I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3173 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 12, 2011 
Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Mr. RICHMOND) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Home-
land Security 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to reform 
the process for the enrollment, activation, issuance, and 
renewal of a Transportation Worker Identification Cre-
dential (TWIC) to require, in total, not more than one 
in-person visit to a designated enrollment center. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) United States workers employed at nearly 
2,600 marine facilities and onboard nearly 13,000 
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United States-flag vessels are required to carry a 
Transportation Worker Identification Credential 
(TWIC) under the Maritime Transportation Security 
Act of 2002 (MTSA). Department of Homeland Se-
curity (DHS) regulations require merchant mariners 
who hold a Coast Guard-issued Merchant Mariner 
Credential (MMC) and individuals who require 
unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA-regu-
lated vessels and facilities to carry a TWIC. 
(2) To date, nearly two million transportation 
workers have applied for and received a TWIC. Ap-
plicants must pay $132.50 to obtain the TWIC, and 
make two or more trips to an enrollment center to 
apply for, and then to pick up and activate, their 
TWIC. 
(3) A TWIC is valid for a maximum of five 
years, at which time the cardholder must request 
issuance of a new card. This process requires work-
ers to make an additional two or more trips to the 
enrollment center and again pay $132.50 to receive 
a new card. 
(4) In addition to the cost of the card, workers 
face the burden of making two or more time-con-
suming and often expensive round trips to a TWIC 
enrollment center. In many instances, the nearest 
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enrollment center is hundreds of miles from a work-
er’s home. 
(5) The TWIC enrollment process requiring two 
or more round trips to an enrollment center is not 
mandated by statute or by regulation. The process 
is driven by a DHS policy decision to align the re-
quirements for TWIC issuance with standards for 
Personal Identity Verification (PIV) for Federal em-
ployees and contractors. These standards are con-
tained in Federal Information Processing Standard 
Publication 201 (FIPS–201). 
(6) While DHS has made the policy decision to 
generally align the TWIC enrollment process with 
the FIPS–201 standard, the Department may elect 
to deviate from this standard in instances where it 
believes an alternative approach is more appropriate 
for the TWIC program. 
(7) Unlike other Government-issued credentials 
that adhere to the FIPS–201 standard, the TWIC 
is effectively a work permit for a highly-mobile pri-
vate sector workforce. 
(8) Possession of a TWIC does not allow a 
TWIC holder to gain unescorted access to secure 
areas of MTSA-regulated vessels and facilities unless 
the TWIC holder is authorized to do so under a 
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Coast Guard-approved vessel or facility security 
plan. 
(9) DHS has the statutory authority and regu-
latory flexibility to develop an alternative process for 
TWIC enrollment and issuance that does not require 
applicants to make multiple trips to a TWIC enroll-
ment center. 
(10) Other secure Government-issued identity 
documents, including United States passports, can 
be distributed to applicants by mail. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
To avoid further imposing unnecessary and costly 
regulatory burdens on United States workers and busi-
nesses, it is the sense of Congress that it is urgent that 
the TWIC application process be reformed by not later 
than the end of 2012, when hundreds of thousands of cur-
rent TWIC holders will begin to face the requirement to 
renew their TWICs. 
SEC. 3. TWIC APPLICATION REFORM. 
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
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 except 
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in cases in which there are extenuating circumstances, as 
determined by the Secretary, requiring more than one 
such in-person visit. 
Æ 
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