FederalDaily - November 9, 2007
House Committee Passes Bill to Expand Guard/Reserve benefits
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Nov. 7 passed a bill that would make it easier for
National Guard and reserve forces to qualify for active duty education benefits, such as the Montgomery
GI Bill (MGIB). The committee approved the Fair Benefits for Guard and Reserve Act, H.R. 3882, sponsored
by Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn. The legislation corrects an inequity in the current law which is preventing
members of the National Guard and Reserves from receiving full MGIB benefits, said committee Chairman
Bob Filner, D-Calif. Currently, to qualify for Active Duty Chapter 30 benefits, a member must be obligated
for a two-year term and serve 20 continuous months. H.R. 3882 still requires 20 months of service but
changes the obligated term to less than three years, which would allow more National Guard and reserve
members to receive active duty benefits, Filner said. The bill is to be debated soon on the House floor,
Filner said. To see more, go to: http://veterans.house.gov
:: Back to Top ::
Bill Would Ban All Free Travel for Regulators
In the wake of allegations of inappropriate free travel at the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC), senators introduced a bill Nov. 7 that would ban all travel by federal regulators that is paid
for by the industries they regulate. Sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the bill seeks to repair
the integrity of the agency after it was revealed that CPSC acting-Chair Nancy Nord and other senior
officials took dozens of trips paid for by the industries they are tasked with regulating. Specifically,
Nord, and her predecessor, Hal Stratton, accepted nearly 30 trips since 2002 paid for in full or in
part by regulated industries, government documents show. Menendez has called for Nord’s resignation. “The
image of the toy industry providing free travel for federal regulators while American children are
playing with toxic toys is probably seared into the minds of parents across the country,” Menendez
said in a statement. “A lot of things need to change within the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
For the commission to be effective, it first needs the trust of the American people,” To see
more, go to: http://menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=286892
:: Back to Top ::
In-Flight Near Misses Up Sharply in October
The number of airborne near-misses—serious incidents of commercial aircraft getting too close
to one another or other aircraft while in the air—rose sharply last month, exceeding the Federal
Aviation Administration’s (FAA) limit for the month by 36 percent, said the National Air Traffic
Controllers Association (NATCA). There were 38 serious incidents—classified as Category “A” and “B” operational
errors by the FAA—in October, surpassing the FAA’s “performance limit” of 28,
NATCA President Patrick Forrey said Nov. 7. An operational error is defined as a violation of separation
standards that define minimum safe distances between aircraft. However, the new figures may actually
be underestimating the actual number of near misses after the FAA recently changed the operational
error definition, allowing planes to get closer together, Forrey said. “The FAA made it much
harder to have a Category ‘A’ or ‘B’ error because planes have to get closer
together to reach that level.” To see more, go to: www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=466
:: Back to Top ::
|
