II 

Calendar No. 436 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 710 

[Report No. 114–244] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

APRIL 25, 2016 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare 

a comprehensive security assessment of the transportation security card program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Transpor5 tation Worker Identification Credential Assessment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY ASSESSMENT OF THE 

2 TRANSPORTATION SECURITY CARD PRO3 GRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se7 curity and the Committee on Transportation and Infra8 structure of the House of Representatives, the Committee 

9 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 

10 and the Comptroller General of the United States a com11 prehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the transpor12 tation security card program under section 70105 of title 

13 46, United States Code, at enhancing security and reduc14 ing security risks for facilities and vessels regulated pursu15 ant to section 102 of Public Law 107–295. Such assess16 ment shall be conducted by a national laboratory that, to 

17 the extent practicable, is within the Department of Home18 land Security laboratory network with expertise in mari19 time security or by a maritime security university-based 

20 center within the Department of Homeland Security cen21 ters of excellence network. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The comprehensive assessment 

23 shall include— 

24 (1) an evaluation of the extent to which the 

25 program, as implemented, addresses known or likely 

26 security risks in the maritime environment; 


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1 (2) an evaluation of the extent to which defi2 ciencies identified by the Comptroller General have 

3 been addressed; and 

4 (3) a cost-benefit analysis of the program, as 

5 implemented. 

6 (c) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN; PROGRAM RE7 FORMS.—Not later than 60 days after the Secretary sub8 mits the assessment under subsection (a), the Secretary 

9 shall submit a corrective action plan to the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security and the Committee on Transportation 

11 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

13 of the Senate that responds to the assessment under sub14 section (b). The corrective action plan shall include an im15 plementation plan with benchmarks, may include pro16 grammatic reforms, revisions to regulations, or proposals 

17 for legislation, and shall be considered in any rule making 

18 by the Department relating to the transportation security 

19 card program. 

20 (d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later 

21 than 120 days after the Secretary issues the corrective ac22 tion plan under subsection (c), the Comptroller General 

23 shall— 

24 (1) review the extent to which such plan imple25 ments— 


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1 (A) recommendations issued by the na2 tional laboratory or maritime security univer3 sity-based center, as applicable, in the assess4 ment submitted under subsection (a); and 

5 (B) recommendations issued by the Comp6 troller General before the enactment of this Act; 

7 and 

8 (2) inform the Committee on Homeland Secu9 rity and the Committee on Transportation and In10 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor12 tation of the Senate as to the responsiveness of such 

13 plan to such recommendations. 

14 (e) TRANSPORTATION SECURITY CARD READER

15 RULE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security may not issue a final rule requiring the use 

18 of transportation security card readers until— 

19 (A) the Comptroller General informs the 

20 Committees on Homeland Security and the 

21 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc22 ture of the House of Representatives and Com23 merce, Science and Transportation of the Sen24 ate that the submission under subsection (a) is 


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1 responsive to the recommendations of the 

2 Comptroller General; and 

3 (B) the Secretary issues an updated list of 

4 transportation security card readers that are 

5 compatible with active transportation security 

6 cards. 

7 (2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph 

8 (1) shall not apply with respect to any final rule 

9 issued pursuant to the notice of proposed rule10 making on Transportation Worker Identification 

11 Credential (TWIC)-Reader Requirements published 

12 by the Coast Guard on March 22, 2013 (78 Fed. 

13 Reg. 17781) 

14 (f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—Not less 

15 than 18 months after the date of the issuance of the cor16 rective action plan under subsection (c), and every 6 

17 months thereafter during the 3-year period following the 

18 date of the issuance of the first report under this sub19 section, the Comptroller General shall report to the Com20 mittee on Homeland Security and the Committee on 

21 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

23 and Transportation of the Senate regarding implementa24 tion of the corrective action plan. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

2 No additional funds are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

4 by this Act, and this Act and such amendments shall be 

5 carried out using amounts otherwise available for such 

6 purpose. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Transpor9 tation Worker Identification Credential Assessment Act’’. 

10 SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY ASSESSMENT OF THE 

11 TRANSPORTATION WORKER IDENTIFICATION 

12 CREDENTIAL PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security shall commission a 2-phase comprehensive assess16 ment of the effectiveness of the Transportation Worker Iden17 tification Credential Program (referred to in this section 

18 as the ‘‘TWIC Program’’ under section 70105 of title 46, 

19 United States Code) at enhancing security and reducing se20 curity risks for facilities and vessels regulated pursuant to 

21 chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code. 

