Last month Rep. Babin (R,TX) introduced
HR 4552,
the Honorably Discharged Transportation Worker Identification Credential Act of
2019. The bill would require DHS to establish a program for issuing honorably
discharged veterans an interim Transportation Workers Identification Credential
(TWIC) pending the normal processing of a TWIC application.
Requirements
The bill would amend
46
USC 70105 by adding a new subsection (r), Provisional Security Cards. The
amendment would require DHS to establish provisional transportation security
cards (PTSC). Such cards would “be used during the beginning on the date a
covered veteran applies for a transportation security card issued under
subsection (b) and ending on the date on which such card is issued or denied to
such veteran” {new §70105(r)(1)}. The PTSC would “authorize such covered
veterans to have access to secure areas in the same manner as transportation
security cards issued under subsection (b)” {new §70105(r)(1)}.
A ‘covered veteran’ would be a person who {new §70105(r)(3)}:
• Served in the active military, naval, or air
service, and who was discharged or released there from under honorable
conditions; and
• During such service was subjected to a rigorous
security screening
DHS would be allowed, in consultation with DOD and the
Department of Veterans Affairs, “prescribe a time period following discharge or
separation from service in the Armed Forces during which an individual may be
considered a covered veteran” {new §70105(r)(4)}.
Moving Forward
Babin is not a member of the House Homeland Security
Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that
the bill is unlikely to be considered in Committee. I do not see anything in this
bill which would engender any organized opposition to the bill if it were
considered.
This bill could be offered as an amendment to a DHS spending
bill or authorization bill (if either is actually considered with an amendment
process this session).
Commentary
As a 15-year Army veteran I appreciate the thought behind
this bill. Giving veterans assistance in their post service job search process
is an admirable effort and should be encouraged. However, there are some
serious problems with this rather simplistic bill.
First, providing someone a PTSC who has no chance of getting
a TWIC is a sure recipe for creating a number of security issues at facilities
where the possession of a TWIC is a prerequisite for unaccompanied access. There
is a way to avoid most of these potential problems by requiring a covered veteran
applicant to certify that their record contains none of the TWIC disqualifying
offenses listed in §70105(c)(1). I would amend the bill by inserting a new paragraph
(4):
(4) The Secretary will require
applicants wishing to receive a PTSC to certify that they have none of the
disqualifying actions described in (c)(1) in their record.
This will not eliminate all of the potential security
issues, but it will significantly reduce them.
The remaining issues will have to be addressed by regulations
and processes subsequently put in place by DHS. The immediate problem is
whether or not the PTSC will include a biometric identification component or whether
it would be just a visual inspection access control tool. If it does not
include machine-readable biometric identification data then it will not provide
access ‘in the same manner as transportation security cards issued under
subsection (b)’. Providing for issuing a PTSC with machine-readable biometric
data on demand at each TWIC application facility will be expensive.
This leads to the next problem overlooked by this bill. The
Transportation Security Administration is currently required §70105(h) to
charge each applicant for a TWIC a fee to cover the cost of processing the
application. That should mean that veterans requesting a PTSC should be charged
an additional fee for those credentials. Given the relatively small number of
veterans that would be expected to apply for PTSC, this fee could be relatively
high because of the additional equipment and training necessary to issue such
documents. I think that this is counter to the intent of this bill, so I would
further amend the bill by inserting a new paragraph (5):
(5) Notwithstanding the
requirements of (h) in this section, the Secretary will not charge applicants
any additional fees for the issuance of a PTSC.
Finally, there are no time requirements in the bill, either
for initiation or termination of the program; or for feedback to Congress of
the efficacy of the program. To address these issues, I would insert the following
two paragraphs:
(6) The Secretary will begin
issuing the PTSC described in (1) within one year of the passage of this bill.
The PTSC program will terminate on the date five years from the passage of this
bill.
(7) Within one year of start of
issuance of PTSC, the Secretary will provide a report to Congress describing:
(A) The number of TWIC
applicants who were issued a PTSC;
(B) The number of TWIC
applicants who were provided a PTSC, but were subsequently denied a TWIC;
(C) The average length of time
that individuals were required to rely on a PTSC for access under this section;
(D) The costs associated with
the establishment and operation of the PTSC program and the fees that would
have been required to be assed against applicants in the program for the first
year to cover said costs;
(E) The fee which would be
required going forward to be assessed for the issuance of a PTSC to cover costs
of the continued operation of the program.
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