Port of Portland Workers Begin Enrollment for Federal Security Credential
February 14, 2008
TSA Public Affairs
(617) 733-8437
PORTLAND, Maine – Port and longshore workers, truckers and others at the Port of Portland began enrolling this week in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat.
"The start of enrollment is one more step in our effort to prevent persons who are a threat from gaining access to secure areas of port facilities," said Maurine Fanguy, TWIC program director for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). "We appreciate the support of our partners at the Port of Portland for helping to make one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality."
The TWIC enrollment center in Portland is at 236 Oxford St., Suite 12. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas are expected to apply by the end of 2008. Ultimately, TSA will establish fixed enrollment centers at 147 ports and will deploy mobile enrollment centers to dozens of other locations as needed.
"TWIC will be a crucial part of our multi-layered, risk-based approach to maritime security," said Capt. Jim Rendon, commander of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. "The program will strengthen security and access control at ports and on thousands of other maritime facilities and vessels."
Workers at the Port of Portland are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic. Pre-enrolling speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This eliminates waiting at enrollment centers and reduces the time it takes to enroll each individual.
For more information regarding TSA, please visit our Web site at www.tsa.gov.
