	TWIC Reader Pilot Results Are Not Sufficiently Complete, Accurate, and Reliable for Informing Congress and the TWIC Card Reader Rule

Our review of the pilot test identified several challenges related to pilot  planning, data collection, and reporting, which affected the completeness,  accuracy, and reliability of the results. Pilot documentation did not contain complete TWIC reader and  access control system characteristics. 8. Reporting

As required by the SAFE Port Act and the Coast Guard Authorization Act  of 2010, DHS’s report to Congress on the TWIC reader pilot presented  several findings with respect to technical and operational aspects of  implementing TWIC technologies in the maritime environment. Key contributors for the previous work that this testimony is  based on are listed within each individual product.
Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony discusses GAO's recent work examining the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. Ports, waterways, and vessels handle billions of dollars in cargo annually, and an attack on our nation's maritime transportation system could have serious consequences. Maritime workers, including longshoremen, mechanics, truck drivers, and merchant mariners, access secure areas of the nation's estimated 16,400 maritime-related transportation facilities and vessels, such as cargo container and cruise ship terminals, each day while performing their jobs.

What GAO Found

This statement today highlights the key findings of GAO's May 8, 2013, report on the TWIC program, which addressed the extent to which the results from the TWIC reader pilot were sufficiently complete, accurate, and reliable for informing Congress and the TWIC card reader rule.