TSA reports progress in port identification card program

House Democrats acknowledged that the Transportation Security Administration has made some progress in rolling out its identification card program for workers at the nation's ports, but said the agency needed to establish firm timelines for its remaining milestones.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential program was established in December 2001 to tighten security at ports by requiring individuals to carry high-tech ID cards with biometric data to gain access to facilities and vessels. According to TSA's latest estimates, about 1.5 million workers will have to carry a TWIC card, double the initial estimate of 750,000.

"The extensive preparation has finally begun to bear fruit," said Rear Adm. Brian Salerno, the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for safety, security and stewardship, during testimony at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. The hearing was scheduled as a follow-up to a hearing held in October, which drew concern on the Hill that the TWIC program was falling behind schedule.

There have been "challenges," Salerno acknowledged. "A simple concept often masks a great deal of complexity."

After numerous delays, TSA started the enrollment process in Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 16, 2007. In the first 90 days, almost 12,000 TWIC cards were activated, more than 25,000 cards were printed, almost 50,000 applicants enrolled for cards, and almost 110,000 applicants pre-enrolled for a card on the TSA Web site, where applicants enter basic biographic data and scheduling an appointment to officially enroll.

The Coast Guard and TSA issued regulations that require vessel owners and operators to begin using the TWIC cards to control access to secure areas of vessels by Sept. 25. Of the 200,000 workers who fall within that category, 6,000 have completed the process of card issuance, Maurine Fanguy, TSA's TWIC program director, told the panel. "We're clocking about 2,000 a day, [and] I expect that number will go much higher," she said.

TSA has not issued regulations for when ports' shore-based facilities will be required to use TWIC cards, nor has the agency provided specifics for which sea vessels will require them for access. Also, while TSA recently published the technical specifications for the TWIC card readers, which it is now testing, no timeline has been provided for when approved readers will be installed at facilities. In the meantime, port attendants must check cards manually.

"It appears this time was used constructively [to enable] the relatively smooth rollout that is currently under way," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the subcommittee. But concerns about progress remain, he said, as well as the lack of comprehensive deadlines for when all card issuance will be complete and scanning capabilities enabled at port facilities. "We've heard a lot of excuses as to why regulations are not going out," he said. "I'm convinced, holding a hearing [won't] address the matter. Our subcommittee will continue to be vigilant about rollout of this measure."