WASHINGTON - The federal government is moving ahead with a blizzard of new identification card proposals affecting military personnel, government workers and even ordinary Americans renewing their driver's licenses.
Privacy advocates say the identification cards reflect Washington's embrace of fancy new "smart-card" technologies allowing pictures or fingerprints to be read by omputers. But critics argue the cards give a false sense of security because they can be either forged, faked, bought -- or just ignored by terrorists with a determination to kill Americans.
President Bush has endorsed moves in Congress to tack federal regulations for state-issued driver's licenses onto the bill authorizing $81 billion in additional spending for the war in Iraq.
In a letter to the House-Senate conference committee now considering the legislation, the administration said the Real ID Act would strengthen procedures under which states issue driver's licenses.
Michigan is one of a hanful of states that do not require proof of citizenship to obtain a license.
The Real ID Act requires all new driver's licenses to include digital photographs, anti-counterfeiting features and "machine-readable" information verifying a person's identity.
The cards, which would be issued as current licenses expire, would be required for Americans using airplanes, trains, parks, federal courthouses and other places under federal control. The legislation also requires county courthouses to take new steps to safeguard birth records and other personal data used to verify identity and citizenship status, information that will be needed to get driver's licenses.
The Pentagon has begun issuing "smart" ID cards to military personnel with a chip embedded in the card giving information on the person's security clearances and identification.
Starting in October, U.S. agencies are expected to begin issuing new counterfeit-proof identification cards to federal employees. New security cards are also required for civilian employees in airports and port facilities.
Civil liberties groups and conservative organizations are fighting to stop the Real ID Act from becoming law.
"If they want to make a federally issued ID, then take the states out of it and have the federal government issue it. This is just going to make it darn difficult to get a driver's license," said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington.
He predicted citizens who lose their licenses will face formidable bureaucratic difficulties trying to prove their identity.
Leaders of the National Conference on State Legislatures say Congress doesn't realize that many county courthouses, particularly in rural America, don't have the manpower or the facilities to secure birth certificate data.