Isn’t A Driver’s License about Driving?

Congress is in the process of drafting leglislation that “would call on state and federal agencies to develop new rules for licenses” that would “require states to check the citizenship or immigration status of applicants.” This, of course, is intended to help deter terrorist attacks since “some of the 9/11 hijackers used driver’s licenses as identification when checking in for their flights.”

It seems to me that Congress is experiencing some confusion over the purpose of certain government-issued documents. Last I checked a driver’s license was for driving legally. A social security card is to prove to your employer that your wages should be documented for social security benefits. And a passport is a government issued document that provides proof that you were born in the country you say you were born in when you cross international borders. Isn’t the passport the travel document? Maybe airlines should be required to change their policies and make passengers carry passports as proof of i.d. rather than burden state governments to re-vamp their old, established DMV policies and procedures at the expense (an estimated $500 million) of their citizens.

Anyone who’s lost their wallet, moved across state lines, or been an out-of-state student can attest to the fact that our documentation procedures are complicated enough—imagine if the safety of the nation was factored into replacing them. We’d all need administrative assistants just to do the paper/pc work!