Panel's mission: Mend security net quickly

A select committee is urged to put together proposals for a special session within weeks.

By ALISA ULFERTS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 6, 2001

ORLANDO -- The lawmakers' mission is clear: Comb Florida's statutes looking for holes in the state's security net.

And members of the new House Select Committee on Security, who met for the first time Friday in Orlando, discovered they are going to attempt to fix the problems sooner than they thought.

House Speaker Tom Feeney said some of the state's security breaches are serious enough that he would like to fix them during a special session the Legislature is planning in the next few weeks.

That session was supposed to address the state's $1-billion budget deficit, but the new agenda could make that task tougher. Feeney estimated that the security problems outlined by law enforcement officials will cost about $20-million to correct.

Chief among his concerns, Feeney said, is a state driver's license system that allowed more than a dozen terrorists to get Florida licenses or ID cards. The documents presumably helped them move about the country and plan last month's attacks in New York and Washington.

"We have a very liberal policy with driver licenses," Feeney said.

Specifically, Feeney said he wants to end the state's policy of accepting a particular immigration form that foreign nationals fill out and that immigration officials certify. The state currently accepts that form -- called an I-94 -- as a primary form of identification to obtain a driver's license or state ID card.

"Driving is not a constitutional right but a privilege. People need to not fill out an I-94" and get a license, he added.

Since reports first surfaced about Florida's policy of accepting the I-94 form, officials with the state Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said they require anyone using the immigration form to also present a passport.

But the security committee's review of Florida laws won't end with beefing up the state's driver's license rules. Chapter 119, the statute that establishes Florida's open government and public records rules, also will undergo scrutiny, and possibly changes.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner James T. "Tim" Moore told the committee that certain records, including some arrest records, should be exempted from Chapter 119.

Calling himself a "civil libertarian," Moore said he understands why people might become concerned when government restricts records and closes meetings. "I don't want government taking away my ability to find out what's going on in my government," Moore said.

Nonetheless, Moore said, such restrictions are necessary from time to time to protect the public.

Feeney also said he was trying to balance the rights of the public with the need for security. "Security without freedom is totalitarianism," Feeney warned.

However, the speaker told members of the security committee that he wants certain committee records and meetings kept out of the public eye, and he's considering requesting security clearance for some in state government so they can receive classified information.

"We should never have a meeting or a document closed to the public unless it was absolutely necessary," Feeney said.

"Unfortunately, Osama bin Laden and other evil people read the newspapers and watch the news" and might learn about the state's security efforts, Feeney said.

Gov. Jeb Bush also has said he supports closing access to some government meetings where security is on the agenda "when appropriate," but added that no examples of such appropriate times came immediately to mind.

Committee members will be looking at a host of security concerns, "from agriculture to zoo evacuations," including some not as obvious. For example, Moore told members that the state wants access to information the federal government collects from banks when customers show unusual or suspicious transactions.

Other experts delivered presentations about increased security at airports, hotels and theme parks.

But some committee members warned about the dangers of going too far. Rep. Allan Bense, R-Panama City, said the state must keep in mind the rights of citizens to be free of government intrusion.

"We need to make sure we keep the balance," Bense said.

"I urge us to be careful about intrusiveness,' he added.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright