mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time , and i rise in strong support both of this rule and the underlying bill , the real id act .  i also want to thank the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner )  for his effort in bringing this legislation to the floor .  all of the reforms contained in the real id act are crucial to our national security interests , and all of them will help make america less vulnerable to terrorist attack .  the bill 's provisions include long-overdue and very common-sense safeguards that were recommended specifically by the 9/11 commission .  let me point out just one of those .  `` secure identification should begin in the united states , '' wrote the bipartisan 9/11 commission .  they went on to say , `` the federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification , such as driver 's licenses .  fraud in identification documents is no longer just a problem of theft .  at many entry points to vulnerable facilities , including gates for boarding aircraft , sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists. '' the bipartisan 9-11 commission called for this legislation .  just a moment ago i heard one of my colleagues say this legislation does not improve upon the bill we passed dealing with the issue just a few months ago .  i beg to disagree .  her point was , it does not address the issue of those who are here illegally , yet it very much does so .  a provision of this bill pushed by my colleague , the gentleman from arizona ( mr. flake )  , for a number of years , provides that a driver 's license may not have an expiration date beyond the date upon which someone 's visa expires .  that would specifically go to people here illegally .  let me point out how it would have applied to the 9/11 hijackers .  looking at nawaf alhazmi , his visa expired in january of 2001 , yet he got a florida 's driver 's license in june of 2001 , he got a virginia id card in august of 2001 , and he got a reissued virginia id card in september of 2001 .  a second hijacker , hani hanjour was in the same situation .  he was in violation of his visa when he obtained a virginia state id in august of 2001 and a maryland id in september of 2001 .  these are critical reforms to making america safer .  i urge my colleagues to vote for both the rule and the underlying legislation .  