Real ID: Virus delay of law should be made permanent

Congress created the Real ID Act in the years following the horrific September 11 terror attacks and placed onerous identification requirements on both individuals and state licensing agencies, all for the sake of a false sense of security.

Even before the attacks, every state and territory was aware of the need to improve identification verification and issue identification-only and driver licenses for all purposes, including federal ones.

The Homeland Security department recently extended the compliance date to next year due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Congress should finally realize that the Real ID Act resulted in high compliance costs and uneasy individuals who want to board airplanes but won’t be able to because of burdensome scrutiny.

Without any more ado, Congress should repeal this act, once and for all, and let states strengthen their identification processes with flexibility.

This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Real ID: Virus delay of law should be made permanent."