New York will be pilot port for TWIC readers

New York will be pilot port for TWIC readers The Port of New York and New Jersey will be one of the first ports in the nation to test readers for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential or TWIC card, said U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.
   Lautenberg said he secured a promise from Kip Hawley, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Transportation Security Administration to expedite high-tech security access card readers at the port.
   Lautenberg said the commitment came during testimony before a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which he chaired.
   While TSA has developed the ID-access cards themselves, efforts to install card readers have been delayed. TSA has been working on a pilot program to test equipment capable of “reading” high-tech access cards that workers will be required to carry. TSA has not announced which port locations will be outfitted with the new equipment.
   These pocket-sized access cards contain integrated circuit chips that can store digital information such as two fingerprints, personal identification number (PIN), digital photo of the cardholder, cardholder’s name, and expiration date.
   Lautenberg is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, which has jurisdiction over port security matters in the U.S. Senate.