WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, issued the following statement today upon House passage of the Transportation Security Administration reauthorization bill:
“The House has taken an important step today to address shortcomings in America’s defenses against homeland security threats to our transportation network.
“In the almost eight years since the September 11 attacks on America, we have advocated for a more aggressive policy response to the security vulnerabilities of our transportation system, its users and workforce. Now that the House has completed its work on TSA reauthorization, it is up to the Senate to complete the job.
“There is still an urgent need for uniform security training mandates for flight attendants that remain vulnerable on the job. Aircraft repair facilities located abroad are still not held to the same security standards applied to maintenance work performed in this country. And new deadlines and procedures are needed to ensure that transportation workers receive their federally required IDs in a timely fashion. Good, hard-working people should never be prevented from going to work because of a failing bureaucracy. The bill addresses these issues – and others – to improve transportation security.
“We also applaud adoption of the Cantor amendment, which ensures that confusing state or local government-based employee security requirements do not impede the federal standards already in place. The purpose of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) was to create a uniform credentialing standard. A hodge-podge of state or local mandates makes it more difficult to ensure uniformity and the efficient flow of commerce.
“Transportation unions and their members thank Chairman Bennie Thompson and Subcommittee Chair Sheila Jackson Lee for their tenacious pursuit of a more secure transportation system.”
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The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, represents 32 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org.