A law that held out the hope of crimping the market in false drivers' licenses was killed in October before it ever went into effect. The measure - Section 656(b) - of the 1996 IIRAIRA immigration act set a timetable for state motor vehicle administrations to make their licenses more tamper-proof and linked to the Social Security Number (SSN) if they wanted the federal government to accept the licences as valid identification for federal purposes. The provision spurred a heated campaign by both right wing (Liberty Lobby) and left wing (ACLU) organizations that used scare tactics (the first step toward a "national ID card") to mobilize a lobbying campaign. The reason that these arguments were deliberately misleading was that the Section 656 system was voluntary, it was decentralized in the states, it did not create any new national database (instead simply specifying a verification in some cases with already existing SSN records), and it did not even require incorporation of the SSN into the drivers' license.

The death knell for the measure came behind closed doors in last minute budget negoiating between the two houses of Congress and the administration. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) proposed an amendment to substitute an outright repeal of Section 656 in place of a proposal to defer implementation. The surprise move was not based on any hearings or other procedures that would have allowed for reasoned debate on the proposal. Nevertheless, it was accepted, and has become law.

The effort to restore integrity and security to the drivers' license will have to begin anew from square one.

FAIR 11/99