Homeland Security Committee Gets Its Answer on the Transportation Worker Program
Friday, May 02, 2008
(WASHINGTON) – Yesterday, Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and members of the Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expressing concern about the Department’s ability to meet its self-imposed deadline of September 25, 2008 for completion of the enrollment phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. A link to the letter is below.
Today, on the heels of this letter, the Department announced that the final compliance date for the TWIC program will be April 15, 2009, about seven months later than originally scheduled.
Chairman Thompson released the following statement in response to today’s announcement by the Department.
"Five years and millions of dollars later, the TWIC program is still plagued with problems and mismanagement. Pushing back the enrollment deadline is a smart move -- the Department's deadline was ambitious but unrealistic. It is my hope that this extra time will enable the Department to fix the glaring holes and minimize the excessive burdens that it has placed on our nation's port workers, the valuable eyes and ears of the maritime system."
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Dena Graziano or Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978.
