States Get Extra Time On Launch of 'Real ID'

The Bush administration will allow states to postpone the planned May 2008 launch of a program to toughen security requirements for driver's licenses by up to 19 months, in response to complaints about the projected $11 billion cost and potential disruptions, congressional and Department of Homeland Security officials said yesterday.

The retreat came as the White House and the Democratic Congress headed for a showdown over a broad counterterrorism bill to implement many of the remaining recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, which called for ways to make it more difficult to obtain fraudulent identification. President Bush threatened to veto the overall bill if the Senate joined the House in extending union protection to 45,000 federal airport screeners.

"The Administration vigorously disagrees with these provisions . . . which were not recommended by the 9/11 Commission," the White House said in a statement. Reducing the Transportation Security Administration's flexibility to deploy workers and meet new threats "would reduce travelers' security," the statement said.

As the Senate began debate on the bill yesterday, eight senators supported a push by Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) to postpone the driver's license program by two years. They blamed the administration for failing until a scheduled announcement today to spell out what states must do to comply with the law, which was passed nearly two years ago.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the program, known as Real ID, was an unfunded federal mandate that would force governors and legislatures into unpopular choices such as raising taxes or tuition, or diverting money from education or health initiatives.

"We are for the first time in history creating a national ID card, with all the ramifications of that," Alexander said. "Let's make sure we know what we're doing."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is expected this morning to lay out long-awaited requirements for states to standardize information to be included on licenses, verify applicants' citizenship status, and check information such as birth certificates and driver histories with other state and federal databases.

Only IDs that meet the new standard will be acceptable for federal purposes such as boarding airplanes or entering courthouses.

A senior Homeland Security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity pending the official release, said that although the Real ID law set a May 2008 deadline, the administration is interpreting that as requiring states to be able to begin issuing compliant IDs by that time. They will be allowed to replace all 245 million licenses held by Americans on a "reasonably prompt basis" over five years.

States that could justify their requests for more time would be granted waivers, the official said. Although details were still being worked out and could change, two congressional GOP sources said DHS would in effect set a start date at the end of 2009, similar to Collins's proposal.

The fight presaged a difficult two-week debate over reforms backed by the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Earlier this week, 36 Republican senators lined up behind Bush's veto threat, enough to defeat any override attempt. A similar battle in 2002 delayed creation of the Homeland Security Department.

Addressing reporters, sponsor Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) noted that the bill included $3.3 billion for emergency communications, $3.1 billion a year for five years for risk-based grants to states, and stronger rail, aviation and port security measures.

"Is it worth stopping all the improvements of homeland security, adopting the recommendations of the 9/11 commission that have such bipartisan support . . . for one provision that gives quite moderate to weak employee rights, frankly, to people who work every day as screeners?" Lieberman said.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) proposed a deal to give TSA workers "very basic" rights, such as whistle-blower protections, a spokeswoman said, which TSA chief Kip Hawley said could be acceptable.

But John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said workers would not settle for such changes.

Border Patrol officers and customs agents within the Homeland Security Department, and Capitol Police and state and local police and firefighters, enjoy collective bargaining rights, Gage said. Workers from TSA reported injury and illness rates in 2006 that were six times the 5 percent average for all federal employees, and an attrition rate 10 times the 2.2 percent average for federal civilians, he said.