IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3173 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to reform 

the process for the enrollment, activation, issuance, and 

renewal of a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to require, in total, not more than one 

in-person visit to a designated enrollment center. 


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HR 3173 RFS

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) United States workers employed at nearly 

6 2,600 marine facilities and onboard nearly 13,000 

7 United States-flag vessels are required to carry a 

8 Transportation Worker Identification Credential 

9 (TWIC) under the Maritime Transportation Security 

10 Act of 2002 (MTSA). Department of Homeland Se11 curity (DHS) regulations require merchant mariners 

12 who hold a Coast Guard-issued Merchant Mariner 

13 Credential (MMC) and individuals who require 

14 unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA-regu15 lated vessels and facilities to carry a TWIC. 

16 (2) To date, nearly two million transportation 

17 workers have applied for and received a TWIC. Ap18 plicants must pay $132.50 to obtain the TWIC, and 

19 make two or more trips to an enrollment center to 

20 apply for, and then to pick up and activate, their 

21 TWIC. 

22 (3) A TWIC is valid for a maximum of five 

23 years, at which time the cardholder must request 

24 issuance of a new card. This process requires work25 ers to make an additional two or more trips to the 


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1 enrollment center and again pay $132.50 to receive 

2 a new card. 

3 (4) In addition to the cost of the card, workers 

4 face the burden of making two or more time-con5 suming and often expensive round trips to a TWIC 

6 enrollment center. In many instances, the nearest 

7 enrollment center is hundreds of miles from a work8 er’s home. 

9 (5) The TWIC enrollment process requiring two 

10 or more round trips to an enrollment center is not 

11 mandated by statute or by regulation. The process 

12 is driven by a DHS policy decision to align the re13 quirements for TWIC issuance with standards for 

14 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) for Federal em15 ployees and contractors. These standards are con16 tained in Federal Information Processing Standard 

17 Publication 201 (FIPS–201). 

18 (6) While DHS has made the policy decision to 

19 generally align the TWIC enrollment process with 

20 the FIPS–201 standard, the Department may elect 

21 to deviate from this standard in instances where it 

22 believes an alternative approach is more appropriate 

23 for the TWIC program. 

24 (7) Unlike other Government-issued credentials 

25 that adhere to the FIPS–201 standard, the TWIC 


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1 is effectively a work permit for a highly-mobile pri2 vate sector workforce. 

3 (8) Possession of a TWIC does not allow a 

4 TWIC holder to gain unescorted access to secure 

5 areas of MTSA-regulated vessels and facilities unless 

6 the TWIC holder is authorized to do so under a 

7 Coast Guard-approved vessel or facility security 

8 plan. 

9 (9) DHS has the statutory authority and regu10 latory flexibility to develop an alternative process for 

11 TWIC enrollment and issuance that does not require 

12 applicants to make multiple trips to a TWIC enroll13 ment center. 

14 (10) Other secure Government-issued identity 

15 documents, including United States passports, can 

16 be distributed to applicants by mail. 

17 (11) Congress mandated the issuance of a final 

18 rule setting forth requirements for TWIC biometric 

19 readers no later than two years after the TWIC pilot 

20 began, which would have been August 2010; such a 

21 final rule has to date not been issued. 

22 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that— 

24 (1) to avoid further imposing unnecessary and 

25 costly regulatory burdens on United States workers 


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1 and businesses, it is urgent that the TWIC applica2 tion process be reformed by not later than the end 

3 of 2012, when hundreds of thousands of current 

4 TWIC holders will begin to face the requirement to 

5 renew their TWICs; 

6 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security should 

7 promulgate final regulations that require the deploy8 ment of TWIC readers as soon as practicable, in 

9 order to ensure the TWIC program realizes its in10 tended security purpose; and 

11 (3) funds, which have been awarded under the 

12 Port Security Grant Program for the purpose of 

13 funding TWIC projects, shall not expire before the 

14 issuance of the final TWIC reader rule. 

15 SEC. 3. TWIC APPLICATION REFORM. 

16 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

18 reform the process for the enrollment, activation, issuance, 

19 and renewal of a Transportation Worker Identification 

20 Credential (TWIC) to require, in total, not more than one 

21 in-person visit to a designated enrollment center except 

22 in cases in which there are extenuating circumstances, as 


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1 determined by the Secretary, requiring more than one 

2 such in-person visit. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 28, 2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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