Government Executive - Authors - Mary Beth Warner

Federal experts may probe future building disasters

Mary Beth Warner — Wed, 22 May 2002 00:00:00 -0400

The legislation (H.R. 4687)--the "National Construction Safety Team Act of 2002"--requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to dispatch experts to a disaster site within 48 hours.

The investigative team would have similar authorities to the National Transportation Safety Board, including access to the site of the building disaster and the power to subpoena evidence.

The team would be required, among other things, to establish the likely technical cause of building failures and recommend changes to building codes, standards and practices. The measure would also give the NIST the authority to complete the investigation of the World Trade Center collapse.

Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert, R-N.Y., who sponsored the bill, said the legislation was designed to prevent a repeat "of problems that plagued the studies of the World Trade Center collapse." The trade center towers caught fire and collapsed after terrorists slammed them with hijacked airliners.

Boehlert offered an amendment making technical and clarifying changes to the bill, which was approved by a voice vote. The committee also approved the legislation by voice vote.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton D-N.Y., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., have introduced companion legislation (S. 2496) in the Senate where the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is scheduled to take up the measure.

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House panel authorizes $73.4 billion military procurement

George C. Wilson and Mary Beth Warner — Wed, 01 May 2002 00:00:00 -0400

National Journal News Service reported.

Subcommittee Chairman Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said the total was $3.2 billion more than President Bush had requested, but left unclear how funds would be redistributed to keep the president's total fiscal 2003 request for the Pentagon within agreed-upon limits.

Armed Services Chairman Bob Stump, R-Ariz., allowed Weldon and other subcommittee chairmen to divvy up about $5 billion as they saw fit, with the procurement panel allotted $3.2 billion. Stump is expected to explain where the extra money will come from when the full committee meets to mark up the defense bill today.

Beneficiaries of the procurement subcommittee's redistribution of funds included the National Guard, which was slated to get 12 H-60 Blackhawk helicopters, and the Navy, which was authorized "over $1 billion" extra for shipbuilding, according to the subcommittee's breakdown of funds. Weldon said the authorization for the Guard and reserve forces increased by $450 million, a 17 percent increase over the requested level.

Weldon said he would have hiked the procurement account in the fiscal 2003 defense budget even higher--using money from a $10 billion cost-of-war fund--if not for the opposition of the White House and House Republican leadership. Bush has called on Congress to restrain its spending so he can balance the federal budget by 2004.

In a move to satisfy lawmakers concerned about the future of the U.S. shipbuilding industry, the subcommittee projected $810 million to build another DDG-51 destroyer if the Navy wins that much in a settlement of its decade-long battle in the U. S. Court of Claims with the contractors who started building the A-12 carrier fighter-bomber.

The president's budget request for shipbuilding decreased 14 percent from last year's appropriation, from $9.5 billion to $8.2 billion, Weldon told a recent subcommittee hearing.

Many lawmakers said that is not enough. At a recent subcommittee hearing, Armed Services ranking member Gene Taylor, D-Miss., whose home state hosts the Litton Ingalls shipyard, argued that the decrease would lead to the United States having to buy ships from overseas.

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House panel approves bill to strengthen small business watchdog office

Mary Beth Warner — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 00:00:00 -0400

The committee approved the bill (H.R. 4231) by a voice vote after little debate. Among other provisions, the legislation calls for establishing a chief counsel in the advocacy office, who would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The counsel must be appointed from the private sector without regard to political affiliation. Unlike a similar bill (S.395) approved by the Senate last year, the House version requires that the appointee must not have served in the administration for five years prior to the appointment.

The Senate bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., has argued that the legislation would build a "firewall" to keep political interference out of the Office of Advocacy's operations.

The legislation approved Wednesday authorizes $10 million for the office for FY 2003; $12 million for FY 2004; and $14 million for FY 2005. The bill would also require the research arm of the Office of Advocacy to publish reports on issues and regulations affecting small businesses.

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House panel passes measure to boost small business contracting

Mary Beth Warner — Wed, 17 Apr 2002 00:00:00 -0400

The measure (H.R. 2867), called the "Small Business Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2001," was approved by a voice vote.

Proponents of small business rights charge that the bundling of federal contracts and large federal contracts shut out small businesses. If there are disagreements between the SBA and the federal agency involved over how a contract was awarded, the bill provides that the director of the Office of Management and Budget would resolve the matter within 10 days.

Ranking member Nydia M. Velázquez, D-N.Y., who sponsored the legislation, said the bill "will help small businesses get their fair share of federal contracts by increasing SBA's power to dismantle large contracts," and by "giving small businesses more time to partner up and bid."

