Moving to close a gaping hole in U.S. security, federal officials on Wednesday announced the launch of a worker identification program that could eventually require background checks and identification cards for 6 million truck drivers, dockworkers and cargo handlers at U.S. ports, airports and railways.
The new security effort will begin on a trial basis at three dozen sites across the United States.
About 200,000 workers at these sites will be required to undergo federal background checks to determine whether they have criminal records or are included on any terrorism-related watch lists. They will be issued identification cards required for entrance at sensitive transportation hubs. The cards will be linked to an individual’s biometric imprint – either a fingerprint, a handprint or an iris scan of the eye – so that lost or stolen cards cannot be used by anyone else.
At a news conference at the Port of Long Beach, Asa Hutchinson, a top official in the Department of Homeland Security, called the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program “a significant enhancement that will prevent terrorists and other unauthorized persons from gaining access to sensitive areas of the nation’s transportation system.”
Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, said his department would develop “very careful standards” to assure that individuals would be deemed security risks only if their backgrounds included criminal histories that had a possible link to terrorism or other serious crimes.
He said federal officials would work closely with employers and unions to not only enhance security but to “protect an individual’s right to privacy.”
The initial phase of the program, administered by the Transportation Security administration, is expected to last seven months.
At present, officials said, there are no standardized requirements for issuing identification cards to any of the millions of individuals with access to cargo areas, fuel depots and other transportation areas that could be exploited by terrorists.
The folly of that approach was evident in October when U.S. security officials on the East Coast discovered that a truck driver licensed to transport hazardous materials was linked to several suspects in an ongoing terrorism investigation involving the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Under the new worker-identification program, officials said, the background check could be completed within a day, with the goal of issuing cards within 72 hours.
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