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Josephs: Pennsylvania should oppose federal REAL ID requirements

HARRISBURG, Nov. 15 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., joined other House members, activists and a legislator from South Carolina at a news conference Wednesday to reiterate her opposition to the federal REAL ID act.

The federal REAL ID Act of 2005, which was designed as a counter-terrorism measure, creates a national standard for all driver's licenses, requires states to collect biometric and other personal and private information from license applicants, forces states to link this information to a national database and expects each state to pay for its implementation. The cost for Pennsylvania is estimated at $100 million.

"This unfunded federal mandate makes all of our personal information ripe for the picking by an identity thief," Josephs said. "Terrorists will figure out how to get around it in a week, and the federal government cannot be trusted to keep our information confidential. REAL ID is not going to make us any safer."

Josephs has co-sponsored legislation (H.B. 1351) that would keep Pennsylvania from complying with the federal law until the federal government compensates the state for the costs involved in implementation and it guarantees the privacy of Pennsylvanians' data.

In addition, she introduced a resolution (H.R. 100) that would ask Congress to repeal or delay the implementation of REAL ID until funding for implementation can be provided and the civil rights of Pennsylvanians are protected.

"How we protect ourselves from terrorism is an entirely different conversation and no one knows the real answer," Josephs said. "But I do know that REAL ID is not it."