The confusion first started in 2013, when the district changed its drivers licenses to read ‘District of Columbia’ instead of ‘Washington, D.C.’
“As I’m sure you can imagine, it can be humiliating for a U.S. citizen to be delayed because a federal government employee does not recognize the name of the District of Columbia,” congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote in a letter on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON—Just in time for the peak holiday travel season, D.C. congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is issuing a not-so-friendly reminder to Transportation Security Administration officers.
Yes, the District of Columbia is a real place. Yes, it’s in the United States. And yes, D.C. residents can use their D.C. driver’s licenses to travel through airport security.
In a letter sent to TSA Administrator David Pekoske this week, Norton said she was dismayed to learn that D.C. residents are still encountering problems at airport security using their licenses to board domestic flights.
She described the latest episode as “humiliating.”
According to Norton’s letter, a D.C. resident was stopped in the TSA line at Newark Liberty International Airport at Thanksgiving.
“The TSO [transportation security officer] refused to accept her District license as a valid form of ID,” Norton said. “It is my understanding that other TSOs came over and discussed whether it was valid before letting her through, although the resident nearly missed her flight as a result.”
Mishaps related to the District of Columbia’s licenses first arose in 2013, after the design of the ID cards were changed from saying “Washington, D.C.” to “District of Columbia.” The alteration was made so the design of the licenses would conform with the official, charter-enshrined name of D.C.
Since then, TSA agents charged with checking passengers’ IDs have occasionally rejected the cards featuring the new design. At times, those agents appeared unaware that “District of Columbia” was the origin of the “D.C.” abbreviation.
In her letter on Wednesday, Norton requested that TSA managers remind their staff that the licenses bearing “District of Columbia” are a valid form of identification.
“As I’m sure you can imagine,” Norton added, “it can be humiliating for a U.S. citizen to be delayed because a federal government employee does not recognize the name of the District of Columbia.”
On Thursday, a TSA spokesman said agency officials have re-upped the notifications to ensure that D.C. ID-bearers aren’t turned away in airports.
“TSA will continue to work with congresswoman Holmes Norton about her concerns and reminders have been distributed to officers,” the spokesman said.
But it’s not just airport security officers who have gotten confused by seeing the District’s full moniker.
Last year, several Washingtonians reported that they were not allowed to purchase beer at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, because vendors mistakenly believed the identifications hailed from a foreign country. (It’s unclear whether they were confusing “Columbia” with “Colombia,” the nation in Latin America.)
The ongoing complications with the District of Columbia licenses is part of the reason that, earlier this year, D.C. officials decided to return to using “Washington, D.C.” as the primary identifier on D.C.-issued IDs.
“The administration determined ‘Washington, D.C.’ better represents the city and will reduce confusion in other jurisdictions,” D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles director Lucinda Babers said at the time.