The bill also extends the amount of time a small business has to submit a bid for a bundled federal contract from 30 days to 60 days.

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New Indian Health post approved by Senate panel

Mary Beth Warner — Fri, 22 Mar 2002 00:00:00 -0500

The bill (S.214), sponsored by Arizona Republican John McCain, would establish a new post at the Department of Health and Human Services for an assistant secretary for Indian health, elevating the current director of Indian health services to the assistant secretary level. The committee approved the legislation on a voice vote.

Among other things, the assistant secretary would advise other agencies and programs in HHS about issues of Indian health. According to the legislation, the current director of Indian health services, Dr. Michael H. Trujillo, could continue in the new post, at the discretion of the president.

The Indian Health Service includes 12 administrative regional offices, which oversee local hospitals and clinics.

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Agency for International Development

Mary Beth Warner — Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Established: 1961
Address: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20523
Phone: 202-712-0000
2001 Budget: $7.5 billion
Employment: 2,120
Web Site: www.usaid.gov
Function:AID provides economic support and development assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, or engaging in democratic reforms. Development aid targets agriculture, rural development, nutrition, health, education, population planning, and market-oriented programs. The agency provides assistance to four regions: Sub-Saharan Africa; Europe and Eurasia; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Asia and the Near East. Andrew S. Natsios
Administrator
202-712-4040
One day in February 1979, Andrew Natsios, a young state legislator in Massachusetts, got a call in his statehouse office that he thought was from a college buddy playing a prank. Instead it was from candidate George H.W. Bush, who asked Natsios to help run the state operation of his presidential campaign. Natsios accepted and established a lasting relationship with the Bush family. Natsios remembers how he and his friend Andy Card (now White House chief of staff), who was another young Massachusetts legislator working on the Bush campaign, drove Bush to Newport, R.I., in Card's Chevy Chevette with a hole in the floor. "He didn't complain at all," Natsios recalls, smiling. More than 20 years later, Natsios, 51, occupies the only position he says he wanted in the new Bush Administration: administrator of USAID. The grandson of Greek immigrants, Natsios was born in Philadelphia but raised in Holliston, Mass., which he considers his home. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Georgetown University and a master's degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. During the first Bush Administration, he served in two USAID posts, one as assistant administrator in the bureau of food and humanitarian assistance. During most of the Clinton Administration, Natsios worked at an international Christian organization, World Vision. Last year, he commuted to Boston, where, as chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, he oversaw the city's troubled "Big Dig" tunnel project. "I have always missed Boston," said Natsios, who returns to New England every summer to vacation on Swan's Island in Maine with his family.

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State Department

Thu, 28 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Established: 1789
Address: 2201 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20520
Phone: 202-647-4000
2001 Budget:: $8 billion
Employment:: 19,522
Web Site: www.state.gov
Functions: The State Department is responsible for the making and execution of American foreign policy. The department conveys U.S. foreign policy to foreign governments and to international organizations; manages the foreign affairs budget and other foreign affairs resources; negotiates treaties; assists U.S. businesses in the international marketplace; and protects and assists U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad.

Colin L. Powell
Secretary
202-647-5291
A favorite parlor game in Washington is handicapping whether Powell will eventually win an internal power struggle against the hard-liners among the Administration's foreign affairs and national security team. Signs of those tensions have been evident in Republican criticisms of Powell's plan for new "smart sanctions" against Iraq and in the distinctly different tones that Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld struck when dealing with China earlier this year after the downing of a U.S. Navy surveillance plane. "Colin Powell has had the most consistent voice and message among the Bush team, but he's had his knuckles cracked a couple of times," said Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser for the elder Bush. Scowcroft, who has worked closely with Powell, Cheney, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, credits Powell for winning a badly needed increase in the State Department budget: "I think Powell was quick to note the decay in the State Department, and he has spent a lot of time restoring morale." With a compelling life story-a son of Jamaican immigrants rises up from New York City slums to become the highest military officer in the land-Powell, 64, should never be counted out. He grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from City College of New York, and he later took an MBA at George Washington University. In a 35-year Army career, Powell earned four stars, many medals, and the top job as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before joining the Bush Administration, Powell was chairman of America's Promise, a nonprofit group dedicated to mentoring the nation's youth.

