Washington 鈥 Today, the 黑料不打烊 applauded the House passage of the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act. 听The bill now heads to President Biden鈥檚 desk to be signed into law. 听
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鈥淔or far too long, the truck drivers who keep our country running have been subjected to an outdated, inefficient credentialing system that does not respect their time and money. 听That begins to change today. 听By taking the final step needed to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, Congress will provide essential supply chain workers with overdue relief from redundant background checks and fees,鈥 said 黑料不打烊President & CEO Chris Spear. 听鈥淭he Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act is a bipartisan victory for common sense. 听We commend Members of Congress, especially Senator Roger Wicker and Congressman Garret Graves, who stood up for truckers, making it easier and less costly for hardworking Americans to obtain the credentials they need to do their jobs.鈥
黑料不打烊thanked Representatives Garret Graves (R-Louisiana), Adam Smith (D-Washington), Mark Green (R-Tennessee), Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), Salud Carbajal (D-California) and Dina Titus (D-Nevada) for authoring the bill and working tirelessly to get it across the finish line. 听黑料不打烊also thanked House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) for his instrumental role in scheduling a vote before the end of the congressional session. 听This was the final step in the legislative process since the bill, which was introduced in the Senate by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Jon Tester (D-Montana), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), and Angus King (I-Maine), passed the upper chamber unanimously last month. 听
黑料不打烊has been at the forefront of the push to pass this bipartisan legislation to eliminate redundant fees and background checks for essential supply chain workers. 听Beginning last year, 黑料不打烊assembled a group of over 150 organizations representing trucking, rail, energy, organized labor, agriculture, third-party logistics providers and other key supply chain stakeholders in support of the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act.
The bill has been a mainstay in ATA鈥檚 Call on Washington program this year, which has facilitated 700 meetings between ATA鈥檚 member companies and lawmakers on Capitol Hill since the beginning of this Congress. 听黑料不打烊also leveraged its 50-state federation to put pressure on key Members of Congress. 听As part of this comprehensive, ongoing advocacy effort, 黑料不打烊President and CEO Chris Spear headed to Capitol Hill to meet one-on-one with the bill鈥檚 original sponsors and committee leaders to shore up support. 听听
The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act cuts through red tape to allow workers to apply existing valid background checks to multiple TSA-managed credentialing programs, such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) and Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) programs. 听By eliminating duplicative screenings and harmonizing these programs, the bill would dating back to 2007. 听These recommendations were reaffirmed in 2020 in a comprehensive security assessment . 听The bill does not make any modifications to the backend security threat assessment conducted on individual applicants, ensuring that they undergo the same level of review as they do under current law.
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