Montana Delegation Introduces Legislation to Repeal REAL ID

Senator Steve Daines, Senator Jon Tester and Representative Ryan Zinke today announced that they have formally introduced legislation in the Senate and House repealing federal mandates for driver’s licenses included in the REAL ID Act of 2005.

“Montanans have spoken loud and clear: we don’t want REAL ID and we don’t want the federal government infringing on our personal privacy,” Daines stated. “The Repeal ID Act ensures Montanans’ voices are heard and will help strike the right balance that protects our security while also safeguarding Montanans’ civil liberties.”

 

“REAL ID violates the constitutional freedoms of law-abiding Americans and has no place in Montana,” said Tester. “I will continue my fight to protect Montanans from this costly overreach that invades privacy and forces local taxpayers to foot the bill.”

 

“Rolling back these Washington mandates is important to ensure Montana’s state sovereignty,” said Zinke. “While maintaining security standards is important, we cannot allow the federal government to infringe on our right to privacy and strip Montana of our state sovereignty.”

Department of Homeland Security recently granted Montana an extension for meeting REAL ID mandates until October 10, 2016. Without an additional extension or repeal of the REAL ID requirements, Montanans will eventually be required to show additional documents of identification when flying in the United States.