Government Executive - Authors - Basil Talbott

Air Force faces criticism over hotel construction project

Basil Talbott — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The Government Accountability Office and committee members criticized the Air Force for its handling of the unfinished construction of the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center on the grounds of Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

An Air Force audit dated June 22 reported that the Air Force sought authorization in the fiscal 2005 military construction budget for $131.1 million for the project, to be added to $15.8 million to come from the German government.

As of January 2006, the project authorization was increased to $164.3 million in addition to the German funds, the audit said.

GAO's Gregory Kutz testified that the project was initially slated to cost $150 million and be finished in late 2005, but the cost has mounted to about $200 million and fraud investigations are now under way.

Under heated questioning, Air Force Brigadier Gen. Danny Gardner, who oversees installations and mission support in Europe, sought to shift blame to a German contractor for what he admitted has been "poor project execution."

Gardner disputed Kutz's and the GAO's testimony that the project had run so far over budget that it is impossible to make a reliable estimate of its eventual cost.

Gardner insisted the final project cost is now estimated at $174 million -- below the $200 million budgeted. Kutz told the panel that an assessment of the final cost was difficult because there is no scheduled completion date and there have been more than 500 changes in the project, mostly due to poor design and insufficient design review.

Gardner blamed an agreement between the U.S. and German governments that any contracting work in Germany must be done by German contractors, not U.S. ones.

Gardner added that the Air Force oversight team was understaffed and that he did not realize the project was running behind until just before it was to open in December 2005.

Asked by several committee members if anyone in the Air Force has been fired or disciplined or if the Air Force takes any responsibility, Gardner said some Germans were fired but no U.S. official lost his job.

Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., called the project "a disaster in the form of inadequate and unfocused high-level leadership, poor planning, poorly designed requirements, and an inadequate number of trained personnel overseeing the project."

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DHS officials deflect criticism over lapses in TB incident

Basil Talbott — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The officials placed most of the blame on a single U.S. border agent who let the infected U.S. citizen across the Canadian border into New York, but angry House Homeland Security Committee members insisted the system still is not fixed.

"We dodged a bullet," Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said. "When are we going to stop dodging bullets and start protecting Americans?"

Much of the interrogation was sparked by the early assertion in testimony by Jeffrey Runge, Homeland Security's chief medical officer, that "the single point of failure" in its system was the border agent's decision to let Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker re-enter the country despite instructions to stop him.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham agreed with Runge. "I can't offer a defense for the officer in the field," he said. "There was no excuse for allowing that individual back in the country. It was a clear and absolute disregard of instructions."

Led by Thompson, several panel members insisted the blame should be spread more broadly, and the nation's system for keeping out potentially infected persons need a thorough overhaul. By the end of the hearing, both Runge and Basham agreed that more improvements were needed.

"There was a meltdown here," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., objecting to what she called the Homeland Security officials' "blame game." But Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., disagreed, saying that "There were about 10 places to stop this guy and every one failed."

Runge said the agency is working to quickly raise the level of involvement of Homeland Security, CBP and the Centers for Disease Control.

Speaker's case was noted first only at Homeland Security and CDC offices in Atlanta. From now on, such cases will immediately be referred to the national offices of these agencies, he said.

Another problem is the four-hour delay in putting Speaker's name on the no-fly list after it was discovered he had flown to Europe, Runge said.

Speaker was the first case of deliberately placing a nonterrorist on the no-fly list. Lawyers took two hours to determine whether it would be legal to place a contaminated American on that list, Runge said. Homeland Security officials are also looking at other measures to make sure that there is sufficient backup to a border guard's decision to admit a person who has been identified on a target list.

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Agencies urge legislation to ease disposal of excess property

Basil Talbott — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Clay Johnson III, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Financial Management Subcommittee his office will propose a five-year pilot program that would give agencies incentives, more flexibility and additional tools to help them dispose of unneeded property.

Asked the extent of the challenge, Johnson told the panel his full report is due June 15 but gave the preliminary estimate of 21,000 excess properties. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Financial Management Subcommittee Chairman Thomas Carper, D-Del., said he is working up legislation on the matter but he wants to see action before five years are up. "I'd like to pick up the pace," he said.

Offering another measure of federal property management challenges, Mark Goldstein, director of Physical Infrastructure Issues for the Government Accountability Office, reported his staff found a backlog of $77 billion in maintenance in the entire federal government's inventory of 1.2 million properties.

Goldstein said the figure came from a survey of seven federal agencies that own the most federal property. The largest backlog of $57 million belongs to the Defense Department, he said.

A major barrier to disposing of a building or piece of land is the cost of arranging and going through with a sale. Sometimes holding onto the property and "going another year" deferring maintenance on a piece of property seems cheaper to a federal agency with annual budget concerns than selling it, Johnson said.

Financial Management Subcommittee ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., noted another barrier includes the 17 steps an agency must complete before it can move ahead with a sale. The first step, satisfying the Stewart B. McKinney Act, can take a year, he said. That act requires federal agencies to explore whether excess property can be used by the homeless before selling it.

