mr. chairman , i yield myself the balance of my time . 
mr. chairman , we are on the floor today because the representation has been made to the american people and to our colleagues that this legislation is legislation that relates and responds to the crisis in the war on terror . 
we all are united in that war , but this is an immigration bill , and i do believe we should do immigration in a bipartisan manner . 
let me make it very clear , the 9/11 terrorists would not have been thwarted by this legislation . 
in fact , all 19 of the 9/11 hijackers had documents to enter the country legally . 
and under this particular legislation , the terrorists would not have been prevented from using these documents to obtain driver 's licenses . 
i think the real crux is as was quoted in the words of governor jeb bush , `` what do you do with them ? 
`` illegal aliens who are working in our hotels and factories , who are working every day in our states and our cities and our counties ? 
the last thing , mr. chairman : do we remember bosnia and kosovo ? 
these were people seeking asylum . 
i think we have to judge ourselves by reason and reasonable policy . 
i join my colleagues in working together to secure the homeland , but in this instance , this does not follow the 9/11 recommendations . 
this commission did , in fact , say that they wanted secure documents , and identification should begin in the united states . 
it did not document or indicate in which manner we should be able to do that . 
i would have hoped that h.r. 620 , the security measures feasibility act , which would ask the hard questions of how and what is the best vehicle in order to be able to establish these secure documents , would have been the better approach . 
now we undermine the states ' ability for safety and security in their own states , and we undermine the very principles of this nation , which are to open the doors for those fleeing persecution both in terms of religious and political persecution . 
what about the cubans ? 
what about the haitians , the liberians , the sudanese , the bosnians ? 
what about those fleeing , as my colleague has indicated , our jewish individuals who were fleeing persecution ? 
i simply say that we have a better way of doing this . 
i wish we could do it together . 
i hope my colleagues will oppose this bill so we might do this effort in a bipartisan manner . 
mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 418 , the real id act . 
the real id act is an attempt to breathe life into immigration provisions that were stripped from the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act . 
these provisions were viewed as controversial then , and they are no less controversial now . 
the real id act should have been subjected to hearings and markups before being brought to the floor . 
the supporters of the h.r. 418 are afraid that terrorists are using our asylum laws as a means of entering and remaining in the united states . 
this fear has to be put into perspective . 
terrorists are statutorily barred from asylum eligibility , and it is not apparent why they would choose such a complicated , time consuming method for entering and remaining in the united states in any event . 
the 9/11 hijackers entered and remained in the united states as nonimmigrant visitors . 
visitors ' visas only require a two-minute interview with an american consulate officer . 
the applicant just has to establish that he will return to his country at the end of the authorized period of stay . 
this is much easier than the steps required for obtaining asylum , which , among other things , require the applicant to establish a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race , religion , nationality , membership in a particular social group , or political opinion . 
the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act established a study to find out the extent to which terrorists are attempting to use our asylum laws to enter and remain in the united states and what weaknesses they are exploiting . 
we need to wait for that information before we consider any bills on revising our asylum laws . 
changes should be designed to deal specifically with weaknesses that we know are being exploited . 
the approach in the real id act is to raise the bar on the burden of proof , which would result in a denial of relief to bona fide asylum seekers without any assurance that the changes would discourage terrorists from seeking asylum . 
for instance , in addition to showing that the alleged persecution would be `` on account of '' one of the enumerated grounds , the applicant would have to establish that the persecution was or will be `` a central reason for persecuting the applicant. '' in effect , the asylum applicant would have to establish what was in the mind of the persecutor . 
it is not apparent how this would discourage terrorists from fabricating asylum claims . 
the only certainty is that it would make it more difficult for bona fide asylum seekers to meet their burden of proof . 
the unfairness of this approach is illustrated by a comment that the honorable sandra day o'connor made recently about the asylum laws of our country . 
she said : the united states offers protection in the form of asylum to individuals fleeing persecution in other nations . 
in most cases , however , asylum seekers find themselves alone , destitute and facing deportation . 
asylum law is governed by a labyrinth of statutes , regulations , and case law , but , unlike criminal defendants , only those asylum seekers who can afford to hire an attorney or who are fortunate enough to secure pro bono counsel are represented . 
the real id act would codify the standards that adjudicators use in making credibility findings in asylum proceedings . 
the codification would encourage adverse credibility findings against asylum applicants who can not produce corroborating evidence of their account , or whose demeanor is inconsistent with an immigration judge 's preconceived expectations . 
