mr. speaker , i rise today to voice my strong support for h.r. 1268 , the emergency supplemental appropriations act for defense , the global war on terror , and tsunami relief . 
this essential legislation will support and defend america 's values both at home and abroad . 
our troops serving in iraq will have the necessary tools to continue their rebuilding efforts in iraq and to continue the war on terror . 
at home , the real id provisions will strengthen our nation 's driver 's license laws , providing each citizen with another layer of security . 
until now , terrorists could easily exploit weak driver licensing laws and obtain fake documents . 
with a license in hand , terrorists were better able to blend in , avoid detection , and harm our nation 's citizens . 
this is exactly what several of the 9/11 terrorists did , using drivers ' licenses to board airplanes and murder thousands of innocent americans on september 11 , 2001 . 
we in congress have been working on ways to prevent our nation from experiencing another terrorist attack by establishing stronger and more secure national programs . 
stronger driver 's license standards made possible by the real id provisions will be another step towards american security . 
the real id provisions will close dangerous gaps that remain in our current licensing law and that allow terrorists to abuse our asylum and driver 's license systems . 
the new law will protect innocent americans by setting up national driver 's license standards , networking state motor vehicle data bases , and linking visa and license expirations . 
in 2003 , the former attorney general of virginia , jerry kilgore , and i worked together on the driver 's license integrity act . 
that legislation required non-immigrant aliens to show their visas when applying for state identification and tied the expiration date of the identification to that of the visa . 
due to mr. kilgore 's leadership on this issue , the commonwealth of virginia was one of the first states to clamp down on terrorists ' abuse of the trust that a driver 's license conveys . 
today , i am pleased to see virginia 's driver 's license integrity act provisions in this piece of legislation before us in the house of representatives . 
since the beginning of the war on terror , congress has fought daily to ensure that our nation never again suffers at the hands of terrorists . 
the provisions in this bill provide us with more weapons in our arsenal against terrorism . 
i urge passage of this legislation . 
