Tester Goes To Bat For Truckers, Transportation Workers
U.S. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) recently introduced the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act, a bipartisan bill to standardize the Transportation Security Administration Security Clearance Process which is used by transportation workers nationwide. Applicants often have to apply multiple redundant security clearance programs using the same background check paperwork and pay additional fees.
âMontanaâs truckers and transportation workers fuel our economy â and forcing those folks to face expensive and redundant security certifications is a waste of time and money,â said Senator Jon Tester. âStreamlining that process is a no-brainer, plain and simple. Together, weâll keep working until we get this bipartisan bill across the finish line.â
âThis legislation will cut through the red tape and streamline the process so workers can get back to moving goods across America, not wasting time and money,â Senator Wicker said.
âTruckers and other transportation professionals often need a variety of security certifications to do their job,â said Senator Fischer. âHowever, maintaining so many different credentials takes time, money, and can be complicated. To ease that burden, our bill will streamline the TSAâs certification process without sacrificing security.â
âSubjecting essential supply chain workers to the same exact background check multiple times in order to receive different credentials from the same agency does nothing to enhance security,â said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. âThis system only serves to pad government coffers by forcing truckers and other transportation workers to pay duplicative fees for a background check theyâve already cleared. Congress should not allow the inefficiencies of government bureaucracy to impede the efficiency of our supply chain. We applaud Senators Wicker, Tester, Fischer, and King for introducing this commonsense, bipartisan bill to support the hardworking men and women who keep our economy running.â