TWIC card - The Hull Truth

JB2C · 10-14-2008, 07:02 AM

I guess by now all captains have heard about the requirement for them to get a TWIC card in order to keep and renew their captain's license. It's been discussed at length on other boards. But I wonder if ANYONE has bothered to call their US Senator and ask them to support S 3377?? This bill will do away with the TWIC requirement for most of us 'regular' captains. From all the other boards I've read, it seems like everyone is more worried about how to go about getting this card, or how long it will take to get it, than they are about trying to get rid of the requirement.

Does it make more sense to spend five minutes calling your US Senator, or spending an hour (or two or three) getting a card that most captains will never need? And handing TSA and Lockheed Martin $132 of your money every time you need to renew??If you are a USCG captain and do not need access to secure areas of a port (that doesn't include just riding through the port area on your boat), please call your US Senator and ask for their support of S3377. The bill is currently in a sub-committee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Here are the important guys that especially need to be pressed on passing S 3377:

Cantwell Washington

Snowe Maine

Boxer California

Carper Delaware

Demint South Carolina

Inouye Hawaii

Kerry Mass.

Klobuchar MN

Lautenburg NJ

Nelson Fla

Smith Oregon

Stevens Arkansas

Sununa NH

Vitter LA

Wicker Miss.

Please call your US Senator regardless. But if any of these are your Senator, they are the ones that especially need to hear from captains. Please call them, then post their response here on the board. Calls from their own state mean alot more to them than my calling them from out-of-state.

A Few Dollars · 10-14-2008, 07:27 AM

I did, but it looks like it's too late since I already have mine and in most areas the card will be required by the end of the year.

JB2C · 10-14-2008, 08:36 AM

No, not too late. They have moved out the date to 4/15/2009, unless you really do have to have it for port access (in which case it depends on which port as to when it's needed). And S 3377 also requires them to refund your money if you've already purchased the TWIC card. So CALL, CALL, CALL!