David Winstead, commissioner of public buildings at the General Services Administration and Philip Crone, deputy undersecretary of Defense, Installations and Environment for DOD, agreed with Johnson and Goldstein's proposal to allow federal agencies selling excess properties to keep some proceeds of a sale for the agency's use.

Boyd Rutherford, assistant secretary for administration at the Agriculture Department, testified that one of its component agencies, the Forest Service, is permitted to keep proceeds from land sales while other parts of USDA are not.

Robert Henke, assistant secretary for management at the Veterans Affairs Department, said VA benefits from a special leasing program all agencies do not have. Still, he agreed with all other witnesses that uniform incentives and tools should be made available to allow agencies to reduce the burden and cost to taxpayers of holding on to properties they no longer need.

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VA chief outlines immediate changes in vets' health care

Basil Talbott — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson outlined measures proposed by the task force President Bush chose him to lead in response to news reports that some returning troops were housed for long periods in poor conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Charged with recommending changes that could be made without legislation or more funding, Nicholson's panel suggested 25 improvements. Another presidential panel headed by former Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala has been asked for long-range changes.

"We are going to accelerate the treatment of different categories of people who are coming back from the war," Nicholson said at the National Press Club.

Walter Reed has "medical care that is first-rate," Nicholson said, but some returning troops were put on medical hold while authorities determined "whether they were fit or unfit to stay on active duty."

"Now we will screen any patient who comes in to see if they have a form of brain injury," Nicholson said, injuries that are common because of "percussive blasts that are so frequent" in Iraq.

If someone is determined unfit, under the commission's plan he or she would immediately be transferred to the VA, which "will really speed up the process," Nicholson said. He said he wants to simplify the process for enrolling in VA programs by putting the process on line and "cutting through red tape that has been in the way."

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Amtrak CEO: Rail service will suffer under 2008 budget

Basil Talbott — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

"It would be very difficult to maintain an operation," he told the House Transportation-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee. Amtrak has asked for $1.53 billion for fiscal 2008, while the administration proposed to provide $800 million for the company, plus a $100 million matching program that would go to states for capital improvements.

"We'll have to see what happens," Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Olver, D-Mass., told reporters after the meeting, adding that in recent years, Congress has appropriated much more than the president has proposed.

During the hearing, Olver told his panel that the Bush administration's "unrealistic budget requests year after year -- and unworkable and potentially dangerous insistence on separating rail operations and infrastructure -- have made our efforts to improve intercity passenger rail all the more difficult."

Another witness, Federal Rail Administrator Joseph Boardman, said the White House continues to distinguish between intercity passenger rail service, which it supports, and Amtrak, the service provider which has shortcomings and needs an overhaul.

Working to shift capital developments to the states, Boardman said the administration has proposed the $100 million grant program. Of the $800 million in direct subsidies to states, $300 million would go for operating expenses, a category of aid the administration eventually wants eliminated. In contrast, Amtrak asked that $485 million of its request go for operating expenses.

Just to keep Amtrak's most profitable trains that operate on the Northeast Corridor in good working order, Kummant testified it takes from $350 to $400 million a year in maintenance. Pressed by Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va.., what he would do with Amtrak if he were running it as a private corporation, Kummant reminded him that it is a company and said passenger rail "will never make money."

Olver and other members pressed Boardman on plans for dealing with the number of rail accidents involving Amtrak. Boardman pledged to "get a handle on what is going on," and argued that budget reductions would not result in fewer inspectors. Kummant added that safety is his number one priority.

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Senators weigh PATRIOT Act attorney provision

Basil Talbott — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Denying an accusation by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that the provision was "slipped into the PATRIOT Act in the dead of night" on his watch, Specter said he discovered it recently and agreed "We ought to change it back to what it was."

The provision authorizes the attorney general to appoint interim U.S. attorneys for indefinite periods.

A bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. to change the appointment procedure is scheduled to be voted on in the committee Wednesday.

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty defended the provision and said turnover in U.S. attorneys was normal. He pledged to go over each case in detail in private with the committee.

McNulty conceded that one individual who was singled out, U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins, was not fired for cause.

He said Cummins was asked to make way for interim appointment of Tim Griffin, who news reports have linked with White House adviser Karl Rove.

The other six U.S. attorneys who left were asked to resign for cause, according to McNulty, who said he preferred to discuss their situations in a closed session. Schumer said he was determined to obtain all records including evaluations of those involved, and would consider using subpoena power if necessary.

Hearing Schumer's accusations that politics might have played an improper role in the dismissals and replacements "is like a knife in my heart," McNulty said. "The attorney general and I love the Justice Department." Schumer retorted, "What I have seen happening in the Justice Department is like a knife in my heart."

Schumer said several U.S. attorneys "were apparently fired with no real explanation" and were "seemingly removed merely to make way for political up-and-comers."

McNulty said the administration should have the power of making interim appointments, but declined to give an opinion on returning to the old system.

The previous statute authorized the attorney general to make interim appointments for 120 days, and if no nomination of a full-time replacement was made by then, a district court judge would make another interim appointment.

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Panel advances dam safety legislation to full House

Basil Talbott — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0400

The National Dam Safety Program Act (H.R. 4981), which would increase the annual authorization for the program from $8.6 million to $12.7 million, passed on a voice vote and was sent to the House floor. The measure reauthorizes the act from fiscal 2007 through fiscal 2011.

