Real ID Homeland Security National ID Card

2008-01-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

The REAL ID Act of 2005 requires people entering federal buildings, boarding airplanes or opening bank accounts to present identification that has met certain security and authentification standards.

The Act is Division B of an act of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005.

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It implements the following:

Establishing national standards for state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver's identification cards
Waiving laws that interfere with construction of physical barriers at the borders;
Updating and tightening the laws on application for asylum and deportation of aliens for terrorist activity;
Introducing rules covering "delivery bonds" (rather like bail bonds but for aliens who have been released pending hearings);
Funding some reports and pilot projects related to border security; and
Changing visa limits for temporary workers, nurses, and Australian citizens.

The Library of Congress Real ID Act

REAL ID Final Rule
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a final rule to establish minimum standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards in accordance with the REAL ID Act of 2005.

Final Rule, Part 1 (PDF, 120 pages - 4.2 MB)
Final Rule, Part 2 (PDF, 164 pages – 5.6 MB)

Documentation required before issuing a license or ID card

Before a card can be issued, the applicant must provide the following documentation[8]:

A photo ID, or a non-photo ID that includes full legal name and birthdate.
Documentation of birthdate.
Documentation of legal status and Social Security number
Documentation showing name and principal residence address.
Digital images of each identity document will be stored in each state DMV database.

Data requirements

Each card must include, at a minimum, the person's full legal name, signature, date of birth, sex, driver's license or identification card number. It also includes a photograph of the person's face and the address of principal residence. It is required to have physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes. These new security features include a hologram of a map of the entire North American Continent.

It will use common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements (the details of which are not spelled out, but left to the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation and the states, to regulate).

The Real ID Act, which Congress passed as part of an emergency spending bill in 2005, is the result of recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Chertoff reiterated Friday that the program is necessary in part because all but one of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks carried government-issued identification cards that helped them remain in the country illegally. Another goal is to prevent illegal immigrants from "pretending to be American citizens so they can work illegally in this country."

To that end, under the new rules, motor vehicle offices will be required to take photographs of driver's license applicants at the beginning of the application process and keep those images on file for five years. The idea is to help catch applicants who forge their identities--and fail to fool employees into issuing them cards--if they try to pull off a repeat attempt.

Whether the final rule will hold up through the decadelong implementation process remains to be seen. Prominent Democrats in Congress were quick to attack the approach.

"While fulfilling this 9/11 Recommendation is vital to our national security, I believe that the Final Rule still requires a great deal of work by the Department of Homeland Security," Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said in a letter Friday.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that he would continue to push for passage of a bill that would repeal the Real ID Act. That mandate would be replaced with what supporters say is a more "flexible" approach, in which states, privacy groups, the federal government, and other interested parties would devise a mutually beneficial approach to improving driver's license security.

Linking of license and ID card databases

Each state must agree to share its motor vehicle database with all other states. This database must include, at a minimum, all the data printed on the state drivers' licenses and ID cards, plus drivers' histories (including motor vehicle violations, suspensions, and points on licenses). Any state that does not link its database, containing records on all drivers and ID holders, to the database of the other states loses its federal funding.

Original legislation contained one of the most controversial elements which did not make it into the final legislation that was signed into law. It would have required states to sign a new compact known as the Driver License Agreement (DLA) as written by the Joint Driver's License Compact/ Non-Resident Violators Compact Executive Board with the support of AAMVA which would have required states to give reciprocity to those provinces and territories in Canada and those states in Mexico that joined the DLA and complied with its provisions. As a part of the DLA, states would be required to network their databases with these provinces, territories and Mexican states. The databases that are accessible would include sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, home addresses and other information. The foreign states and provinces are not required to abide with the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and are free to access and use the sensitive information as they see fit.

Traffic violations would be required to be sent to the licensing jurisdiction and be recorded. The licensing jurisdiction would be required to act on the violation according to its own laws such as assigning points and insurance surcharges to the driver not only for violations reported from DLA members but also from non-DLA members as well. The DLA requires member states to treat non-DLA states as if they are DLA members concerning their drivers.

Important Links

DHS: REAL ID Proposed Guidelines: Questions & Answers

REAL ID is a nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that State

REAL ID Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The REAL ID Act of 2005 is Division B of an act of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War

Real Nightmare

The Real ID Act of 2005 would turn our state driver’s licenses into a genuine ... Get the latest statements on Real ID by the Republican and Democratic

Christopher Bowman

2008-01-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Bowman the Showman

christopher bowman little house on the prairie

Christopher Bowman (March 30, 1967 – January 10, 2008) was an American figure skater. He was a two-time U.S. national champion and two-time World medalist.

"If I had to pick the three most talented skaters of all time, I would pick Christopher as one," Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, told the Chicago Tribune, after learning of his death. "He had natural charisma, natural athleticism, he could turn on a crowd in a matter of seconds and he always seemed so relaxed about it."

Biography
Bowman was born in Hollywood, California. In his childhood, he appeared in several episodes of the TV series Little House on the Prairie.

Frank Carroll coached him for 18 years, a coaching relationship which ended following the 1990 World Championships. After that, Bowman was coached by Toller Cranston and then John Nicks. In Inside Edge by Christine Brennan, Bowman admitted to having had a $950-a-day cocaine habit during his eligible career, and that he had checked into the Betty Ford Center before the 1988 Olympic Games. Cranston also later described Bowman's drug problems in his book Zero Tollerance.

Known as "Bowman the Showman", he was a two-time U.S. National Champion. He was also a two-time medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships, and he competed in two Olympic Games. He placed 4th at the 1992 Olympics. He retired from competitive skating after that season, and toured with Ice Capades the following year.

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Bowman had a brief career acting, coaching and doing commentary. Bowman played an assistant coach in Down and Distance.[1] He was divorced and had one daughter.

Bowman was pronounced dead at 12:06 p.m on January 10, 2008 after being found in a motel in Los Angeles.[1] He may have died of a drug overdose.[2] He was 40 years old.

Christopher Bowman, the former U.S. figure skating champion dubbed "Bowman the Showman" for his flair on the ice, has been found dead at a hotel in the San Fernando Valley. He was 40.

Bowman was pronounced dead at 12:06 p.m. Thursday of a possible drug overdose, said Coroner's Lt. Joe Bale, who wasn't immediately able to provide more details. His body was found at a hotel in the North Hills area, and an autopsy was planned for this weekend, Bale said.

Bowman, a former child actor, was one of figure skating's bigger personalities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Immensely talented, with a gift for performance that few others could match, he won the U.S. men's figure skating titles in 1989 and 1992, and was runner-up in 1987 and 1991.

He also won a silver medal at the 1989 world championships, and a bronze the next year. He skated in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh in 1988 and fourth in 1992.

Bowman also had some run-ins with the law.

In November 2004, he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors involving having a gun while drunk in Rochester Hills, Mich.

In 1993, while skating with the Ice Capades, he was beaten at a hotel in a seedy neighborhood in Pittsburgh, according to a police report.

Born in Hollywood, Calif., on March 30, 1967, Bowman had a part in the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" for one season and appeared in dozens of commercials.

Bowman recently returned to acting. He had a role an assistant coach in the upcoming Brian J. De Palma-directed movie "Down and Distance" staring Gary Busey.

Important Links

Figure Skating Today: The Next Wave of Stars Paperback

US Figure Skating

US Figure Skating's broadband partner icenetwork.com has tons of exclusive video content, both live and on-demand, available for viewing. ..

The USFSA is the national governing body of the sport of figure skating in the United States

Figure Skating History

Figure skating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other choreography on ice. Figure skaters compete at ...

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