Bill streamlining TSA credentialing advances in Senate

Senate transpo committee approves bill to streamline TSA credentialing

A bill in the U.S. Senate that would make it easier for truck drivers to obtain both a hazmat endorsement and a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) was approved Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act would allow workers to apply existing valid background checks to multiple TSA-managed credentialing programs, such as the TWIC and the hazmat endorsement, and using just one background check for both programs.

Harmonizing these programs and eliminating duplicative screenings, the bill would codify formal recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office dating back to 2007. Those recommendations have since been reaffirmed in a comprehensive security assessment conducted in 2020 by the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center.

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said, “Subjecting essential supply chain workers to the same exact background check multiple times in order to receive different credentials from the same agency does nothing to enhance security. This system only serves to pad government coffers by forcing truckers and other transportation workers to pay duplicative fees for a background check they’ve already cleared.”

The bill does not affect how background checks are conducted, so applicants would still go through the same level of review as they currently do.

A companion bill was previously introduced in the House by Representatives by Reps. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana), Adam Smith (D-Washington), Mark Green (R-Tennessee), Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), Salud Carbajal (D-California), and Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and is currently pending before the House Committee on Homeland Security.