Letter supporting the SAFE Truckers Amendment to the "Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Authorization Act"

The Honorable John Rockefeller IV
Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science,
& Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison
Ranking Member
Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Rockefeller and Ranking Member Hutchison:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, urges you to include the "Screening Applied Fairly and Equitably (SAFE) to Truckers Act of 2009," as a provisions in the "Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Authorization Act." The SAFE Truckers Amendment, which was included in H.R. 2200, passed in the House last year with bi-partisan support.

The SAFE Truckers Amendment, as it is currently written, would establish a risk-based approach for requiring a fingerprint-based background check for drivers transporting security sensitive hazardous materials, while also standardizing the background check process nationwide, freeing up previously wasted government resources, and eliminating costly and redundant fees from the backs of industry. The Chamber believes these are goals that the business community, labor, and both political parties can get behind.

The legislation seeks to harmonize previously separate government credentialing requirements. The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) and the Hazmat Endorsement (HME) are redundant credentialing programs administered by TSA. Both programs query the same databases for criminal, immigration, and other violations, utilizing the same disqualifying criteria, appeal, and waiver processes. Today, a truck driver must pay $94 for a HME to carry hazmat; $132.50 for a TWIC to enter the ports ($105.25 if driver already has an HME issued after May 31, 2005); $50 for a FAST card at the border; and $27 for a Security Identification Display Areas (SIDA) badge at each airport - a total cost of $303.50.

The additional cost of the required time off to gather and submit their information and then wait to pick up their cards are not included in the $305.50. Multiplying this cost times twenty drivers demonstrates these redundancies are having a significant impact on the operational efficiency of small to medium sized businesses. For larger companies these costs can escalate into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Chamber believes that the redundant fees and background checks of U.S. transportation workers is an unnecessary cost for business of all sizes. These sentiments are echoed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which officially added TSA's inaction in implementing Section 1556 to its Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) program's Top 10 list of most egregious regulations on small businesses.

The Chamber commends your efforts to advance legislation on TSA, and urges you to include the SAFE Truckers Amendment in the upcoming bill.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten

Cc: The Members of the Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation