TSA Should Extend Upcoming TWIC Renewals
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, and other Democratic Members of the Committee, sent a letter to John S. Pistole, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), requesting an extension for transportation and port workers to renew their Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC). To date, the Department of Homeland Security has not fully implemented the TWIC program as mandated in the SAFE Port Act of 2006. While millions of workers were required to spend significant time and money to obtain TWIC cards, the Department did not fulfill its responsibility to issue the final regulations for the readers by April 2011, as required by law.
The Democratic Members of the Committee believe that the Department should not require these workers to renew their cards before the biometric security enhancements of TWIC are realized and the program has been fully implemented. Ranking Member Thompson is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1105, the "Transitioning With an Improved Credential Program Act". This bill would address this problem by extending each worker's renewal deadline until December 31, 2014 or when DHS issues the final reader rule. The other signatories of the letter are also the original co-sponsors of H.R. 1105.
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