Gov. Lynch says he will sign bill opposing Real ID

CONCORD, N.H. --Democratic Gov. John Lynch said Wednesday he will sign a bill that would bar the state from adopting strict new federal standards for drivers' licenses, if the Legislature passes it.

The bill, which bans state participation in the Real ID Act of 2005, passed the House last month and was recommended unanimously by a Senate committee Wednesday. The bill is expected to go before the full Senate in two weeks.

"The governor has serious concerns about the unanswered questions about privacy, cost and the consequences of turning motor vehicle workers into de facto agents of Homeland Security," said Lynch spokeswoman Pamela Walsh.

The bill has put New Hampshire at the forefront of opposition to the Real ID Act, an anti-terrorism bill which critics say would effectively create a national identification card system.

Real ID grew out of recommendations by the Sept. 11 Commission, which studied the terrorist attacks and how to prevent a recurrence. It requires that by 2008, states verify birth certificates, Social Security numbers, passports and immigration status when people get driver's licenses.

The licenses must be machine-readable and state databases with driver information and photos will also be linked in what opponents have called a national database.

U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said if the state fails to adopt Real ID, residents will have more difficulty taking airplanes and entering federal buildings.

Gregg said New Hampshire's Division of Motor Vehicles and most other states already have adopted many of the security measures Real ID requires, which are intended to close loopholes that now make it too easy for terrorists and others to obtain fake IDs.

"Otherwise, terrorists who want to hijack an airplane or plant a bomb in a federal facility that checks identification could simply go to the state with the lowest security protocols and acquire all the identification they need to carry out such plans," Gregg said.

Gregg also said that, contrary to what opponents are saying, the law would not create a national database.

"Rather, upon request by another state, each state would be required to confirm driver information in their respective databases subject to privacy safeguards that they each could establish. This provision is far less reaching than critics assert or even what is currently being done under the National Driver Register," he said.

State Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, the author of the state bill, has drawn national attention for his opposition to Real ID.

"It's a feel-good device: It's intended to make us think that we're going to be safe and ... our borders are secure, but they're not," Kurk said in an interview earlier this week. "Remember, the 9-11 terrorists were in this country legally and had legally obtained documents."