The bulk of the money, $8.7 million a year, would go for grants to states to improve dam safety. Another $1 million would pay for a dam survey, $2 million would go for research and the remaining $1 million would to pay for FEMA staff.

Sponsored by Rep. John Kuhl, R-N.Y., the five-year reauthorization also would require the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a new inventory of the nation's dams, working with state dam safety agencies that inspect them. The survey would be turned over to FEMA, which administers program.

House Transportation ranking member James Oberstar, D-Minn, noted the program began 25 years ago after extensive dam failures and expanded in 1996 after more extensive trouble with dams. Many of them were built 60 to 70 years ago, using heavy clay and without sturdy walls, he said.

Maintaining dam safety is "a partnership with states and federal agencies and other parties," Oberstar said.

An amendment assuring wage rules would match those in other FEMA programs was offered by House Transportation Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, and incorporated in the bill before the vote.

Inspection of the nation's dams is crucial at a time when terrorism has become a consideration, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., told the panel. Whole cities and regions could be destroyed by taking down dams,'' Norton said.

The federal government owns and operates only about 5 percent of the nation's nearly 78,000 dams. States have responsibility for most of the rest; some are in private hands and others are the responsibility of local government entities.

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Democrats call for NOAA to focus on troubled oceans

Basil Talbott — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, outlined changes to the Senate Commerce National Ocean Policy Subcommittee that he said would improve how the agency deals with mounting problems in the oceans in a challenging budget environment.

Part of that restructuring includes the Committee on Ocean Policy established in 2004 to create a framework to coordinate 20 federal agencies that administer more than 140 laws regarding the oceans. In addition, NOAA was given the lead role in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, which identifies short-term and long-term actions to deal with ocean and coastal matters, he said.

National Ocean Policy Subcommittee ranking member Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said the administration had not provided sufficient money to address challenges the oceans face.

Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, co-chairman of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, supported calls for greater resources. "Our oceans are in crisis," said Panetta, who pointed to problems such as overexploited fisheries, harmful algae blooms in many coastal areas, loss of coastal wetlands and coral reefs, and problems caused by invasive species.

Those problems are compounded by "a dysfunctional, out-of-date, and inadequate system of ocean and coastal governance," said Panetta, whose commission two months ago made recommendations for improving oceanic governance.

Panetta also urged passage of the Tsunami Preparedness Act, which directs the NOAA administrator to improve tsunami detection, forecast, data collection and analysis; and the National Ocean Exploration Program Act, which calls for the secretary of Commerce to develop in NOAA a coordinated national ocean exploration program to increase undersea research.

National Ocean Policy Subcommittee Chairman John Sununu, R-N.H., said "It would be a mistake to lose sight of the global concern for the oceans by focusing too narrowly on a few programs."

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House committee approves bills to sunset programs

Basil Talbott — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400

One measure introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, would establish a permanent commission that would set all federal programs on a path to sunset every 12 years unless Congress acts to keep them. The other bill by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., would give the president authority to establish commissions to review federal programs for their efficiency and duplication and then recommend to Congress elimination or reorganization.

House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., said hearings showed the need for legislation to examine the "operations and effectiveness" of federal programs.

Davis said the Tiahrt bill would create bipartisan review commissions, but Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the panels would end up being partisan commissions. The commissions would be "empowered to propose eliminating or privatizing critical government programs and require those proposals be considered under expedited procedures," setting an agenda for Congress, he said.

Brady's bill would authorize either the president by executive order or Congress by a joint resolution of both chambers to create a 12-member bipartisan commission to review government operations. In the first year of a commission's existence, it would be required to group agencies in categories of overlapping responsibilities and set a date when each agency would expire unless Congress affirmatively acted to reauthorize it.

A definite date when an agency would expire would concentrate Congress' attention on that agency, supporters said. After setting a sunset date for each agency, the commission would then examine each one for overlapping responsibilities and inefficiencies, and recommend changes. If Congress did not act by the targeted date, that agency would be eliminated.

Waxman denounced the Brady approach as "an extermination schedule for every federal agency" and insisted it would put at risk federal agencies that "play a vital role in protecting the health, welfare and security of all Americans."

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Treasury official: Impact unclear from disclosure of terror tracking

Basil Talbott — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey defended the administration's policy of limiting early briefings on the program to leaders of the two congressional intelligence committees -- and keeping in the dark members of the House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee, who at a hearing Tuesday complained bitterly they were cut out until recently.

Democratic committee members were especially indignant, but even Oversight Subcommittee Chairwoman Sue Kelly, R-N.Y., said, "Many in Congress who should have been briefed by this administration were not." Kelly added, "While I appreciated the visit last week by Undersecretary Levey -- after the program's existence was reported in the media -- our oversight obligations are far from fulfilled."

Kelly asked for a classified briefing to determined how seriously the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program has been hampered and asked the Government Accountability Office to report on whether the program was conducted in accordance with law and provided enough safeguards, and whether Congress had been appropriately informed about it.

In contrast, House Financial Services Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, said he was satisfied with early briefings being limited to the intelligence committees. Levey said he followed "traditional practices" of informing the chairmen and ranking members of the two intelligence committees because the program is an intelligence operation.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, argued that much of the tracking program which involved subpoenaing data from SWIFT -- an international organization that transmits financial transfers -- was already well known. Levey replied that it is one thing to talk about tracking financial operations but that the New York Times report revealed "the sort of operational detail that was classified."

Even though some terrorists may have known the U.S. government was tracking financial transactions, "some terrorist factions were still using this transfer system," Levey said. House Financial Services ranking member Barney Frank, D-Mass., noted that he was invited to a briefing only the day before the story broke in the New York Times.

Frank said he turned down the briefing when he was told he could not discuss the program if he attended the briefing, which was only to let members know what was about to come out. Levey said Frank and others were invited out of "courtesy."

Frank told Levey, "You have rebuffed us," and said he hoped the Treasury officials' appearance Tuesday "begins a period of real cooperation."

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Affidavit says Cunningham intervened on limo firm's behalf

Basil Talbott — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

King noted that Christopher Baker, Shirlington's president, had a criminal record and business dealings with a defense contractor named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the prosecution of Cunningham, who is serving more than eight years in prison after admitting accepting $2.4 million in bribes from that contractor and others.

"And then we find out that the congressman at the center of all of this sends a letter on behalf of this limousine company," King said. "If that doesn't raise issues, if that isn't more than a series of coincidences, I don't know what is."

"I find it disgraceful that [Homeland Security] Secretary Chertoff knew that a convicted felon who was at the center of one of the worst scandals ever has not sent a word to us about this," said King, who did not make the affidavit public.

But Elaine Duke, Homeland Security's chief procurement officer, said a search of her department's files did not find any such letter, although it did produce an e-mail from another Shirlington Limousine executive saying it would be among several documents they were sending to the department.

Baker, Shirlington's president, later promised to give the department a copy of Cunningham's letter, Duke said, but decided against it after meeting with committee members.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Larry Orluskie said the department's position is that Shirlington Limousine's contracts were awarded through "a full and open competition" in which Cunningham had no role.

"There is no letter," Orluskie said, adding that Duke "had to dig'' to find the e-mail.

None of the documents promised by Shirlington's executive in the e-mail have showed up, Orluskie added. "They could have been faxed to anywhere in the agency and ended in some bin."

Outside the hearing, King questioned the department's failure to find Cunningham's letter, the Associated Press reported. "Did somebody clean out the file?" he asked.

A Homeland Security Department spokesman said that never happened.

Although Shirlington Limousine qualified for the contract under a set-aside program known as the Historically Underutilized Business Zone program, its offices were located in a luxury highrise. Homeland Security Management Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said he found that "a bit odd."

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9/11 commissioners criticize unresolved security threats

Basil Talbott — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Commission Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton told the House Government Reform National Security Subcommittee that at least 500,000 persons could be killed if a terrorist set off a bomb made of radioactive material in New York.

Finding and securing radioactive material outside the United States is at the top of a list of commission recommendations that still have not been addressed, they said. Six months ago, the commission gave failing grades to efforts to counteract terrorism since the panel issued its findings last December.

Kean told Government Reform National Security Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays, R-Conn., that the most important challenge is containing enriched uranium wherever it is. He said the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program exists for that purpose, but added he was told it would take 14 or 15 years when it should be done in three years. The program was established in 1991 to deal with radioactive materials remaining in Russia and expanded in 2003 to all other countries.

"We've got to talk about this more. The threat is very real," Kean said. Hamilton agreed, saying that the United States should triple its efforts.

"The program is in place, but it has to be accelerated ... It needs a lot more money and a lot more people," Hamilton said.

Often popular with liberal members of Congress, the program has come under attack from some conservatives who say it amounts to a subsidy to Russia. Its appropriation for fiscal 2006 was $416 million and the president's request for fiscal 2007 is $372 million. Since many of the huge structures that hold the radioactive materials have been built, some proponents of the program insist that a bigger problem than more funds is meshing the bureaucracies of the United States and Russia.

Another goal of the hearing was to highlight problems that Shays said exist with the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Shays complained the board is weak and does not have the independence and authority it needs, including subpoena power.

Kean and Hamilton agreed the board needs to be stronger but they said the board should have time to get underway before deciding on whether it needs subpoena powers.

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Senate panel hits NASA over timing gap on space station

Basil Talbott — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400

"Do we have a techno 'Whoops?'" Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., asked NASA Administrator Michael Griffin at a Wednesday hearing.

That discrepancy between the completion date of the space station and arrival of the Crew Exploration Vehicle might mean the station would be left in the "harsh and damaging environment" of space for a long time without anyone using or tending to it, Mikulski said.

"On the face, it's correct," said Griffin, who then speculated that the station might be utilized by other countries who are partners with the United States in developing it. He also suggested commercial companies might be enticed to invest in developing private vehicles to transport cargo, and eventually people, to the space station during those four years.

To that end, Griffin said he has set aside $500 million in seed money for demonstration projects in NASA's fiscal 2007 proposed budget of $16.8 billion. Businesses would use that money to explore ways to get to the station. Some commercial proposals are in the works and he said he expects to award contracts on them this summer.

But Mikulski said Griffin's answer contained "a lot of ifs." She noted a previous NASA effort to encourage commercial interests had not worked out, and then asked Griffin whether there was a way for NASA to speed up its development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle and its accompanying Crew Launch Vehicle.

Griffin said their development could be accelerated only by devoting more money to the program, money that is not available in the current budget. He added that it is not technically possible to close the gap entirely, although more funding might narrow that gap somewhat, perhaps even to as little as a year.

"Obviously, we need more money to fund NASA," concluded Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., seconding a similar endorsement by Mikulski.

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TSA official says airport security is too predictable

Basil Talbott — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0400

"Terrorists can more easily 'engineer around' these highly structured defenses," Kip Hawley, director of the Transportation Security Administration, told the Senate Commerce Committee. "If we follow the same procedures everywhere, every time, we make it easier for terrorists to break the security code," Hawley said.

Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, inquired about reports that GAO investigators had penetrated two levels of security and got bomb materials through screening. Cathleen Berrick, director for homeland security and justice for GAO, confirmed tests occurred but said the report on them is classified.

Hawley said his agency now focuses more on finding improvised explosive devices and continues to install bomb testing devices at airports.

TSA also has begun developing a plan to train screeners to use behavior recognition techniques and have assigned employees trained in those techniques at 10 high-risk airports, Hawley said. In a recent pilot program, if a passenger was identified as exhibiting behaviors indicative of fear, stress, and or deception, they were either referred to additional screening, or referred for selective screening or an evaluation interview.

Berrick also cited other issues with baggage screeners including training problems and a high turnover rate, reaching 50 percent for the system's part-time workers, likely a result of low pay and work-related injuries.

Berrick said the TSA "must focus on deploying enhanced explosive detection systems, including larger or smaller models depending on the needs of a particular airport."

But Hawley said that the cost of in-line baggage checking systems, which link the bomb testing equipment with baggage conveyor belts, make them practical only at large airports.

Stevens and other committee members complained about inconveniences for frequent fliers -- some citing their own experiences. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., asked Hawley if a system could be devised to let occasional groups go through security without a check on a random basis.

Hawley said a program to expedite screening of frequent fliers called Registered Traveler is on schedule to begin this year.

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GAO finds 10 percent of GSA contractors owe back taxes

Basil Talbott — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0500

In the third hearing on delinquent contractors, GAO officials told the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that the agency does not routinely check whether prospective contractors have tax liens against them or have failed to pay the payroll taxes they have collected from employees, which is a felony.

Some abuses were so egregious, said Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Norm Coleman, R-Minn., they could be turned into a reality TV show called, "Lives of the Rich and Famous Tax Deadbeats."

In one of 25 most extreme cases identified by the GAO, Coleman said the agency found a contractor who was paid more than $1 million over the past two years, even though he owes more than $12 million in payroll taxes. The owner made large cash withdrawals from his company for personal use, including more than $100,000 for gambling, Coleman said.

Another GSA contractor who owed $2 million in payroll taxes bought a residential property valued at $1 million and spent $500,000 on casinos, Coleman said. In all, GAO found 3,800 GSA contractors owed unpaid corporate income, payroll, excise and unemployment taxes.

Gregory Kutz, managing director of GAO's forensic audits and special investigations unit, said it would likely take legislation to require and authorize the GSA to check government contractors for tax compliance. Steve Sebastian, director of GAO's financial management and assurance team, suggested contractors give permission for the GSA to check whether back taxed were owed as a condition of being hired.

Coleman asked Acting Deputy Director Kathleen Turco why the agency did not screen applicants for any tax abuses. Turco said that GSA checks applicants for "tax evasion" but told the panel that she would look further into whether that extended into payroll taxes.

Both Coleman and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., quizzed the GAO officials and IRS Commissioner Mark Everson on the feasibility of creating a database of tax deadbeats for use by GAO and other federal agencies.

Everson said, "I don't have a problem from a tax point of view," adding "it is a procurement question" rather than an issue for the IRS. Everson said the IRS is pursuing the 25 egregious GSA cases referred by GAO as well as 97 cases referred in previous hearings on Pentagon and civilian contractors.

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TSA told not to count on increased passenger fees

Basil Talbott — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:00:00 -0500

TSA Director Kip Hawley told the subcommittee that he was working with authorizing committees to approve increases in the Aviation Security Fee that the agency failed to get last year. The agency is seeking to double the current passenger fee to $5 for a one-way nonstop ticket.

Rogers insisted that Hawley decide where he planned to make provisional cuts in the agency's operating budget. Rogers also accused Hawley of "dumping" an unrealistic budget plan "into the lap of this committee" and threatened to slash the agency's budget.

The panel criticized the TSA for being late with reports to the committee, the agency's failure to update the panel on a $30 million project to develop technical enhancements to improve security for freight and passenger airlines, as well as its slow progress in perfecting a new passenger checking program.

"TSA is still unbalanced," Rogers said. "It continues to focus almost exclusively on one mode of transportation -- aviation -- while worldwide the most common transportation attacks target rail and transit systems."

He added, "TSA is still inefficient. It continues to be wholly dependent on airport screeners and dated technologies."

Homeland Security Appropriations ranking member Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., criticized TSA for failing to implement its new Secure Flight program, which would match passengers to government lists of terrorist prospects.

"There still are significant problems in integrating watch lists with passenger names and there is still no timetable" for getting it working, the lawmaker said.

Hawley explained he halted the program because of privacy concerns. He argued that the current system for checking passengers against no-fly lists "works well" and he wants to make sure the improved system is up to snuff before putting it in place.

"From a security prospective, I'm satisfied" with the current system, Hawley said.

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Alito’s views on executive branch power remain a sticking point

Basil Talbott — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Leahy, who voted to confirm Chief Justice Roberts, is the latest in a growing number of Democrats who have either come out against Alito or indicated they might do so.

Freshman Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., also said he will vote against Alito's nomination. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who signaled his opposition to Alito Wednesday, also struck the checks and balances theme in a speech this afternoon. Other Democrats who have come out against Alito include Sens. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Tom Harkin of Iowa.

Leahy and Kennedy spoke as Alito continued to make rounds of senators still in town, including Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., who plans to announce his decision next week, and Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H. Leahy drew a rousing round of applause at Georgetown University Law School when he told an audience of students and others he will not support Alito's nomination.

"At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and provide balance," Leahy said. "Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance."

Leahy's decision was not a surprise because he had aggressively questioned the nominee, concentrating on Alito's attitude toward presidential power. Leahy cited Alito's support for the "unitary executive theory" in a 2000 speech, his failure to distance himself from the Federalist Society, which touts that theory, and "his rulings in favor of government intrusions."

In remarks prepared for delivery to the Center for American Progress, Kennedy declared Alito's record is "clear and ominous" and began with the judge's views on executive power.

"We cannot count on him to blow the whistle when the president is out of bounds," Kennedy said. "During the hearings, Alito attempted to downplay his extreme view of executive power, but he did not disavow it."

Kennedy also criticized Alito's record on civil rights and abortion rights. He argued that Alito had most often ruled against black plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases and "failed to resolve very serious concerns that he's itching to overturn Roe v. Wade." Harkin issued a statement saying he was "gravely concerned that Judge Alito does not believe the Congress has the authority to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans," including disabled individuals.

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Senate Dems to question Alito on executive branch power

Basil Talbott — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Judiciary ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Kennedy began by stressing the need for judicial independence from the executive branch in light of recent disclosures about the government's spying on U.S. citizens in its war on terrorism. Leahy noted Alito would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing vote in many key cases who wrote that even war "is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens."

The toughest attack came from Kennedy, who called Alito's support for the executive branch "genuinely troubling." Noting that the courts must decide whether the White House has gone too far, Kennedy said he is "gravely concerned" by Alito's clear record of support for vast presidential authority, unchecked by two branches of government.

"In decision after decision on the bench, he has excused abusive actions by authorities that intrude on the personal privacy and freedoms of average Americans," Kennedy said. Also speaking to the need for independence, Leahy told Alito he would ask him "to demonstrate his independence from the interests of the president."

Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., began the hearings by laying out three areas he would explore -- abortion rights, executive authority and the relation of Congress and the courts. Saying he had not made up his mind about whether he would support the nominee, Specter pledged to hold "a full, fair and dignified hearing." He added that "hearings are a subtle minuet, with nominees answering as many questions as they think they have to in order to be confirmed."

That sparked a later retort from Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who asked Alito to be forthcoming in answering questions about his earlier constitutional writings. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be a minuet. I hope it will be conversation," he said.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., noted that Alito has more experience as a judge than any other Supreme Court nominee in 70 years and, along with many other Republicans, indicated his inclination to support him.

President Bush called on the Senate to conduct a "dignified" hearing. "My hope, of course, is that the Senate bring dignity to the process and give this man a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor," he said after an appearance at the White House with Alito. "I know the American people will be impressed, just like I have been impressed and a lot of other members of the Senate have been impressed," Bush said.

The hearings will continue Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., with 30 minutes allotted per senator for the first round of questioning. Senators will be given 20 minutes each for questions in a second round expected to start sometime Wednesday. Further rounds are possible.

Specter said he hopes to hold a committee vote Jan. 17 on the nomination. Senate Majority Leader Frist said he hopes to confirm Alito by Jan. 20, when the Supreme Court resumes its work, but committee Democrats could upset that schedule if they exercise their right to delay the committee for a week until Jan. 24.

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Panel debates EPA role in saying when storm areas are safe

Basil Talbott — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Marcus Peacock, deputy EPA administrator, told the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee his agency is testing extensively for hazardous substances in the area struck by Hurricane Katrina, but that the agency's job is only to provide "guidance" to state and local officials who make the final call.

Residents from the Gulf Coast and environmentalists praised EPA's testing, but claimed many residents are confused about what to do and insisted EPA has the legal and moral responsibility for telling people when their neighborhood is safe.

The most emotional testimony came from Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Xavier University in New Orleans.

She complained that residents got little useful information. "No one seems to be telling people how dangerous it is there," she said, adding that EPA needs "to do a better job than it is doing."

Peacock ticked off statistics on hazards, and then Wright put a face on them. "Mold of every color has covered every piece of furniture" on two floors of her home, she said. Peacock said the EPA circulated 3,500 fact sheets, but Wright said she had not seen one.

Erik Olson, senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council, insisted EPA has the legal responsibility to determine when an area is safe.

Peacock estimated drinking water facilities that once served 2.3 million people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama "are still not currently operational."

Also, 1.8 million people in those states do not have working wastewater facilities, he said. No conclusive testing has been done yet on long-term effects of any hazards, he added.

When Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., questioned Peacock about what dangers still lurk in the water, Peacock said "the main problem is E. coli and Coliform bacteria."

Citing the remaining problems, Murphy asked Wright if New Orleans "will ever be habitable again?"

"Are you going to ask everyone in California to leave because of earthquakes?" Wright replied.

Environment Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, said the hearing was only a start toward looking at the hazards Katrina left and that he saw no need yet for new legislation.

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Panel debates strategy for rebuilding New Orleans

Basil Talbott — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Still, both Corps Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Carl Strock and House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Hobson, R-Ohio, said it is not up to the federal government to say where people can rebuild.

Hobson said his panel "would probably have to support" a request, if made, for the lower figure to protect against a Category 3 hurricane. But echoing reservations of both Democrats and Republicans on his panel, Hobson told reporters after the hearing, "I am concerned about rebuilding in the flood plain the way they did before."

Strock said the Corps could return New Orleans to pre-Katrina flood-protection levels by June 1, in time for the next hurricane season.

Reps. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., questioned whether parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt, as they were in the flood plain, but Strock declined to offer an opinion. Simpson noted that large parts of Grand Forks, North Dakota, moved to higher ground after being flooded by the Red River in the 1990s.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley, Jr., when asked whether such restrictions were appropriate in New Orleans, said: "It is within the range of options that ought to be considered in this context."

The anticipated supplementary appropriation for dredging, removing silt and rebuilding levies to bring New Orleans to pre-Katrina flood-protection levels would be in addition to funds already appropriated or reprogrammed. The Federal Emergency Management Authority is sending the Corps $3 billion to remove debris, build temporary roofs and other cleanup.

Also, the supplementary appropriation already passed contained $400 million for the Corps and another $64 million was reprogrammed from other projects to help with cleanup.

Several members peppered Strock and Woodley with questions about why the levees and other flood-control measures "failed." Replying to a question from Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, as to why the levees were breached, Strock said, "I hate to use the 'failure' word," explaining that the walls were designed to protect against a Category 3 hurricane and not a more intense one.

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House panel votes to give small states FEMA advocate

Basil Talbott — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0400

The Economic Development, Public Building and Emergency Management Subcommittee approved the measure (H.R. 2338) by voice vote.

The bill was prompted by denial of federal disaster aid after a flood damaged much of Kaycee, a town of some 250 persons in the home state of Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., the bill's sponsor.

Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, offered the only amendment, which increased the number of states covered. His measure, approved by voice vote, raised the minimum population from 1 million to 1.5 million, covering states with large rural populations.

The small state advocate that would work inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency would advocate for the fair disaster relief aid distribution in the following states: Wyoming, Vermont, and North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine and Idaho.

Some 80 percent of businesses and one-third of Kaycee's homes were damaged, but FEMA turned down the town's request for help because rules for qualifying for relief are tough for states with less than 1 million populations, Cubin said.

Subcommittee Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said approval of the Rural Disaster Assistance Fairness Act of 2005 by his panel was testament to Cubin's persistence in pushing its passage.

The bill also calls for a study detailing the extent that existing disaster declaration regulations meets the needs for the dozen states covered and "comply with existing statutory restrictions on the use of formulas and sliding scales based on income or population."

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Dueling Senate bills target immigration, border security

Basil Talbott — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0400

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing set for July 27 will consider a bipartisan measure introduced by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz. and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and a bill being drafted by Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

McCain and Kennedy detailed their bill Tuesday during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Foreign Relations Chairman Lugar also has a bill pending.

The McCain-Kennedy bill would set up a program for illegal immigrants to get temporary visas after paying a $500 fine. That would put them on a track to either become permanent residents or return home in six years.

McCain told the panel that an immigrant dies in the Arizona desert every day and that makes immigration the leading issue, even greater than Social Security, in his part of the country. "It's an issue of national security, a humanitarian issue that affects everyone in the Southwest," McCain said.

Cornyn said his bill will target both enforcement and border control. Sections of Cornyn's bill dealing with enforcement have been sketched out, but details of a visa program have yet to be written.

Like the McCain-Kennedy bill, the Lugar legislation calls for greater coordination between United States and its neighbors, but would take a military-style approach to border control.

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House chairmen accuse DOJ of thwarting investigations

Basil Talbott — Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 -0400

Five House panel chairmen vented their frustration Thursday, as they rehashed failed congressional investigations of the Clinton administration in an ostensible search for new tools to strengthen future probes.

In testimony to the House Rules Committee, the committee and subcommittee chairmen directed most of their ire at Attorney General Janet Reno.