Richard Armitage
Deputy Secretary
202-647-9640
The No. 2 at State is a man Colin Powell has called a "friend of the heart," and is one of the true characters of Washington. Armitage, 56, is a fireplug of a figure who served three tours in Vietnam as a riverine warrior and is known to cuss like the ex-sailor that he is. He and Powell first met in the early 1980s as members of the staff of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and they have remained close ever since. Certainly Armitage's tenacity and troubleshooting skills will serve him well as deputy secretary. After graduating from the Naval Academy and serving six years in the Navy, he shed the uniform for a civilian suit in the 1970s, but he served in Saigon in the office of the U.S. defense attache. There, he helped to organize the removal of naval personnel and assets before the city fell to Communist forces. He then went to another trouble spot-Iran under the shah-before moving to Washington to act as administrative assistant to Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan. In the 1980s, he served as deputy assistant secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs and assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs. In the early 1990s, Armitage directed U.S. assistance to the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Before joining the Bush Administration, Armitage was president of his consulting firm in Virginia, Armitage Associates. He grew up in Georgia.

Grant S. Green Jr.
Undersecretary for Management
202-647-1500
Green, 63, brings 22 years of valuable experience in the U.S. Army to the thankless task of managing the far-flung State Department bureaucracy. The job is a particular challenge because of the independent, professional nature of the diplomatic corps and because of geography: Just try managing people and real estate spread across 178 embassies and consulates in 130 countries. It is Green, for example, who will be responsible for completing the security upgrades at U.S. embassies in the wake of terrorist attacks during the previous Administration. He prepped for this job as assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration, where he was in charge of all Army personnel matters. Before that assignment, he made the trains run on time as executive secretary of the National Security Council. In the private sector, Green was chairman and president of GMD Solutions, Inc., a consulting firm, and held senior management positions with Sears World Trade. Born in Washington state, Green grew up all over the country, as his father, too, was in the military. He graduated from the University of Arkansas and has a graduate degree from George Washington University.

David G. Carpenter
Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security
202-647-6290
When Carpenter was first sworn into his job on August 11, 1998, it was just four days after the bombings of the U.S. embassies in East Africa-hardly an easy time to start work. Little wonder that Carpenter, 54, who spent 26 years in the Secret Service before joining State, has been busily overseeing a big intensification of security at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. And Colin Powell has asked him to stay on. In his three years on the job, Carpenter boasts, "we've roughly increased [security] personnel about 50 percent," noting that some of the increase was made possible by a special $1.6 billion supplemental appropriation in 1998. Carpenter's office, which has a yearly budget of $600,000, manages not only all of State's security programs, but also the protection of classified national security information that's produced and stored in government facilities. Carpenter knows the protection game: At Secret Service, he was special agent in charge of the office responsible for protecting the President. A native of Denver, Carpenter has a B.A. in personnel management from Oklahoma State University.

Ruth A. Davis
Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources
202-647-9898
During a U.S. Foreign Service career dating back to 1969, Davis has held posts in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and the experience should give her ample perspective for her new job. Davis will handle all the human resource and personnel issues for the State Department's 36,000 employees in the United States and abroad. Davis is also responsible for all hiring and promoting in both the Foreign Service and Civil Service divisions at State. Soft-spoken yet possessing a sense of humor, Davis is also serious about expanding State's resources. "For a long time at State, we've been plagued with a deficient number of employees," she says, adding that if the requested budget increases are met, there will be more hiring. A native of Atlanta, Davis graduated from Spelman College and earned a master's degree from the School of Social Work at the University of California (Berkeley). Most recently, Davis, 58, served from 1997-2001 as director of the Foreign Service Institute. Davis was also ambassador to Benin from 1992-95 and consul general in Barcelona, Spain, from 1987-91.

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House panel votes to boost Coast Guard funding

Mary Beth Warner — Mon, 14 May 2001 00:00:00 -0400

The bill (H.R. 1699) passed the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee by voice vote after little debate. The legislation includes about $3.68 billion for the operation and maintenance of the Coast Guard, and about $659 million for the acquisition, construction and improvement of equipment and facilities, of which $338 million would only be available for the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System.

The additional $300 million, which was not part of the president's request, will cover operating expenses including maintenance, spare parts, training, and an increase in funds for drug interdiction operations, a subcommittee aide said.

Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., said a full committee markup on the bill is expected next week. He said he hopes the bill will reach the House floor "as soon as possible."

No amendments were offered to the bill. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., said he had considered offering an amendment on the Coast Guard Museum at the Coast Guard Academy, which is located in his district, but he changed his mind, joking that LoBiondo, who was sitting behind him, would poke him in the back if he announced an amendment.

"I also think it's important to keep the bill clean, so I will set my own particular enthusiasms aside," Simmons said.

At a subcommittee hearing on the budget last week, Coast Guard Admiral James M. Loy called on the committee to pass the Bush's full budget request for the Coast Guard. "Aging assets, spare parts shortfalls, and an inexperienced workforce are all issues that continue to cause me concern," Loy testified.

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