Rep. Mark Sanford pushes for REAL ID reform as privacy issues loom

The REAL ID Act, which was signed into law nearly 12 years ago, was a post-9/11 reform that sought to bring national standards to driver's licenses and has taken over a decade to be fully implemented.

But one conservative lawmaker believes that what was viewed as a national security safeguard is now a privacy issue to millions of Americans, and one that will complicate their lives within the next year.

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., has introduced a bill, the REAL ID Privacy Protection Act, to make privacy reforms to the REAL ID Act, including to eliminate document archiving and to allow states to decide against linking their databases nationwide.

"Quite simply, it's to clear up deficiencies we see in REAL ID," Sanford told the Washington Examiner. "This is about the 10th Amendment. This is about the prerogative of states. Something as simple as issuing a driver's license has historically been the sole prerogative of states, not the federal government."

The South Carolina Republican has been against REAL ID since his tenure as the state's governor. However, it has become an issue within the past month as multiple states have seen the law go into effect, leaving many Americans without proper identification to gain access to federal facilities, including military bases and nuclear power plants.