National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
Withdrawal of
Proposed Rule on State-Issued Driver's Licenses
and
Comparable Identification Documents
AGENCY:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
DOT.
ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed
rule.
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SUMMARY:
This document withdraws a proposed rule that was intended
to
implement the requirements contained in section 656(b)
of the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996. Section
656(b) of the Act,
entitled State-Issued Driver's Licenses and
Comparable
Identification Documents, provided that a Federal
agency
could only accept as proof of identity a driver's
license or
identification document that conformed to
specific requirements, in
accordance with regulations
issued by the Secretary of Transportation.
Congress
subsequently repealed section 656(b) of the
Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
of 1996.
DATES: The proposed rule is withdrawn as of
November 7, 2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Christine Holdsworth, Acting
Chief, Driver Register and
Traffic Records Division, NTS-32, NHTSA, 400
Seventh
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590; telephone
(202) 366-4800,
or Ms.
Heidi L. Coleman, Assistant Chief Counsel for General Law,
NCC-
30, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590;
telephone
(202)
366-1834.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act
for
Fiscal Year 1997, Pub. L. 104-208, was signed into law on
September
30, 1996. The Omnibus Act included, as Title VI
of Division C, the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996
(hereinafter, the
``Immigration Reform Act''). The purpose of
the
Immigration Reform Act was to improve deterrence of
illegal immigration
into the United States.
Section
656(b) of the Act, entitled State-Issued Driver's
Licenses
and Comparable Identification Documents, provided
that, after October
1, 2000, Federal agencies could not
accept driver's licenses, or other
comparable
identification documents issued by a State, as proof
of
identity unless the driver's license or identification
document
conformed to certain
requirements.
A. Statutory
Requirements
Section 656(b) established three
requirements that State-issued
driver's licenses or other
comparable identification documents had to
meet, to be
acceptable as proof of identity:
1. Application
Process--The application process for the
driver's
license or identification document was to include
the presentation of
such evidence of identity as required
by regulations promulgated by the
Secretary of
Transportation, after consultation with the
American
Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
(AAMVA).
2. Form--The driver's license or
identification document was to be
in a form consistent with
requirements set forth in regulations
promulgated by the
Secretary of Transportation, after consultation with
AAMVA.
The form was to contain security features designed to
limit
tampering, counterfeiting, photocopying, or otherwise
duplicating, the
driver's license or identification
document for fraudulent purposes and
to limit the use of
the driver's license or identification document
by
imposters.
3. Social Security
Number--The driver's license or
identification
document was required to contain a social
security number that could be
read visually or by
electronic means, unless the State issuing such
driver's
license or identification document met certain conditions.
To
meet the conditions, the State that did not require the
driver's
license or identification document to contain a
social security number
would have had to require every
applicant for a driver's license or
identification
documents to submit his or her social security number.
The
State would also have had to verify the validity of the
social
security number with the Social Security
Administration (SSA).
B. Proposed
Regulations
The Immigration Reform Act required that
the Secretary of
Transportation issue regulations governing
State-issued driver's
licenses and comparable
[[Page
56262]]
identification documents after consulting with the
American Association
of Motor Vehicle Administrators
