TSA indicates port ID system may not be ready by July

A top Homeland Security Department official could not assure lawmakers Thursday that a congressional deadline will be met to begin issuing secure identification cards to U.S. port workers, increasing concerns on Capitol Hill that delays and mismanagement continue to plague the program.

The department also does not have an exact estimate for how many port employees will have to get the transportation worker identification credential. Under a major maritime security bill signed into law last fall, the Transportation Security Administration is required to begin enrolling workers in the TWIC program at the 10 highest risk ports by July 1.

"As of today, we do not have even the most basic deployment schedule," Senate Commerce Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said during a hearing.

TSA Administrator Kip Hawley could not guarantee the deadline would be met. "We respect the deadline and April is too soon to give up on a July deadline," he said.

But he added that if the choice is between meeting the deadline or ensuring the program works properly, the administration will choose the latter. He added that estimates for how many port workers will ultimately be enrolled range from 750,000 to 1.5 million.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., observed that the administration has spent about $100 million on the program to date, but only issued 1,700 cards, which equates to about $60,000 per card. "I don't think there can be a lot of optimism that this program is going to be meeting any of the deadlines required," he said.

Hawley said the biggest challenge for the program now is building a technical architecture for TWIC that ties into the government's vetting systems and ensures that cards work at different ports.

"TWIC is an advanced, sophisticated credentialing system," he said. "The hard part about testing is that you just don't know how long it will take. Because of the importance of it in the real world, we're not going to move forward until the testing is done."

Government auditors told the committee that progress has been made in developing the program, but more must be done. "We're still not confident when it will start, let alone finish," said Norman Rabkin, the Government Accountability Office's managing director for homeland security and justice issues. "There's a lot to be done yet."

He said it remains to be seen if TSA and its contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., can successfully move from testing to enrolling workers and issuing cards on a large scale.

Delays with the program continue to test the patience of lawmakers.

"Given that the comprehensive management plan for TWIC required in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 is over two years past due to Congress, I can only conclude that the administration is not taking its responsibility seriously enough," Inouye said. "If the agencies continue to neglect the basic tenets of contract management and programmatic planning, failure is certain to result."

Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, added: "Congressional tolerance ... is waning because of the missed deadlines."