Brian Bilbray: “there have already been three States that have opted out of REAL ID because they say they don't have the money to…”

“there have already been three States that have opted out of REAL ID because they say they don't have the money to implement it. The terrorists of 9/11 did not slip through the Coast Guard along our coastline. I represent a coastal district. The fact is we need to make some priority decisions here. What is the real threat to the American people? The threat is the use of false identification to get on airplanes, to get access into government buildings, to do other types of wrongful deeds against the American people is because we do not have a secure ID today. The 9/11 report did not say a critical national defense purpose to defend our Nation from terrorism is that we need Deepwater. But they did say we absolutely need to have secure documentation within this country. So we have to make a priority decision. And as somebody of a naval family, somebody of a coastal community, I understand the Coast Guard is important, but this is a priority decision. REAL ID not only should and needs to be implemented now, it should have been implemented years ago. But the lack of funding should not be an excuse for us to do the right thing that is essential. If you're not going to follow the 9/11 report, then why the heck even have the committee report? If you're going to follow the bureaucracy that says let's keep defending America the way we did for the last hundred years and not upgrade to the realities of today?”