Wednesday, May 9, 2007

DHS spokesman: "we received 12,000 comments"

WASHINGTON, May 8 — The Homeland Security Department said Tuesday that it would plow ahead with national standards for driver’s licenses, despite a highly unusual level of activity by state legislatures opposed to the idea, and substantial second thoughts in Congress.

The department said it had received about 12,000 public responses to its draft rules, in a 60-day comment period that ended Tuesday. Russ Knocke, a spokesman, said the comments were mixed.

Matthew Wald writes in the New York Times. I'm kind of curious what time Knocke gave that estimate; most of the article is a discussion of the Leahy hearing yesterday, which started at 10 a.m. EST ... and I'm sure comments are continuing to trickle in after the deadline. Still, it's a first stake in the ground.

As for "mixed" ... I've been spot-checking comments all week long and they seem to be running at least 80% anti-Real ID both at the individual and the organizational level -- and the chatter in the blogosphere near the deadline was overwhelmingly anti, 95% or more. So we'll see just how "mixed" it really is.

No word in the article about timeframe for posting or responding to comments.

jon

9 comments:

jon said...

My first reaction is that 12,000 seems like a lot of comments, especially given the combination of the lack of media attention and the risks that many people see of speaking out in this "chilling effects" time.

Also, the commenting process was really complex until the very end and then we had next to no time to get the word out. We could have done a much better job; but if we had even a week to react, I'm sure the total would have been a factor of 10 higher.

So like I say, given the circumstances, my first reaction is that this is pretty impressive.

jon

Greg said...

I wonder if every state (and WHO in the states) submitted comments? This article talks of Michigan's comments, for example. All these should appear in the public record at some point. Might be interesting to see how the "partnership with the states" idea holds up....

Anonymous said...

Does the web site "view public comments" currently only include comments submitted directly through the .gov site? What if people submitted through EFF's site or another portal? I tried to check the .gov site and don't see my name, so I'm wondering what is actually available on that site.

Anonymous said...

Don't know if you've seen this already, but I just posted it over on Pogo:

Comments to DHS on Real ID by the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators [pdf]

jon said...

dissent,

> Does the web site "view public comments" currently only include comments submitted directly through the .gov site?

DHS is backed up getting comments up on their site; most of the faxed-in comments (via EFF and elsewhere) still aren't up there, and for that matter the comment I submitted via the .gov site yesterday isn't up there either. Not clear what their timeframe is for getting everything posted.

jon

John R. said...

Jon,

May I link to the following post?

Biometrics Still an Issue: Luddites vs. Lemmings

I can only hope that REAL ID dies a quick and sudden death.

JR

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