REAL ID ‘Not One Size Fits All’

The Department of Homeland Security says the concept of REAL ID is being maligned – it does not require a national ID card that Americans will be required to carry.

Writing on the DHS blog, Stewart A. Baker, Assistant Secretary for Policy, explains that REAL ID simply “requires that states meet minimum security standards when they issue drivers’ licenses and identification cards necessary for ‘official’ purposes, like getting on a plane or entering federal buildings. That’s it.”

“The Federal Government’s role,” Baker explains, “is to make sure that states meet minimum standards of security, so that banks and airports in one state can count on the quality of licenses issued in another.” States, he adds, will still control their licenses and the personal information they collect. “And they will have plenty of flexibility in setting the license’s design, physical security features, and issuance procedures.”

Sounds reasonable. It’s not what we’ve been hearing from critics of REAL ID. But it always helps to read the regulation itself. Here it is.