Clay Higgins

It is rare for Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins of Lafayette and Democratis U.S. Rep. Troy Carter of New Orleans to agree on something, much less to together spearhead its passage by the House.

They deserve credit for doing so last Wednesday on a bill that will help incarcerated people get jobs before they are released, thus helping them build constructive new lives rather than fall into recidivism.

As Carter said, “A prison record shouldn’t be a death sentence. Everyone deserves the right to work, rebuild their lives, and contribute to society.”

The TWICE Act will make it easier for released prisoners to participate in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, which helps them attain jobs in industries related to ports, terminals, refineries, power plants and more.

Under TWIC, the Transportation Security Administration already conducts rigorous background checks before workers can be employed in these industries. The TWICE Act doesn’t reduce the level of security one iota, but instead would improve access to TWIC for “returning citizens” through several means, including by giving guidelines to prison officials to help soon-to-be-freed inmates “pre-apply” for the program rather than waiting until they are released from custody.

Plenty of people are incarcerated for crimes that would not make them a danger to transportation infrastructure, and of course very, very few inmates have any bent toward terrorism. And there is a notable labor shortage for transportation industry jobs, many of which do not entail hands-on responsibility for anything of a critical or public-safety-related nature.

The industry itself appears quite confident that the screening process is thorough and effective, and that it already excludes those whose conduct makes them in any way worrisome for the jobs for which they apply. That’s why almost the entire industry supports the TWICE Act, which passed the House by voice vote with not a single registered note of opposition. Among the many organizations endorsing the bill are the American Trucking Association, the American Waterways Operators, the American Association of Port Authorities, the Transportation Institute and the World Trade Center of New Orleans.

“A man’s character shouldn’t be measured by how he falls; it should be measured by how he stands back up," Higgins said. “By cutting red tape and streamlining access to the TWIC program, this legislation will address maritime and transportation workforce shortages in the Gulf of America and Louisiana waterways while extending a second chance to formerly incarcerated Americans.”

The bill now goes to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology. As it proved so uncontroversial in the House and has the backing of all the industry groups that know exactly what their security needs are, there is no reason for the committee or the full Senate to dawdle. The Senate should pass the bill without delay.