Workers at Port of Decatur Begin Enrollment for Federal Port Security Credential
2008-07-17 12:42:00
DECATUR, AL–(EMWNews – July 17, 2008) – Port and longshore workers, truckers, and
others at the Port of Decatur, are now able to enroll 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 here 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 Decatur for helping to make one of the world’s
most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality.”
More than 140 ports have begun enrollment in the nationwide program.
Ultimately, the program will be rolled out to 147 enrollment centers and
will vet more than 1.2 million maritime transportation system workers
through April 2009.
The TWIC enrollment center is located at the Tennessee Valley Training
Center, 115 Woodall Rd., Decatur, AL, 35601. Hours of operation are
Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Workers are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic or the
Coast Guard’s Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil. 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.
For more information about TSA, please visit our Web site at www.tsa.gov.