Federal Daily - November 10, 2008

Web Sites Aid White House Transition

Federal agencies have launched two Web sites to aid in the transition of executive power to the next administration. The General Services Administration (GSA) has established an online directory of federal publications and materials to serve as presidential transition resources at http://directory.presidentialtransition.gov/index.cfm. The site includes links to resources such as the Plum Book, which lists over 7,000 federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment. At the Government Accountability Office (GAO), acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro and his team have launched the GAO transition Web site, www.gao.gov/transition_2009, which provides recommendations for addressing the major issues, risks and challenges that await the next administration. The Web site lists 13 “Urgent Issues” GAO has identified for immediate attention. Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, urged President-elect Barack Obama’s team to use the online resources. Akaka said the GAO site should be a first stop and that federal agency management should be a priority for the incoming 111th Congress. The GAO “site should be a useful tool for the incoming administration as well as policy makers in the 111th Congress,” said Akaka on Nov. 6. “I hope that this new resource will encourage all congressional oversight committees to pay more attention to agency management.” To see more, go to: http://akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=
PressReleases.Home&month=11&year=2008&release_id=2488.

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Border Patrol Nears 2008 Agent Hiring Target

The Border Patrol (BP) is nearing its hiring goal of having 18,000 BP agents onboard by Dec. 31, according to a year-end wrap-up report by Customs and Border Protection, BP’s parent agency. The report, released Nov. 5, showed that BP has a current agent workforce of 17,499. Additionally, the agency said, building efforts to secure the border with Mexico have added 49 miles of pedestrian fencing and 44.2 miles of vehicle fencing along the Southwest border. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, which ended Sept. 30, BP arrested 723,825 illegal aliens, a 17 percent decrease compared with 876,704 in FY 2007. Also in FY 2008, BP seized 1.6 million pounds of marijuana, 9,272 pounds of cocaine, and 735 ounces of heroin, decreases of 12 percent, 35 percent and 61 percent, respectively. During the period, BP reported 1,097 assaults against agents, including two who were killed in the line of duty. Agent Jarod Dittman was killed in a single vehicle accident on March 30, and Agent Luis Aguilar was struck and killed by a fleeing drug smuggler on Jan. 19. To see more, go to: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/11052008.xml.

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ATF Breaks Ground On Explosives Training Center

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Nov. 6 announced the groundbreaking for a new National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR) facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. The planned facility will provide explosives training for ATF personnel, law enforcement and other first responders from the explosives community. It will be used to promote and conduct research to improve the ability of ATF and its partners to investigate bombings, prevent diversion of explosives from legal commerce to the black market, and ensure the safe, secure storage of explosives, the agency said in a statement. The facility will consist of three explosives ranges, eight classrooms, laboratories, a conference facility and office space for ATF personnel and its partners. The facility is scheduled to be completed by 2010. “The research and instruction that will take place here are absolutely vital to protecting the American people, as well as America’s allies,” Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said at a ceremony which marked the beginning of construction. To see more, go to: www.atf.gov/press/2008press/110608ncetr_pressrelease.pdf.

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DoD Portal Centralizes Health Info for Wounded Vets

Federal Computer Week—The Defense Department has launched a new Web portal designed to help service members and their families find health information and programs available to them. The www.WarriorCare.mil portal has links to health-related programs and resources offered by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, DOD and Veterans Affairs Department. The site also provides access to the Wounded Warrior Resource Center, which offers information and other resources, and the Compensation and Benefits Handbook for injured or seriously ill service members. The new portal is part of an effort to improve the medical treatment of service members and “make it easier for troops and their families to benefit from all the assistance available to them,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates designated November as Warrior Care Month. To see the complete article, go to: www.fcw.com/online/news/154306-1.html.

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