Driving for a national ID. (Insider Report).(driver's licenses)(Brief Article)

September 11th breathed new life into the crusade to convert state-issued driver's licenses into de facto national identification cards.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators leads the charge. As AAMVA spokesman Jason King has stated, "It took September 11 to [bring] the importance of the driver license into view." The association represents all state motor vehicle agencies in the United States and Canada, and includes the U.S. and Mexican governments among its associate members.

On October 24, 2001, the AAMVA created a Special Task Force on Identification Security to conjure up a more secure, nationally uniform driver-licensing standard. Its report was formally unveiled during a January 14th press conference in Washington. According to that day's Washington Post, the new standard would "create a national identification system that would include high-tech driver's licenses and a network of tightly linked databases of driver information." Specifically, it would dictate new minimum criteria for confirming residency, legal status, and identity, and would authorize state motor vehicle departments to share information with the Social Security ...