released final rules for the Real ID Act of 2005, giving states nearly five extra years to verify the identity of an estimated 245 million drivers and reissue secure licenses to them. The regulations also give states more leeway in securing the licensing process and in what fraud-prevention features are required on the actual cards.

“We initially estimated Real ID would cost states more than $11 billion. These regulations offer states some flexibility that may tame those costs,” said William T. Pound, executive director of the bi-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures. “Still, the fact remains that the administration has not asked Congress to fund state costs, and Congress has only provided states $90 million,” Pound said.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-sponsor of a bill to repeal Real ID, blasted the finalized rules as too little too late. “It is unfortunate that instead of addressing the fundamental problems this law poses for the states, the Administration appears content merely to prolong a contentious and unproductive battle to force the states to comply,” he said in a written statement.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters that the revised rules would cost states $3.9 billion over 10 years and said the average price of each new license would rise just $8 under Real ID — a bargain for the added protection from terrorism and fraud.

“For an added $8 per license, Real ID will give law enforcement and security officials a powerful advantage against falsified documents, and it will bring some peace of mind to citizens wanting to protect their identity from theft by a criminal or illegal alien,” Chertoff said.

The biggest reduction in costs will come from stretching out the process: Instead of requiring that states reissue all of their licenses by between this year and 2013, those over 50 years old can delay getting a Real ID until 2017.

DHS had previously given states until May to request a delay to begin issuing Real IDs by the end of 2009. California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio have already been approved for that extension, said Darrell Williams, director of the Real ID program office at DHS.

Under the final rules, states that receive an extension must meet 18 benchmarks by the end of 2009, including completing background checks on motor vehicle agency employees and incorporating specific security features on the cards, such as a digital photo and an electronic watermark.

By May 2011, all states must verify the identity and legal residence of all license holders under 50 years old using the five electronic databases required by the law. Those over 50 years old at that time will not be required to get a Real ID until Dec. 1, 2017.

David Quam, chief lobbyist for the National Governors Association, said that overall it was clear that DHS had taken states’ concerns into consideration. But he said there are still major questions about whether the federal government can find a way for all 50 states to electronically verify data varying from birth records to visa status. Only one of the five databases required by the law is now available to all states.

The flexibility and extended time frames recognize that nearly half of the states already have taken such steps to improve the security of their licenses and their licensing process, Richard Barth, assistant secretary of homeland security told state officials during a Jan. 11 conference call.

One area that DHS will not be flexible on is enforcement: Beginning in May, non-compliant licenses cannot be used to board a commercial flight or enter a federal building. Chertoff said that will directly affect citizens in six states that have passed laws rejecting Real ID, regardless of the any security measures that state has applied to its licenses. Residents in those states will instead have to use military or other federal identification or passports at the airports.

Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington have passed laws refusing to comply with the act over the concerns of its cost, infringement on state practice and threats to personal privacy. Georgia has given the governor the authority to ignore the law if he deems it to expensive and the Idaho Legislature has pointedly rejected any funding for Real ID.

DHS Rolls Out New ID Program

The government announced today new security rules aimed at making it harder for terrorists and illegal immigrants to get a driver's license.

It's all part of the REAL ID Act created by the Department of Homeland Security.

The legislation requires that driver's license photos be taken at the start of the application process, rather than at the end, so if the person fails to prove identity and citizenship, their photo will be kept on file for future reference. States will also be required to check the applicant's Social Security number and immigration status.

Americans born after December 1st, 1964 will be required to get the new licenses during the next six years, and by 2014, anyone boarding a plane or entering a federal building will have to show a REAL ID-compliant license.