Review - HR 6571 Introduced – TSA Enrollments

Last week Rep Smith (D,WA) introduced HR 6571, the TSA Security Threat Assessment Application Modernization Act. The bill would require TSA to standardize the enrollment and renewal processes for the TWIC, HAZMAT endorsement and the TSA PreCheck program. No funding is authorized by this bill.

Moving Forward

While Smith is not a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, two of his cosponsors {Rep Katko (R,NY) and Rep Luria (D,VA)} are members of the Committee. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I suspect that the bill would receive bipartisan support. The bill would probably be considered under the suspension of the rules process if it were adopted in Committee.

Commentary

In early stages of these three TSA security threat assessment programs there were certainly problems that holders of one of the credentials had when applying for one of the other credentials. Those problems have been reduced in recent years. According to the TSA’s HAZMAT Endorsement web site, States are already authorized “to issue an HME on a state-issued CDL to a driver who holds a valid” TWIC. Similarly, TSA announced in 2020 that: “TWIC® and HME holders can obtain TSA PreCheck expedited screening by entering the identification numbers printed on their TWIC® card or state-issued CDL during the airline reservation process.”

All of this does not mean that there is a centralized location (real or virtual) where there is one stop shopping for all three credentials. One thing that this bill does not address is the fact that there are still eight states (Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) where CDL holders must apply at a State DMV office to apply for their HME.

For more details about this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-6571-introduced - subscription required.