SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Transpor-
tation Worker Identification Credential Assessment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY ASSESSMENT OF THE 
TRANSPORTATION 
SECURITY 
CARD 
PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives, the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 
and the Comptroller General of the United States a com-
prehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the transpor-
tation security card program under section 70105 of title 
46, United States Code, at enhancing security and reduc-
ing security risks for facilities and vessels regulated pursu-
ant to section 102 of Public Law 107–295. Such assess-
ment shall be conducted by a national laboratory that, to 
the extent practicable, is within the Department of Home-
land Security laboratory network with expertise in mari-
time security or by a maritime security university-based 
center within the Department of Homeland Security cen-
ters of excellence network. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The comprehensive assessment 
shall include—
(1) an evaluation of the extent to which the 
program, as implemented, addresses known or likely 
security risks in the maritime environment; 
(2) an evaluation of the extent to which defi-
ciencies identified by the Comptroller General have 
been addressed; and 
(3) a cost-benefit analysis of the program, as 
implemented. 
(c) CORRECTIVE
ACTION
PLAN; PROGRAM
RE-
FORMS.—Not later than 60 days after the Secretary sub-
mits the assessment under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall submit a corrective action plan to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate that responds to the assessment under sub-
section (b). The corrective action plan shall include an im-
plementation plan with benchmarks, may include pro-
grammatic reforms, revisions to regulations, or proposals 
for legislation, and shall be considered in any rule making 
by the Department relating to the transportation security 
card program. 
(d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later 
than 120 days after the Secretary issues the corrective ac-
tion plan under subsection (c), the Comptroller General 
shall— 
(1) review the extent to which such plan imple-
ments— 
(A) recommendations issued by the na-
tional laboratory or maritime security univer-
sity-based center, as applicable, in the assess-
ment submitted under subsection (a); and 
(B) recommendations issued by the Comp-
troller General before the enactment of this Act; 
and 
(2) inform the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate as to the responsiveness of such 
plan to such recommendations. 
(e) TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY
CARD
READER 
RULE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security may not issue a final rule requiring the use 
of transportation security card readers until— 
(A) the Comptroller General informs the 
Committees on Homeland Security and the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture of the House of Representatives and Com-
merce, Science and Transportation of the Sen-
ate that the submission under subsection (a) is 
responsive to the recommendations of the 
Comptroller General; and 
(B) the Secretary issues an updated list of 
transportation security card readers that are 
compatible with active transportation security 
cards. 
(2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph 
(1) shall not apply with respect to any final rule 
issued pursuant to the notice of proposed rule-
making on Transportation Worker Identification 
Credential (TWIC)-Reader Requirements published 
by the Coast Guard on March 22, 2013 (78 Fed. 
Reg. 17781) 
(f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—Not less 
than 18 months after the date of the issuance of the cor-
rective action plan under subsection (c), and every 6 
months thereafter during the 3-year period following the 
date of the issuance of the first report under this sub-
section, the Comptroller General shall report to the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate regarding implementa-
tion of the corrective action plan. 
SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
No additional funds are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act, and this Act and such amendments shall be 
carried out using amounts otherwise available for such 
purpose. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 
2015. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 710 
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.