The TWIC Program Act

Floor Speech

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce legislation today with the following Democratic Members of the Committee on Homeland Security: Ms. Loretta Sanchez, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee, Mr. Henry Cuellar, and Mr. Cedric Richmond.

The SAFE Port Act of 2006 authorizes the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Program to be administered jointly by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Coast Guard within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The TWIC program is focused on protecting the Nation's maritime transportation facilities and vessels by requiring maritime workers and other workers who need unescorted access to secure port facilities to obtain a biometric identification card.

After initial delays, all maritime workers were required to obtain biometric TWICs by April 2009. The initial cost to workers for these cards is $132.50 per credential, and in the event that a card is lost, stolen, or damaged, a replacement TWIC costs $60.00. To date, over 1.8 million longshoremen, truckers, merchant mariners, and rail and vessel crew members have undergone extensive homeland security and criminal background checks to obtain TWICs.

However, the full promise of a biometric access security system has not been realized, as DHS has made little progress in deploying TWIC card readers to ports and vessels. TSA was two years late in starting a pilot program for the readers, even as workers raced to obtain TWICs to continue working in our Nation's ports. Finally, in April 2009, TSA commenced a limited pilot program to test the business processes, technology, and operational impacts necessary for full deployment of the TWIC readers.

The law requires DHS to issue final regulations for the deployment of TWIC readers based on the results of these pilots by April 2011. TSA has said that it expects to complete the pilots by August 2011 and that Coast Guard would then issue final regulations in late 2012. Under current law, starting in October 2012, workers would be required to renew their TWICs, even though DHS has yet to issue regulations requiring TWIC readers.

In the interest of security and in order not to place an undue burden on workers, I am introducing legislation to ensure that the full promise of the TWIC program is realized. The ``TWIC Program Act'' ensures that Transportation Worker Identification Credentials held by workers for unescorted access to port facilities are valid until the earlier of (1) the deadline for full implementation of a final rule by the Department of Homeland Security for readers to be installed as a security measure to verify the identity of TWIC card holders against the credential presented to gain access to our Nation's maritime ports; or (2) December 31, 2014.

This legislation will help ensure that the full promise of the TWIC program is realized. I look forward to working with the Senate and the rest of our colleagues on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to see that this bill is enacted.

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