TWIC under the gun, again

TWIC under the gun, again    The Department of Homeland Security needs to overcome major technical and administrative challenges before it can require maritime workers and vendors to use universal, tamper-proof identification cards to access port facilities, a government watchdog agency said.
   The Transportation Security Administration, which is managing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program, needs to be able to enroll more workers and issue ID cards in a more timely manner than was done during the testing period; conduct more thorough tests of biometric technology used to verify identify; and balance requirements with the potential impact on port efficiency, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Friday.
   The GAO recommended that TSA conduct further testing of biometric cards and readers before making the cards mandatory. During the pilot program TSA focused on collecting biometric information, such as fingerprints, from workers, but never used readers at port gates to test whether the technologies worked together in the field as a valid access control system.
   TSA’s response so far has been to allow the maritime industry more time to deploy the reader technology while moving ahead with worker enrollment, background checks and card distribution.
   The agency has repeatedly missed several deadlines to implement the security program at ports and has been plagued by cost overruns.
   “Rapidly moving forward with implementation of the TWIC program without developing and testing solutions to identified problems to ensure that they work effectively could lead to further problems, increased costs, and program delays without achieving the program’s intended goals,” the GAO said.
   The TSA has had problems managing the contract issued to Bearing Point to test the TWIC program, the GAO said. Contract oversight has been a major bugaboo of the department since its creation in 2003. DHS has been criticized for lacking the resources and expertise to manage contracts and keeping contractor costs in check.
   In the case of the TWIC program, TSA made a number of changes to the requirements after the contract was awarded, contributing to a doubling of contract costs and did not ensure that all key components of the program were tested. The TSA has acknowledged that it did not have sufficient personnel to adequately monitor contractor performance, the GAO said.
   TSA is in the process of selecting a contractor to implement the TWIC program, but still needs to develop clearly defined requirements and a contractor oversight plan, the GAO said.
   The recently enacted Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE) Act includes provisions to address issues outlined in the report. The port security bill requires DHS to issue rules by the end of the year for full implementation of TWIC and calls for pilot programs to be conducted to test biometric technologies.
   “TSA dropped the ball on the TWIC program, and as a result, millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted and an effective ID program for port and transportation workers is not yet in place,” Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement.