National

District Residents Are Mostly Real ID Compliant as Restrictive Homeland Security Program Looms

Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

The Department of Homeland Security wants all Americans, including every D.C. resident, recognized universally as a star— at least they want you to have that one star on your driver’s license that proves you’re REAL ID compliant.

Officials essentially put the program off for two years because of the pandemic, but in 2023, travelers must show that they’re REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities. to inhibit terrorists’ ability to evade detection by using fraudulent identification.”

For more information and details about obtaining a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card in the District of Columbia, visit the District’s Department of Motor Vehicles website.

TSA also has a one-minute video that provides information about flying with a REAL ID.WI @StacyBrownMedia

In the District of Columbia, those facilities include certain museums.

As of November, D.C. reportedly had the highest rate of those already in compliance, with more than 600,000 residents.

Maryland currently enjoys an 88% compliance rate, while Virginia is relatively stagnant at 43%, despite the increasing need for REAL ID compliance.

“You have to have a REAL ID to get into an airplane to fly domestically or to get into a federal facility like a military installation,” Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Linda Ford stated.

“When you come to the DMV, you can actually get your Virginia birth certificate on the same visit and then subsequently use that document for your Real ID application. Likewise, if you can’t find your marriage certificate or you need a divorce decree, you can also get those at the DMV office,” Ford added.

Residents must have one proof of age and identity, proof of Social Security, and two proofs of residency to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card.

District of Columbia residents can upgrade to a REAL ID license or get a Limited Purpose driver’s license, which individuals cannot use as a federal identification, officials noted in a news release.

Washington residents can get a new license at a local District Department of Motor Vehicles office.

The District of Columbia DMV will not permit individuals to get a DC DMV REAL ID license if they have outstanding debts to the District or unpaid fines for moving traffic violations in other jurisdictions.

To get the REAL ID with the star, individuals must appear at their local Washington, D.C. DMV in person and bring certain documents to prove U.S. citizenship and Washington, D.C. residency.

The Washington, D.C. government maintains an extensive FAQ web page about obtaining a REAL ID in the District.

Transportation Security Administration officers who staff the ticket document checking station at airports will not allow travelers into the checkpoint without a REAL ID license or another form of acceptable ID after May 3, 2023.

“REAL ID is a coordinated effort by the federal government to improve the reliability and accuracy of driver licenses and identification cards,” DHS officials noted in the release.

“The improvements are intended

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5 All residents must be Real ID compliant by May 3, 2023. (Wikimedia Commons)

After Clinching Control of the Senate, Democrats Still Covet Victory in Georgia Runoff

Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Just days before the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff election, the state’s capital and most populous city surprisingly proved like an old Christmas fable: not much appeared stirring.

“It’s almost as if there isn’t a major election coming,” Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes relayed from Atlanta through an internal Slack message.

“There are literally no campaign signs anywhere,” Rolark Barnes stated.

Throughout her two-day visit to the Peach State, Rolark Barnes noticed only a few pro-Herschel Walker signs and “a sprinkling” of promotional material for Democratic Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.

“It’s almost as if there is a law that prohibits campaign signs,” she said. However, an abundance of television commercials continue to run.

Indeed, the city of Atlanta does restrict campaign signs.

Without a permit, it’s illegal to place campaign signs in a public right-of-way, including intersections, public roads, bridges and sidewalks. The city fines any campaign in violation and authorities remove such signs.

GEORGIA Page 17

5 Raphael Warnock ( Gerri Hernandez via Wikimedia Commons)

GEORGIA from Page 16

Still, the bigger picture remains the election that could either strengthen Democrats’ hold on the upper chamber of Congress or provide Republicans a fighting chance of blocking federal and even Supreme Court nominations.

During the midterm election, Democrats flipped one seat when Lt. Gov. John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania. The win assured Democrats of at least 50 seats and the majority because Vice President Kamala Harris counted as the tie-breaking vote.

However, a 51-49 edge could allow Democrats freedom from conservative West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who blocked some of President Joe Biden’s agenda during the administration’s first two years.

With 51 votes, Democrats can now afford to lose a member and still pass legislation (although, with Republicans seizing control of the House, it’s unlikely any meaningful legislation will pass during the next two years).

“Democrats need to gain every seat they can from the 2022 election cycle. Holding the Senate this year is a massive achievement, but keeping it again in two years’ time will be a gargantuan task,” political analyst Chris Cillizza wrote.

“Democrats would much rather start the 2024 cycle with a bit of cushion provided by a Warnock win.”

An evenly divided Senate “slows everything down,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remarked. “So, it makes a big difference to us.”

Further, in a 50-50 Senate, committees are evenly split between the two parties, which causes additional steps when a vote is tied. That forces the party in the majority to hold votes on the Senate floor to move bills or nominees forward.

With a Warnock win, Democrats would stand in position to hold an extra seat on every committee, making it much easier to move nominees or legislation on party-line votes.

“It’s always better with 51 because we’re in a situation where you don’t have to have an even makeup of the committees,” Biden said after Fetterman’s victory. “And so that’s why it’s important, mostly. But it’s just simply better. The bigger the numbers, the better.”

With a 51-seat majority, Vice President Harris doesn’t have to remain close to Washington when the Senate votes.

Harris already has broken 26 ties in two years in office, doubling what former Vice President Mike Pence did during his fouryear term.

Earlier this year, Harris reminded everyone that the nation’s first vice president, John Adams, had cast 29 tie-breaking votes during his two terms from 1789 to 1797.

“So, as vice president, I’m also the president of the United States Senate. And in that role, I broke John Adams’s record of casting the most tie-breaking votes in a single term,” Harris said in September.

“This kid who was born in Oakland, California, and graduated from an HBCU just broke the record of John Adams. We should all fully appreciate how history can take a turn.”

WI @StacyBrownMedia