Opposition may delay or repeal Real ID program

By Margaret Talev

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - A nationalized system for driver's licenses that was to take effect next year already had been postponed because of a backlash from Congress and several states, and the Senate began hearings Tuesday to consider repealing it altogether.

The Real ID Act was pitched as a homeland-security enhancement, added to a spending bill and passed by the Republican-led Congress in 2005.

To board commercial airlines or enter federal buildings, Americans would need to obtain new identification cards with beefed-up requirements to prove their legal status and verify their Social Security numbers, addresses and other information. States were to be ready by this time next year.