NATIONAL
Bipartisan bill will streamline transportation security credentialing
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 11, 2023) — U.S. Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA, 9th) and Garret Graves (R-LA) last week introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 5840 – the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act – to eliminate the redundant fees and background checks for essential transportation workers. The bill cuts through red tape to allow workers to apply existing valid background checks to multiple TSA-managed credentialing programs, preventing workers from going through identical processes multiple times.
This new streamlining legislation will reduce costs and hassle for workers like truck drivers, pipeline operators, longshoremen, and warehouse managers, among many others, who must obtain these credentials as a condition of employment.
WSLC President April Sims praised the introduction of H.R. 5840.
Smith serves as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and Graves is the Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee. Joining them in introducing the legislation were U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Reps. Michael Guest (R-MS), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Salud Carbajal (D-CA).
The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act does not make any modifications to the back-end security assessment conducted on individual applicants, ensuring that applicants must undergo the same level of review as they do under current law. This bill simply modernizes the consumer-facing applicant process to reduce the burden on American transportation workers who must maintain more than one TSA credential, such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials and Hazardous Materials Endorsements.
For more information, see this fact sheet for the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act and the full list of endorsements.