mr. chairman , i rise to express my strong support of h.r. 418 . 
chairman sensenbrenner has presented for the consideration of the house a commonsense bill that will disrupt travel of would-be terrorists who would seek to do us harm right here in america . 
when enacted , these provisions will be yet another set of effective tools to help prevent another september 11-type attack . 
all of these provisions are derived from provisions of the house-passed version of h.r. 10 , the 9-11 recommendations implementation act of 2004 . 
during the conference with the other body on what became the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004 , the provisions contained in h.r. 418 were either dropped in their entirety or modified so substantially as to virtually defeat the fundamental purpose of the provision . 
a majority of the conferees on the part of the house very reluctantly agreed in order to get a conference agreement on the fundamental reform of the nation 's intelligence community . 
we are all original cosponsors of h.r. 418 . 
as chairman of the conference , i thought that these provisions made sense then and they make sense now and should be enacted . 
the core provisions of h.r. 418 establish a set of fundamental standards that state-issued identification cards , including driver 's license , must meet to be recognized for federal identification purposes , such as entering a federal building . 
the bill provides the various states with 3 years to make any necessary modifications to their identification cards , if they so chose . 
the bill provides the secretary of homeland security with discretion to extend the deadline for good cause upon application by an individual state . 
the bill does not impede the authority of individual states to determine who may operate a motor vehicle or who may be issued a state personal identification card for non-federal purposes . 
some argue that the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004 already addresses this issue adequately . 
i simply disagree . 
the enacted provision requires a negotiated rulemaking process , without any absolute certitude that the negotiations on the proposed consensus regulations will be concluded by the date specified in the act . 
no hard date for implementation of these fundamental standards is specified . 
h.r. 418 also restores the authority of an immigration judge to make a determination whether to grant or deny an individual application for asylum . 
at its core , the provision makes explicit the judge 's authority to assess the creditability of the assertions of oppression being made by the applicant , just as judges and juries do each day with respect to criminal defendants . 
as some assert , h.r. 418 does not require the asylum applicant to produce documentary evidence in order to be granted asylum . 
it grants an immigration judge the authority to request the applicant to provide evidence to support the applicant 's oral testimony and that of witnesses ' supporting the applicant . 
h.r. 418 clearly states that the applicant is not required to provide documentary evidence if `` the applicant does not have the evidence or can not obtain the evidence without departing the united states. '' h.r. 418 includes a provision specifying that offenses which currently provide grounds to deny a would-be terrorist entry into the united states are also grounds for the deportation of such persons , if they have somehow managed to enter the country illegally . 
today , that is not the case . 
this glaring gap in the law must be closed . 
finally , h.r. 418 provides the secretary of homeland security with authority to waive environmental laws , so that the border fence running 14 miles east from the pacific ocean at san diego may finally be completed . 
authorized by congress in 1996 , it has yet to be completed because of on-going environmental litigation . 
it is time to complete this much needed barrier to help secure one of the most used corridors for illegal entry , which is adjacent to the numerous facilities of the united states navy and marine corps in san diego . 
mr. chairman , i commend chairman sensenbrenner for his leadership and urge my colleagues to support h.r. 418 . 
