SCR-3, As Adopted by Senate, February 13, 2007

            Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3

            A concurrent resolution to urge the United States Department of Homeland Security to continue to work with the states to coordinate driver's licenses with the new passport requirements to reenter the country from Canada.

            Whereas, The Canada-United States border relationship is a special one. More than 300,000 business people, truck drivers, tourists, and regular commuters, and $1.1 billion in goods on average travel daily between the two nations; and

Whereas, Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, millions of Americans may be required to show passports when they reenter this country from Canada by January 1, 2008. This provision, known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), is intended to make it more difficult for terrorists to enter the United States. Currently, Americans only need to show a driver's license or a birth certificate when they reenter from Canada; and

            Whereas, Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005, which mandates that beginning in May 2008, a state driver's license cannot be used for any federal purpose (including boarding an airplane), unless it meets specific federal requirements including a digital image of the client's face, proof of legal status, certain mandatory information, and card security features. A Real ID-compliant driver's license is very similar to the documentation necessary to obtain a passport, which is a requirement of the WHTI; and

            Whereas, The Michigan Secretary of State has proposed the exploration, on a pilot basis, of the feasibility of developing, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, a state-issued driver's license that is compliant with the Real ID Act as an acceptable document for WHTI; and

Whereas, This dual-purpose driver's license identification card proposal has the following stated objectives: combine the requirements of the WHTI and Real ID Act; recognize the need for secure borders by making it tougher for terrorists to enter the country; provide a convenient service and additional benefits to American citizens; honor the intent of the Real ID Act and the WHTI without subjecting citizens to multiple layers of governmental bureaucracy; and acknowledge the limited state and federal resources available for document verification; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That we urge the United States Department of Homeland Security to continue to work with the states to coordinate driver's licenses with the new passport requirements to reenter the country from Canada; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; the United States Secretary of State; the United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; the President of the United States Senate; the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; the chairs and ranking members of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the United States House Homeland Security Committee, and the United States House International Relations Committee; and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.