Lawmakers question future of port worker ID card program.

AuthorSicard, Sarah
PositionHomeland Security News

* After 11 years of the Department of Homeland Security trying to field a secure identity card for port workers, members of Congress are running out of patience.

The Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) was intended to contain biometric information that could be verified by a scanner or reader at port entries. The readers would presumably be tied to a centralized database that could confirm a worker's identity and a card's validity. None of this has come close to being fielded.

"Millions of dollars previously allocated in future grant spending are predicated on the TWIG providing a tangible security benefit at the nation's ports and maritime facilities," Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee's subcommittee on border and maritime security, said at a hearing. She quoted a Government Accountability Office report that stated, "Eleven years after initiation, DHS has not demonstrated how, if at all, TWIC will improve maritime security."

The program began in 2002 as a provision of the Maritime Transportation Security Act, which sought to develop a secure biometric identification credential for those needing unescorted access to secure areas of regulated maritime facilities and vessels. The Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard jointly administer the program.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

There have been several efforts to develop readers that would work under the harsh maritime conditions found at ports and on ships. None of these efforts have resulted in workable technologies.

Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., questioned whether the program has a future at all. "Do you think TWIC is dead?" he asked Coast Guard and TSA representatives.

"We are failing America in this process of making sure our port facilities are safe," he added. TWIC is nothing more than a $130 flash pass that does little more than a normal ID card would, he said.

Steve Sadler, assistant administrator of the office of intelligence and analysis at TSA...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT