TSA must help formerly incarcerated people get maritime job credentials.

What it does

The bill tells the Transportation Security Administration to write rules within one year. These rules help people who were in prison get a TWIC card. A TWIC card is a security pass needed for some port and ship jobs. The TSA must help people in prison fill out applications. The TSA must help people appeal if told they cannot get a TWIC card. The TSA must tell Congress how it did this within 180 days after the rules are done.

Who it affects

Formerly incarcerated people who want to work at ports or on ships are affected. The TSA must change how it helps these people. No one loses rights or protections from this bill.

One thing to notice

The bill does not give the TSA extra money to do this work. The bill does not say when the TSA must finish helping people.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

7 cosponsors: 4 Republicans, 3 Democrats.

• Sep 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Sep 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Homeland Security and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security”
• Jun 24, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jun 24, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 0”
• Sep 16, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote”
• Sep 16, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Van Epps moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 7 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $1,190,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 13 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 78% of bills with any report.

Troy Carter, who sponsored the bill, received $979,407 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Trucking Associations — $720,000 in 1 report
• National Ocean Industries Association — $210,000 in 1 report
• Prison Fellowship Ministries — $170,000 in 2 reports
• Prison Fellowship Ministries — $60,000 in 2 reports
• Refined Technologies — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• TWIC — A security pass that lets people work at ports and on ships.
• Transportation Security Administration — The government agency that checks security for travel and ports.
• formerly incarcerated — People who were in prison and are no longer there.
• maritime — Related to ships, ports, and work on the water.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.