Federal Daily - February 26, 2008

Senate Democrats Bash Bush Budget for VA Cuts

Senate Democrats rejected a series of budget proposals by President Bush that would nearly double prescription drug co-payments from $8 to $15 for “middle-income” veterans and impose an annual veterans health care enrollment fee of $250 to $750. The proposed fees are part of Bush’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, in a Feb. 22 submission to the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the committee would eliminate the VA cuts and set aside $2.6 billion more for the agency than the amount Bush proposed for FY 2009. The committee also rejected a Bush proposal eliminating the practice of offsetting VA first-party co-payment debts with collections from insurance companies. The committee also recommended a $742 million increase in rehabilitation/prosthetic care, a $135 million increase in aid to rural veterans and a $10 million fund to improve services for the growing population of women veterans, Akaka said in a statement. To see more, go to: http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=12&release_id=11553.

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Senators Seek Agency Cyber-Security Deadline

In the wake of a highly critical government report, lawmakers asked all major government agencies to declare when they will be beefing up information security to meet standards set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Feb. 22 sent a letter to all 24 federal agencies requesting a timeline of when they will meet the OMB recommendations, which were last updated in 2007. The letter was in response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report pointing out agency gaps in policies and procedures that reduce their ability to protect personally identifiable information from improper disclosure. “Because agencies maintain significant amounts of information concerning individuals,” the report said, “agencies should be more vigilant to protect that information from loss and misuse.” Specifically, OMB directed the agencies to encrypt all data on mobile computers/devices, allow remote access only with two-factor authentication and use a “time-out” function for remote access and mobile devices requiring user re-authentication after 30 minutes of inactivity, the senators’ letter said. “Agencies cannot act quickly enough to implement policies to help protect and secure this sensitive data,” said Collins. To see more, go to: http://coleman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=42ee6fbc-0cf1-c359-6218-e313da8b7e29.

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NATCA Claims FAA Supervisor Interfered with Distress Call

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) claims that a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supervisor interfered with air traffic controllers as they were attempting to monitor a distress call from a private plane. The controllers at the Oakland (Calif.) Air Route Traffic Control Center on Feb. 17 were listening to a “mayday” call over facility’s emergency frequency. It was coming from a plane they were not controlling, but they were attempting to track the call to assist in any emergency response, NATCA Facility Representative Scott Conde said. However, a supervisor said the call was a distraction and turned down the volume on the emergency response loudspeakers, Conde said. There was “absolutely no justification” for the supervisor to turn down the volume on the channel, Conde said in a Feb. 22 statement. “This frequency is required to be continuously monitored at every FAA air traffic facility.” The plane crashed, killing the pilot, near Nevada City, Calif., northeast of Sacramento, said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the accident. To see more, go to: www.natca.org/mediacenter/press-release-detail.aspx?id=487 or the NTSB accident report at: www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/AccList.asp?month=2&year=2008.

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