mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 418 the real id act , because , contrary to its sponsors ' claims , this bill will not improve our country 's security .  instead , it will weaken law enforcement 's ability to do its job , and make driving on our roads more dangerous .  in addition , this bill eliminates critical provisions in the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act passed by congress in 2004 .  finally , the real id act makes it much more difficult for immigrants who are fleeing persecution to gain refuge in the united states .  mr. chairman , while there are many good reasons to oppose this bill , as i previously outlined , i will focus on the driver 's license provision and the asylum provision .  barring undocumented immigrants from accessing driver 's licenses is a dangerous proposal .  withholding driver 's licenses from these individuals will not fix our broken immigration system .  it will only make us less safe by having unlicensed and uninsured drivers on our roads .  the american automobile association ( aaa ) foundation for traffic safety report entitled , `` unlicensed to kill , '' found that unlicensed drivers are almost five times more likely to be in fatal car accidents than are validly licensed drivers .  clearly , our goal should be to have more , not fewer , licensed drivers .  denying licenses to undocumented immigrants will also hurt our national security by depriving law enforcement officials of critical information on millions of adults who are in the united states .  licensed individuals are registered , photographed and in some states fingerprinted .  this information is then entered into a database accessible to local and state law enforcement , fbi personnel and immigration officers , helping law enforcement to separate otherwise law abiding individuals from terrorist or criminals .  in fact , because many of the 9/11 hijackers did have a driver 's license , the records kept by state departments of motor vehicles were invaluable after 9/11 in tracking where the terrorist had been and with whom they had associated .  this information was used mr. chairman , there is no doubt that we must be proactive in the defense of our nation by identifying weaknesses in our security systems and making appropriate changes that will protect us from a terrorist attack .  for this reason , congress and the president charged the 9/11 commission to study our intelligence failures and make recommendations that would improve our systems .  those recommendations were , enacted into law with the passage of the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004 just three months ago .  the intelligence reform bill required states to establish stringent standards for the issuance of driver 's licenses and identification cards .  among the new standards are requirements that licenses contain digital photographs , employ machine readable technology and contain security features to prevent tampering , counterfeiting or duplication .  currently , effective and workable federal standards furthermore , the asylum provisions in the real id act do nothing to enhance our nation 's security .  instead , the real id act serves only to deny people who are fleeing religious persecution , torture and other horrors the ability to escape into safety .  given the fact that an asylum seeker is immediately held in detention before his claim is processed , a terrorist would not risk claiming asylum to enter our country .  mr. chairman , real id act is a real bad idea for america .  this bill will make our roads more dangerous , inhibit the work of law enforcement , and undermine the homeland security measures enacted in the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004 .  i urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and instead focus on implementing the counter-terrorism provisions enacted into law just a few months ago .  