Federal Daily - January 29, 2008
GAO: DoD Should Tighten Contractor Management
DoD needs to tighten its management and oversight of the approximately 130,000 private contractors
who support the combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, said a Jan. 24 Government Accountability Office
(GAO) report. GAO auditors found that although DoD issued a comprehensive guidance on contractor support
in 2005, there was little evidence that DoD components were implementing it. Complicating the problem
is that no one person or entity made the decision to send the contractors to Iraq, GAO said. Current
shortcomings include: an inadequate number of contract oversight and management personnel; failure
to systematically collect and distribute best practices; and a lack of comprehensive training for contract
oversight personnel and military commanders, the report said. GAO recommended that DoD work on determining
the appropriate balance of contractors and military personnel for future actions, and include the role
of contractor support in capabilities reporting. GAO said DoD also should ensure that operations plans
include specific information on the use of private contractors. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d08436t.pdf.
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Lawmakers Applaud Launch of FDA Overseas Offices
Senior lawmakers hailed the decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to station U.S. inspectors
overseas to help improve the safety of food and medicines imported into this country. Rep. John Dingell,
D-Mich., chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., noted in
a Jan. 25 statement that they had long been calling for such a move by FDA and were anxious to hear
the details of the plan. FDA inspects less than 1 percent of the food that is imported, Stupak noted,
adding that, “permanently stationing FDA inspectors in China and India is long overdue and an
important step towards improving the safety of our nation’s food supply.” Following a series
of reports of imported tainted food and drugs, the committee last year launched an investigation and
in August sent investigators to China and India to examine those countries’ food and pharmaceutical
safety processes. The lawmakers noted that overseas FDA offices would improve drug/food safety as well
as facilitate the cross-training of regulatory inspectors and help standardize procedures. To see more,
go to: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr187.shtml.
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Bill Would Require SSA to Disclose Planned Office Closings
A new bill would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide detailed information
to Congress on the status of its programs and possible decisions impacting local office closings and
SSA staffing levels. The bill, H.R. 5110, introduced by Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., would require SSA
to provide Congress with a detailed yearly budget estimate; statistics on the number of pending claims—including
disability appeals; the rate at which case backlogs are increasing or decreasing; the average length
of time it takes for claims to be administered; and staffing level trends at local offices over time.
Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), applauded the bill. “This
measure offers the potential for improved customer service and greater accountability on the part of
SSA for staffing decisions, claims handling and other critically-important matters,” Kelley said
in a Jan. 25 statement. In addition, H.R. 5110 would prohibit SSA from closing or limiting hours at
local offices without providing Congress with at least six months’ notice and justifications
for such proposed closings, as well as require SSA to inform Congress of changes in how it staffs offices,
Kelley noted. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org.
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