mr. chairman , i rise to oppose h.r. 418 , the real id act . 
this bill is an expansion of the patriot act intended to punish immigrants without making america any safer . 
any time a bill is brought to the floor with no hearings , no committee markup , and few opportunities for amendments , it indicates that its sponsors are trying to protect it from scrutiny . 
that 's certainly the case here . 
indeed a close look at this bill shows that its true purpose is not to make america safer , but to advance an agenda of ending america 's tradition of welcoming and protecting the rights of immigrants . 
this bill is about much more than driver 's licenses . 
it upends the process of granting asylum to individuals and families who have suffered torture or persecution in other countries . 
it expands the patriot act to allow more deportations for people with no connection to terrorism . 
no one doubts the need to review standards for issuing driver 's licenses . 
that is why congress worked on a bipartisan basis to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 commission . 
the recently enacted 9/11 bill established minimum federal standards to ensure the integrity of drivers ' licenses issuance and verification . 
the regulations are in the process of being developed , with the input of the state agencies that issue driver 's licenses . 
enacting a new bill that prescribes eligibility for driver 's licenses would delay and disrupt the implementation of the 9/11 bill 's standards even before they have been put in place . 
the strongest reason to approach this issue thoughtfully is that the process of applying for driver 's licenses brings new people into government databases , which can be cross-referenced with fbi and terrorist watch lists . 
the only reason we had any information about the 9/11 hijackers , their whereabouts , and their connections to others , is because we could track information from driver 's license databases . 
shutting off this flow of information is not a smart or effective way to combat terrorism . 
this bill is only the latest example of how this congress has ignored regular order to rush a partisan bill to the floor with little deliberation or debate . 
i oppose this process and this bill . 
