RIGHT SPEAK: Opposing Views on REAL ID's Where Do You Stand?

DMV (Photo: USA TODAY)

Real ID is about to get real for states:

14 years after 9/11 hijackers had no trouble getting driver's licenses, time to crack down.

The 9/11 hijackers had no trouble getting one crucial tool that helped them carry out their murderous plot — the driver’s licenses and state IDs that allowed them to easily board four jetliners.

The 19 terrorists had been issued 16 state driver’s licenses and 14 state ID cards, including one obtained with paperwork bought from an undocumented immigrant in a convenience store parking lot in Virginia for $100.

By now, you’d think the nation would have filled this dangerous security gap.

But 14 years after the attack, more than half the states have failed to comply with the 2005 Real ID law that was supposed to make driver’s licenses more tamper-proof and tougher to obtain fraudulently. Not only could such changes help prevent attacks, more secure licenses could stop underage drinkers from using fake ID and criminals from obtaining licenses for identity theft schemes.

Read the rest of this USA Today editorial HERE and view an opposing view below:

Department of Homeland Security. (Photo: AP)

Repeal authority to expand Real ID

After witnessing the destructive abuse by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, which aggressively monitored citizens in order to preserve totalitarian control, Americans are totally justified in opposing a national ID card — an opposition that may finally be overridden.

If you’re concerned about proving your legal status, possibly exposing your Social Security number or providing a digital photo, which allows checking with facial recognition software, you are not alone.