What the *#&@?

A bill aimed at overhauling the nation's intelligence agencies was pulled Saturday because of conservative opposition. President Bush called Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin late Friday to urge the congressman to "back off" from pushing immigration driver's license provisions that threatened the bill's passage. Those provisions would have forbidden states to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants; required refugees and those granted asylum to get driver's licenses that are annually renewed; and imposed what some immigrant advocates said were onerous identification requirements on immigrants seeking driver's licenses. (Excerpts from CNN)

Excuse me, can someone tell me why any state would want to provide a driver's license to a criminal? In case anyone didn't know, "illegal alien" = "illegal" = "not here legally" = "breaking the law" = "criminal". I would be in favor of a national driver's license with the primary state residency noted. States should not have control that would undermine our national security. They would be encoded with whether the individual is a US citizen or other legal status. States would still manage the licensing but perhaps an extra $5.00 per license (on top of current fees) to support the Federal oversight.

CNN Story