FederalDaily - October 26, 2007
OPM Opens Hotline for Wildfire-Impacted Feds
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Oct. 24 opened a toll-free hotline to
help current and retired federal employees and annuitants who have been affected
by the California wildfires. The toll-free number (1-800-307-8298) will be open seven
days a week between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., Pacific Time, for the affected
counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara
and Ventura, OPM Director Linda Springer said. Employees and annuitants in those
counties can call with questions on the delivery of benefits, health insurance, pay
and leave issues, teleworking and disaster assistance. OPM also is sending a representative
to assist the efforts of the Los Angeles Federal Executive Board to provide information
to federal employees and annuitants. “OPM stands ready to offer assistance
to our employees and annuitants in the impacted counties any way we can,” said
Springer. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov.
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Boxer Seeks Un-redacted CDC Climate Testimony
In the latest instance involving the administration’s alleged censoring of scientific results
to match policy goals, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is seeking an unedited copy of testimony given
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Julie Gerberding concerning the impact
of global warming on public health. In the wake of reports that the White House had heavily edited
Gerberding’s testimony, Boxer, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works,
in an Oct. 24 letter to President Bush asked for complete copies of the unedited testimony prepared
by Gerberding. The later testimony reportedly had shrunk by half from the original, from about 12 pages
to just six, and excluded testimony that detailed how global warming would affect Americans—including
a dire warning about possible ground-level ozone problems and associated airborne pollutants. For the
last several years, the administration has been under fire from groups such as the Union of Concerned
Scientists and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility for alleged political intervention
into work produced by federal science professionals. “I am deeply concerned that important scientific
and health information was removed from the CDC Director's testimony at the last minute,” Boxer
wrote. To see more, go to: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=d3c7900d-802a-23ad-4779-5eb638754966&Designation=Majority.
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Lawmaker Seeks Details of New DHS Cybersecurity Plan
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee on Oct. 24 said he is formally asking Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff for detailed information on a proposed new cybersecurity
initiative. In a letter to Chertoff, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he so far has been unable
to pry details from the department about the proposal, which he characterized as a “major effort
to monitor critical infrastructure networks to prevent unauthorized intrusion.” Thompson quoted
published reports which noted that DHS plans to partner with the National Security Agency (NSA) to
work on the initiative in a multibillion-dollar, seven-year effort that would tap into NSA’s
technical capacities to protect government and private networks. Thompson said DHS has refused at least
four times to provide a briefing on the initiative, which Thompson said “may be unveiled by the
president as early as Nov. 1.” To see more, go to: http://homeland.house.gov/press/index.asp?ID=288&SubSection=1&Issue=0&DocumentType=0&PublishDate=0.
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