mr. chairman , welcome to the world of mohammed atta : legal visa to come in , 6 months ; driver 's license from florida , 6 years . 
like many in this chamber , i was a strong supporter of the intelligence reform legislation passed last year , but when i voted for it , i believed we needed to go further in several areas , including strengthening driver 's license guidelines . 
in my home state of connecticut , we take strong steps to ensure the integrity of our identification cards , but we are not perfect . 
to receive a driver 's license in connecticut , you must prove you are a legal resident of the state , and you are not a legal resident of the state if you are not legally present in the united states , period . 
this is common sense to me . 
driver 's licenses are verifiable forms of identification in the united states . 
providing such identification cards to people who are illegally present in our country presents serious concerns . 
the problem , however , is that not all states maintain this high standard . 
that means that someone who is illegally present in the united states and takes advantage of a weak law in another state can obtain a driver 's license and use the document to identify him or herself in the state of connecticut . 
they can also use that document to access federal buildings , rent a vehicle or get on a plane . 
tightening access to state-issued identification cards is an important and necessary improvement for our homeland security . 
many members have raised concerns about the impact of driver 's license provisions in h.r. 418 in our home states . 
connecticut governor jodi rell stated , `` in my view , if a noncitizen is lawfully in this country , he or she should be able to obtain a driver 's license for the time frame in which he is lawfully allowed to be here . 
conversely , if someone is in this country illegally , he or she should not be able to obtain a driver 's license in connecticut or any other state. '' i could not agree more with her . 
frankly , most of our constituents could not agree more with her . 
let me raise one other point about this legislation and commend the chairman for including this provision . 
a legally present visitor to the united states can obtain a driver 's license in connecticut , as he can in other states . 
however , in connecticut we issue licenses for 6 years at a time . 
in that time , visitors can leave and come back , whether legally or illegally , an untold number of times . 
during subsequent visits , this person can continue to use the license for whatever purpose he or she wants . 
this is wrong . 
frankly , it is stupid . 
requiring a temporary id for persons temporarily in our country is a no-brainer . 
i do not think mohammed atta would like it , but , i do not care what he wants . 
