TSA seeks qualified companies for TWIC card deployment

TSA seeks qualified companies for TWIC card deployment    Almost two years after a program was supposed to be in place to verify the background of workers entering ports and other transportation facilities, the Transportation Security Administration today will issue a solicitation for companies with technology and other capabilities that can help the agency establish the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Jackson told a Senate subcommittee.
   The request for qualified companies interested in supporting the program is the first step toward deployment of a universal transportation worker ID card that can be used interchangeably at multiple facilities nationwide, Jackson testified Thursday. The TSA and Coast Guard are drafting a rule for a TWIC card system. A proposed rule covering how the cards will be issued and checked is expected to be published by July and a TSA spokeswoman said the final rule will go into effect in early 2007.
   The marine industry and many members of Congress have become increasingly frustrated as the TSA has continually missed deadlines for implementing a system of background checks, biometric cards and readers and a worker database.
   Jackson admitted that DHS has “dithered too long” developing the program. “Secretary (Michael) Chertoff has given his team instructions to get this done as quickly as possible,” he said.
   The TSA and the Coast Guard have been working under a 2002 mandate from Congress to develop a standardized TWIC card that would allow transportation workers to unescorted access to secure areas of ports, airports, rail heads and other facilities. The program is expected to initially cover workers in the maritime sector and before expanding into other transport areas.
   The program has been plagued by bureaucratic delays and technological challenges for recording and scanning biometric data. In addition to developing a format for the biometric card and reader, the agencies have to develop a process for conducting background checks on new and existing workers who apply for the card, and integrate it with existing gate systems used by terminal operators.
   In October, the TSA concluded a 12-month pilot test of the TWIC program that involved 200,000 workers at three Delaware River ports (Philadelphia, Camden and Wilmington), the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach and most deepwater ports in Florida.