May 13, 2008 2:15PM # Wisconsin Governor Defunds REAL ID By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE Wis​Pol​i​tics​.com [reports](http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=125892) that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) plans to take more than $20 million out of the state’s REAL ID account and transfer it into the state’s general fund. Wisconsin Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R) objects: > When I shepherded the REAL ID bill through Congress 3 years ago, it was in response to one of the key recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, that ‘fraud in identification documents is no longer just a problem of theft.’ As we saw in 2001, in the hands of a terrorist, a valid ID accepted for travel in the US can be just as dangerous as a missile or bomb. Congressman Sensenbrenner is correct to claim responsibility for REAL ID, but less accurate in other parts of his statement. The 9/11 Commission’s ‘key’ recommendation [wasn’t key](https://www.cato.org/2008/03/21/stewart-baker-light-on-security-and-history/). (Indeed, Congress’ effort to follow the Commission’s recommendation was repealed by REAL ID.) Nobody — not the 9/11 Commission, not Congressman Sensenbrenner, not [Stewart Baker](https://www.cato.org/2008/03/27/stewart-baker-should-start-at-the-beginning/), nor anyone else — can explain the proximity between false ID and terrorist attacks, or how REAL ID cost-effectively secures the country against any threat. Wisconsin’s governor has issued a mighty well-placed snub to the creator of the “[Sensenbrenner tax](https://www.cato.org/2006/11/15/wisconsins-sensenbrenner-tax/).” ##### Related Tags [Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).