mr. chairman , i rise in strong support of the real id act and with a particular sense of gratitude toward the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner )  , who has doggedly brought this legislation to the hill for one reason and one reason only .  9/11 is not theoretical for me .  i was here .  i was on the capitol grounds , and my family during the school year lives in the washington d.c. , area , and like millions of other families in new york and washington , d.c. , was imperiled .  as the 9/11 commission report stated , `` for terrorists , travel documents are as important as weapons. '' on page 390 of the report they point out that `` all but one of the 9/11 hijackers acquired some form of u.s. identification by fraud and that acquisition of these forms of identification assisted them in boarding commercial flights. '' by bringing this legislation today , the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner )  is making my family safer in this post-9/11 america , and also closing asylum loopholes , strengthening our deportation laws .  it is time for congress to get real and pass the real id act and make our families and our nation safer .  