Post by Moses on Jun 27, 2005 8:30:24 GMT -5
American Enterprise Institute: Summaries of New and Important Research
NATIONAL SECURITY
Card Carrying Americans
Amitai Etzioni et al., "Reliable Identification for Homeland Protection and Collateral Gains," in Creating a Trusted Network for Homeland Security, The Markle Foundation, December 2003 (markle.org)
Since 9/11, many Americans have worried about the measures governments use to separate terrorists and other potential wrongdoers from ordinary citizens and visitors going about their business. In an appendix to a longer report on how to distribute intelligence data related to homeland security, a group of scholars, activists, political leaders, and corporate executives led by George Washington University professor
Amitai Etzioni, examine ways to improve "purposeful identification," a means of verifying one's identity in order to gain access to a controlled area such as an airport, school, or country of which one is not a citizen.
The authors identify a wide range of problems with current efforts to protect sensitive facilities, e.g., government agents using homemade credentials have crossed borders and entered federal buildings--even secure military facilities. Instead of calling for a specific national ID card, which the authors believe would be too easy to manipulate, they support a variety of measures to make current ID cards more secure.
Among them:
• Standardize "breeder documents" and make them electronically searchable throughout the country: Breeder documents, primarily birth certificates, are used to get other forms of ID such as drivers' licenses and passports. Right now, the U.S. has a profusion of different forms and formats for these documents; this makes it almost impossible for DMV personnel and passport clerks to sort the forged from the authentic. A standardized form and national database wouldmake this process easier.
• Improve drivers' license standards: Drivers' licenses, currently the most used identity documents in the U.S., have almost no common standards, the panel finds. Etzioni and the others report that they are also too easy to obtain with a false Social Security number and too easy for illegal aliens to use. They also believe that DMV personnel should receive better training.
• Seek assistance from the private sector: The government should look to the private sector to provide many kinds of identification, including some that government agencies might accept.
These steps, the panel argues, would also result in some collateral gains by reducing credit card and voter fraud, making it easier to track fugitives, and otherwise making the nation safer and more secure.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Card Carrying Americans
Amitai Etzioni et al., "Reliable Identification for Homeland Protection and Collateral Gains," in Creating a Trusted Network for Homeland Security, The Markle Foundation, December 2003 (markle.org)
Since 9/11, many Americans have worried about the measures governments use to separate terrorists and other potential wrongdoers from ordinary citizens and visitors going about their business. In an appendix to a longer report on how to distribute intelligence data related to homeland security, a group of scholars, activists, political leaders, and corporate executives led by George Washington University professor
Amitai Etzioni, examine ways to improve "purposeful identification," a means of verifying one's identity in order to gain access to a controlled area such as an airport, school, or country of which one is not a citizen.
The authors identify a wide range of problems with current efforts to protect sensitive facilities, e.g., government agents using homemade credentials have crossed borders and entered federal buildings--even secure military facilities. Instead of calling for a specific national ID card, which the authors believe would be too easy to manipulate, they support a variety of measures to make current ID cards more secure.
Among them:
• Standardize "breeder documents" and make them electronically searchable throughout the country: Breeder documents, primarily birth certificates, are used to get other forms of ID such as drivers' licenses and passports. Right now, the U.S. has a profusion of different forms and formats for these documents; this makes it almost impossible for DMV personnel and passport clerks to sort the forged from the authentic. A standardized form and national database wouldmake this process easier.
• Improve drivers' license standards: Drivers' licenses, currently the most used identity documents in the U.S., have almost no common standards, the panel finds. Etzioni and the others report that they are also too easy to obtain with a false Social Security number and too easy for illegal aliens to use. They also believe that DMV personnel should receive better training.
• Seek assistance from the private sector: The government should look to the private sector to provide many kinds of identification, including some that government agencies might accept.
These steps, the panel argues, would also result in some collateral gains by reducing credit card and voter fraud, making it easier to track fugitives, and otherwise making the nation safer and more secure.