Lawmakers demand speed, efficiency for port worker IDs

House lawmakers had two specific messages Thursday for Homeland Security Department officials when it comes to issuing new biometric identification cards for port security workers: Get it done, but do it right.

Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said they are frustrated that the Transportation Security Administration has not yet started offering the transportation worker identification credentials to port workers.

Under the program, up to 1 million workers with access to sensitive port areas are to undergo background checks and be given special IDs with fingerprint biometric identifiers. TSA just missed another deadline for the TWIC program, this time to begin enrolling workers at 10 of the nation's busiest ports by July 1.

But lawmakers also are worried about widespread problems when TWIC is deployed. "If we don't get it right, it's going to be total chaos," said Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., added: "When you do roll this out, I hope you realize that there is no reason for any excuse for why it doesn't work."

Maurine Fanguy, the department's TWIC manager, said the program is taking time to develop because of its scope. She said the program is on the forefront of biometric credentialing.

But she deflected questions on when TSA would begin full-scale enrollment of workers, saying in response to repeated queries that the agency would start enrollment sometime this fall at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware. "We want to make sure we can handle the volumes and make sure that we can provide a secure credential that will protect people's lives," she said.

Cummings said he fears the prime contractor for the program, Lockheed Martin, might have problems meeting the requirements. He noted that Lockheed Martin also is a prime contractor for the Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization program, which has experienced setbacks and is being restructured. "This committee has many concerns about contractors, particularly in light of Deepwater," he said.

Cummings listed several concerns about TWIC. He asked, for example, if small-vessel operators will have to install card readers.

"One of the things I don't want to do is see small operators in the maritime industry be unduly burdened when they're trying to conduct their business," Cummings said. "We want to strike that balance of national security. but we also want to look at how this affects small operators."

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Brian Salerno said no decision has yet been made on card readers.

Cummings also questioned whether cruise ships would have to install card readers. "Would waiters have to scan their card in order to get into the kitchen to pick up their food?" he asked. "These things sound very mundane, but they are very important."

Lawmakers further said they are worried that TSA and the Coast Guard will not be ready to handle the workload of resolving appeals from workers who are denied cards. If workers are mistakenly denied cards, it could cripple their livelihoods, the lawmakers said.