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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.
The card will not take an hour to get. Make an appointment, in and out in less than 20 minutes. Cost is $132.50. The card is good for 5 years, then you have to renew. Not sure what the renewal fee will be. It will take at least 8 weeks to receive the card at this time due to the large amount of persons applying.
I do agree that charter captains should not have to get the card just because they are have a captains license. I have to have the card because I work at these facilities(refineries, chemical plants) that have "ports". The card is required to access all property associated with the port. Not sure if that will have any affect on some captains deciding to get it or not.
For the record, I will email my senator and encourage them to support S3377 if that is all the bill is for.
Again, it's not about how easy or how hard it is to get it. It's about whether it's right or wrong that all captains are required to get it, whether they need it or not. It should be an optional thing, not required for a guy that runs charters and is not even located anywhere close to a port. The inshore guy with a 16' flats boat, the tour guy running a Carolina Skiff, etc. all have to have it or they can't renew their license. And that just isn't right. Why require everyone to get it, when there are tons of captains out there that have absolutely no need for it? Call your US Senators!
What a perfect answer Few Dollars (even goes with the name!).....
Hopefully, one day the Left side of the country will wake up. I will call Vitter on this as I agree
also with original poster. Although for those working in or traveling to and from ports, I support
the need for more secure measures.
TWIC card 