The most vociferous complaints came from House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., who went far beyond his colleagues in accusing Reno of "corruption" by dodging or blocking his requests for information.

Burton's attack prompted one Rules Committee member, Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, to ask Burton why "you appear to look so tough and vindictive?"

While taking note of the tension between Congress and the executive branch, which he said was set up by the Constitution, Hall maintained that it had exploded into counterproductive partisan conflict.

In the end, the only reform on which Hall and the Republicans seemed to agree was a potential shift of one-minute speeches from the beginning of each legislative day to the end of it.

"Shut that dumb TV off," said House Resources Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska. "How can you work with people when you have just heard [them say] you are no damn good?"

In his testimony, Young ticked off six investigations he complained were blocked by the Justice Department's failure to cooperate.

In most cases, the Justice Department refused to produce documents or prevented witness interviews on grounds that it might interfere with department investigations already taking place.

Rules and Organization of the House Subcommittee Chairman John Linder, R-Ga., said the subpanel session was the first in a series of hearings exploring possible rules changes that could give committees more leverage in their investigations.

The most specific suggestions came from Education and the Workforce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who complained that his probe of the Teamsters Union was "substantially limited" by the Justice Department.

Hoekstra proposed a new rule to give oversight committees subpoena power they now can acquire only by a vote of the full House.

Hoekstra also suggested the House should entertain giving itself the power to pursue contempt of Congress charges in court; currently, the House refers contempt actions to the attorney general.

While Burton placed all blame for the trouble on the administration's partisanship, Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said it was "human" and endemic of the relationship between Congress and the executive branch.

Hyde said the Justice Department went over the line in refusing to cooperate, but laid the root of the blame on the pursuit of political power.

"Nobody trusts anybody," Hyde said. "If political power is the ultimate goal ... then whatever you do to obtain it, can't be too bad. ... Political power is the ultimate goal of many people who come here, and all we get out of it is cynicism."

Trying to put the long recitation of misfired Republican-led investigations of the Clinton administration in context, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said, "Where there's smoke, there are politicians with a smoke machine."

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McCain, Levin to press for base closings on Senate floor

Basil Talbott — Mon, 17 May 1999 00:00:00 -0400

Proposals to create another round or two of military base closings and to ease the Pentagon's "Buy American" rule will be brought to the Senate floor after being turned down by the Senate Armed Services Committee, backers of the proposal said Friday.

Armed Services ranking member Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he and Armed Services member John McCain, R-Ariz., the leading advocates for establishing another base closing round, will argue their case before the entire Senate.

Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said his committee could not work out acceptable wording because of concerns that the Clinton administration might play politics with the issue. Although another base closing commission might not meet until after President Clinton leaves office, some members worried about his staff doing some of the preparation.

"You can't legislate trust," Warner said.

Levin speculated his and McCain's original proposal for two rounds and their fallback position for one round failed because members feared they would lose a base. Levin said the issue would have a slightly better chance before the full Senate.

A McCain staffer said no decision has been made yet to bring up either the base reduction proposal or "Buy American" changes on the floor, but they are being given "serious consideration."

McCain wants to give Defense Secretary William Cohen authority to waive the current requirement that the department buy only products made in the United States.

Under the plan, eight different conditions would have to be met before a waiver could be given, and only products made in a NATO country could be purchased. The act would not apply to setasides for disadvantaged or minority businesses under the Small Business Act, the staffer said.

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DOE officials give differing accounts on spy charges

Basil Talbott — Tue, 13 Apr 1999 00:00:00 -0400

An Energy Department official Monday accused his old supervisors of blocking security reforms that might have prevented espionage at research labs, but his charges were emphatically denied.

The accusations by Notra Trulock III, previously the DOE's chief of intelligence, were the first open testimony in a controversy that has resulted in the firing of a computer analyst at the department's Los Alamos, N.M., laboratory.

Trulock's chief target, Elizabeth Moler, DOE's former deputy secretary, adamantly denied the most serious charges made by Trulock during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

So contradictory was the testimony that one committee member asked both witnesses whether they would take lie detector tests, and both agreed.

The inquiry itself was challenged by Democrats, with Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico complaining that Republicans appeared to be "piling on" with repeated and overlapping hearings on the Clinton administration's handling of accusations of Chinese espionage.

"Over the last 10 years the department has consistently failed to implement reforms and recommendations necessary to both deter and to defeat" efforts by foreign powers to acquire U.S. classified information, said Trulock, who has previously testified only in closed meetings.

Trulock said he and his staff made attempts to brief Congress that were rebuffed, and had suggested changes in security practices that were sidetracked.

"Warnings were ignored, minimized and occasionally even ridiculed," he added, claiming that damage was done to national security.

In one case, Trulock said, he sent a memo to Moler, passing on a request he said he received from the House Intelligence Committee to give the panel a briefing.

Trulock produced the memo, which he said had been retrieved from Moler's office safe by her successor and returned to him without any action.

Under persistent questioning by Republican members, Moler insisted she had no recollection of either the memo or any request to brief the House panel. Moler said she had participated in numerous briefings on espionage issues.

The hearing continued late into the evening Monday.

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