22 (b) LOCATION.—The assessment commissioned pursu23 ant to subsection (a) shall be conducted by a national lab24 oratory or a university-based center within the Department 

25 of Homeland Security centers of excellence network. 


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1 (c) CONTENTS.—The assessment commissioned pursu2 ant to subsection (a) shall include— 

3 (1) in phase 1, a review of the credentialing 

4 process, including— 

5 (A) the appropriateness of vetting stand6 ards; 

7 (B) whether the fee structure adequately re8 flects the current costs of vetting; and 

9 (C) whether there is unnecessary overlap be10 tween other transportation security credentials; 

11 (2) in phase 2, which shall follow the implemen12 tation of the TWIC reader rule— 

13 (A) an evaluation of the extent to which the 

14 TWIC Program, as implemented, addresses 

15 known or likely security risks in the maritime 

16 environment; and 

17 (B) the technology, business process, and 

18 operational impacts of the use of the transpor19 tation worker identification credentials and 

20 TWIC readers in the maritime environment; 

21 (3) an evaluation of the extent to which defi22 ciencies identified by the Comptroller General have 

23 been addressed; and 

24 (4) a cost-benefit analysis of the TWIC Program, 

25 as implemented. 


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1 (d) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN; PROGRAM RE2 FORMS.—If, as part of the assessment submitted by the Sec3 retary under subsection (a), the Secretary identifies a defi4 ciency in effectiveness of the TWIC Program, the Secretary, 

5 not later than 120 days after such submission, shall submit 

6 a corrective action plan to the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 

8 on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and 

9 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

10 House of Representatives that— 

11 (1) responds to findings of the assessment com12 missioned under this section; 

13 (2) includes an implementation plan with bench14 marks; 

15 (3) may include programmatic reforms, revisions 

16 to regulations, or proposals for legislation; and 

17 (4) shall be considered in any rulemaking by the 

18 Department of Homeland Security relating to the 

19 TWIC Program. 

20 (e) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.—If a corrective ac21 tion plan is required under subsection (d), the Inspector 

22 General of the Department of Homeland Security, not later 

23 than 120 days after the submission of such plan, shall— 

24 (1) review the extent to which such plan imple25 ments— 


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1 (A) recommendations issued by the national 

2 laboratory or university-based center of excel3 lence, as applicable, in the assessment submitted 

4 under subsection (a); and 

5 (B) recommendations issued by the Comp6 troller General before the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act; and 

8 (2) notify the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, 

11 and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc12 ture of the House of Representatives about the respon13 siveness of such plan to such recommendations. 

14 (f) TRANSPORTATION WORKER IDENTIFICATION CRE15 DENTIAL RULES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security may not issue additional rules relating to 

18 the issuance of transportation worker identification 

19 credentials or the use of TWIC readers until— 

20 (A) the Inspector General of the Department 

21 of Homeland Security notifies the Committee on 

22 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

23 Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of 

24 the House of Representatives, and the Committee 

25 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 


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1 House of Representatives that the submission 

2 under subsection (d) is responsive to the rec3 ommendations of the Inspector General; and 

4 (B) the Secretary issues an updated list of 

5 TWIC readers that are compatible with active 

6 transportation worker security credentials. 

7 (2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph 

8 (1) shall not apply with respect to any final rule 

9 issued pursuant to the notice of proposed rulemaking 

10 on Transportation Worker Identification Credential 

11 (TWIC)-Reader Requirements published by the Coast 

12 Guard on March 22, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 17781). 

13 (g) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—Not later than 

14 18 months after the date of the issuance of the corrective 

15 action plan under subsection (d), and every 6 months there16 after during the 3-year period following the date of the 

17 issuance of the first report under this subsection, the Inspec18 tor General shall submit a report to the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Com20 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa21 tives, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc22 ture of the House of Representatives that describes imple23 mentation of such plan. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

2 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

3 to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 

4 Act, and this Act and such amendments shall be carried 

5 out using amounts otherwise available for such purpose. 


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Calendar No. 436 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 710 

[Report No. 114–244] 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to 

other purposes. the transportation security card program, and for prepare a comprehensive security assessment of 

APRIL 25, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


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