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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law

Calls scheme 'kooky' and 'hare-brained'

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(Newser) – NPR Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and every single state legislator have refused to implement the Real ID Act, a congressional mandate to create standardized identification documents. Schweitzer tells NPR the law is "kooky" and "hare-brained," asserting that half a dozen high school students and a Kinko's are all that would be needed to subvert it.

Schweitzer wonders why Homeland Security demands that states agree now to provisions that are not yet determined and won't be implemented for at least seven years. Montana has until May to reverse its position or, in the ominous words of a Homeland Security spokesman, "showing up at the airport with a Montana driver's license will be no better than showing up without any identification."

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, right, speaks during a news conference as part of the National Governors Association's Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at the InterContinental Hotel in Tampa, Fla. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius looks on. (AP Photo/Craig Litten)
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, right, speaks during a news conference as part of the National Governors Association's Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at the InterContinental...   (Associated Press)
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, before the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on his department's fiscal 2009 budget. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, before the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on his department's fiscal 2009 budget....   (Associated Press)
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