this can be very unfair . 
people fleeing persecution often lack the opportunity and the ability to secure the legal evidence needed to corroborate their claims , and demeanor is a function in some cases of cultural background rather than credibility . 
for instance , it is considered rude in some cultures to stare into another person 's eyes during a conversation , but the failure to look someone in the eyes indicates deception in this country . 
the real id act also would expand the categories of people who can be excluded or deported as a terrorist . 
the broad net this would create would ensnare innocent people who have made donations or been involved in some other way with organizations they did not know were terrorist organizations . 
the defense to removal on that basis would be to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that you did not know , and should not reasonably have known , that the organization was a terrorist organization . 
this can be an impossible burden to meet . 
for instance , how would you prove by clear and convincing evidence that you did not notice a person who entered this room 5 minutes ago ? 
the real id act also includes sections on security measures for drivers ' licenses and identification cards . 
we have already enacted legislation to improve security measures for drivers ' licenses and identification cards . 
the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act we just enacted requires the secretary of transportation , in consultation with the secretary of homeland security , to promulgate regulations establishing minimum standards for driver 's licenses or personal identification cards issued by a state for use by federal agencies for identification purposes . 
before being published as proposed regulations , the standards would be subjected to a negotiated rule making committee that would include the affected stakeholders such as state elected officials and state motor vehicle departments . 
the recommendations of this committee are required to include an assessment of the benefits and the costs of the measures in the proposed regulations . 
in contrast , the real id act would impose specific requirements on the states now , without giving the states and the other stakeholders an opportunity to provide input on what these requirements should be , and without an assessment of the benefits and costs of the measures . 
if the security measures were to prove to be impossible or too costly to implement , it would require an act of congress to change them . 
before we can address the merits of the security measures that would be required by the real id act , we need answers to the following questions . 
( 1 ) are the states capable of establishing and implementing the security measures mr. sensenbrenner is proposing ? 
for instance , his bill calls for two categories of drivers ' licenses , one for citizens and permanent residents and another for aliens who have nonimmigrant status . 
the licenses for nonimmigrants would be tied to periods of lawful status and extensions of the status . 
can the state motor vehicle departments handle this increased work load ? 
will the states be able to provide the training needed to evaluate the many immigration documents that reflect lawful nonimmigrant status ? 
( 2 ) how much would it cost to establish , implement , and maintain these security measures ? 
we do not have unlimited the real id act also would restrict the privilege of obtaining a driver 's license to aliens who have lawful status . 
my security measures feasibility act would establish a study of the consequences that would result from forcing millions of undocumented aliens to drive without drivers ' licenses . 
sheriff timothy bukowski of kankakee , illinois , has made an important observation on this matter . 
according to sheriff bukowski , the issuance of drivers ' licenses is a safety issue , not an immigration issue . 
i agree with sheriff bukowski , a driver 's license is more than just a privilege to the driver , it also is a device that the states use to make our highways safer . 
austin assistant chief of police rudy landerso explains it this way . 
`` [ w ] e strongly believe it would be in the public interest to make available to these communities the ability to obtain a driver 's license . 
in allowing this community the opportunity to obtain driver 's licenses , they will have to study our laws and pass a driver 's test that will make them not only informed drivers but safe drivers. '' i would just add that it also requires them to have insurance . 
the real id act contains a provision that would provide the secretary of homeland security with authority to waive all laws he deems necessary for the expeditious construction of the barriers authorized to be constructed by section 102 of the illegal immigration reform and immigration responsibility act of 1996 , iirira . 
to my knowledge , a waiver this broad is unprecedented . 
it would waive all laws , including laws protecting civil rights ; laws protecting the health and safety of workers ; laws , such as the davis-bacon act , which are intended to ensure that construction workers on federally-funded projects are paid the prevailing wage ; environmental laws ; and laws respecting sacred burial grounds . 
it so broad that it would not just apply to i am concerned also by the piecemeal approach that the real id act is taking to immigration reform . 
we need comprehensive immigration reform , not fixes for a few specific problems . 
this view is shared by our colleagues on the senate side . 
senator john mccain has expressed the need to have comprehensive immigration reform . 
i have heard that he will be working on comprehensive immigration legislation with senator edward kennedy . 
we can do the same thing in the house of representatives . 
i invite my colleagues who are supporting the real id act to work with me on comprehensive immigration reform . 
in the meantime , however , passage of this piece-meal , ill-advised bill would be a step backwards . 
i urge you to vote against it . 
