Mule Skinners Require Background Checks
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009An historical park in Easton, PA has an unusual visitor’s attraction: a canal boat pulled by mules. The people who handle these animals are called mule skinners. They dress in colonial garb and guide the mules down the bank of the canal to pull the canal boat in a recreation of the environment in which our forefathers lived.
The new face of terror?
But since the canal boat provides public transportation the TSA has ruled that the mule skinners must apply and be approved for biometric Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC). These are the same credentials needed by merchant mariners, port facility employees, long shore workers, truck drivers, and others requiring unescorted access to our nations ports.
It doesn’t seem likely that a hijacked canal boat pulled by mules could do much damage, since there really aren’t very many places it could go. According to park officials, the two-mile canal does not pass any military bases, nuclear power plants or other sensitive facilities.
In December, a park official wrote to Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pennsylvania, about the requirement. Dent, in turn, wrote to the TSA requesting a waiver, noting the mode of transportation involved was “mule-drawn canal boats.” The official response from the TSA: “We encourage the crew members, who possess Coast Guard mariner credentials, to obtain a TWIC at their earliest convenience to comply with these requirements and not risk suspension or revocation of their other credentials.”
Fortunately the mules themselves don’t need a TWIC. Dent reassured the american public: “Now Hank and George, while sometimes are ornery, they are not terrorists.”
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