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Friday, March 16, 2007

beSpacific - March 15, 2007

beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news http://www.bespacific.com By Sabrina I. Pacifici - bespacific@earthlink.net Free weekday coverage on current issues March 15, 2007
Headlines
  • Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity
  • House Passes the Accountability in Contracting Act
  • DOJ OIG Reports from Bureau of Prisons, FBI, Offices, States Marshals Service, Boards and Divisions
  • GAO Report on Joint Strike Fighter
  • Conyers Demands More Answers from AG Gonzales on Firings of U.S. Attorneys
  • GAO Report on Operation Iraqi Freedom
  • Characteristics and Pay of Federal Civilian Employees, March 2007
  • New Travel Rules for Officially-Connected Travel Paid for by a Private Source
  • House Appropriations Committee Passes $124 Billion Iraq Spending Bill
  • New Report on Substance Abuse at America's Colleges and Universities
  • Resources Related to Health Coverage and Hurricane Katrina
  • E-Gov't Site: Meaningful Access for People Who Are Limited English Proficient
  • House Oversight Chairman Waxman Applauds Passage of Open Government Bills
* Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity
"Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. At the hearing, the Committee will receive testimony from Ms. Wilson and other experts regarding the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 16."
  • Washington Post: Valerie Plame, the Spy Who's Ready to Speak for Herself - Years of Silence Will End Today With Capitol Hill Testimony
  • Related postings on CIA leak investigation and Libby trial
  • * House Passes the Accountability in Contracting Act
    "On March 15, 2007, the House passed H.R. 1362, the “Accountability in Contracting Act," by a vote of 347-73. The legislation, reported by the Oversight and Armed Services Committees, changes federal acquisition law to require agencies to limit the use of abuse-prone contracts, to increase transparency and accountability in federal contracting, and to protect the integrity of the acquisition workforce."
  • Bill Summary: Accountability in Contracting Act
  • Full Text of H.R. 1362
  • * GAO Report on Joint Strike Fighter
    Joint Strike Fighter: Progress Made and Challenges Remain, GAO-07-360, and Highlights, March 15, 2007.
  • "The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program--a multinational acquisition program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight cooperative international partners--is the Department of Defense's (DOD) most expensive aircraft acquisition program. DOD currently estimates it will spend $623 billion to develop, procure, and operate and support the JSF fleet. The JSF aircraft, which includes a variant design for each of the services, represents 90 percent of the remaining planned investment for DOD's major tactical aircraft programs. In fiscal year 2004, the JSF program was rebaselined to address technical challenges, cost increases, and schedule overruns. This report--the third mandated by Congress--describes the program's progress in meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals since rebaselining and identifies various challenges the program will likely face in meeting these goals in the future."
  • * Conyers Demands More Answers from AG Gonzales on Firings of U.S. Attorneys
    Press release: "Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales demanding he answer allegations that he may have advised the President to shut down an Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) inquiry into the Administration's domestic wiretapping surveillance program because of his role in the program. An article posted in today's online version of the National Journal alleges that Gonzales anticipated the inquiry would focus on his role in the wire-tapping project so he advised the President to end it by denying necessary security clearances to investigators."
  • Related posting from House Speaker Pelosi's The Gavel blog:
  • [Conyer's] letter comes as ABC News breaks the following story: E-Mails Show Rove’s Role in U.S. Attorney Firings, Jan Crawford Greenburg, ABC News - March 15, 2007: "New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged."
  • Related press release from Sen. Leahy: "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday authorized Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), in consultation with the Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), to issue subpoenas to 11 current and former Department of Justice officials as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into the unprecedented firings of eight prosecutors last year."
  • Related postings on firings of U.S. attorneys
  • * GAO Report on Operation Iraqi Freedom
    Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on Iraqi Security Forces' Logistical Capabilities, GAO-07-582T, and Highlights, March 9, 2007.
  • "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, issued in November 2005, implies a conditions-based linkage between the development of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the size and shape of the U.S. presence there. The Department of Defense (DOD) reported to Congress in November 2006 that although the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior had about 323,000 trained and equipped forces, there was a serious shortcoming for both Ministries in the planning and executing of their logistics and sustainment requirements. According to DOD, without a developed logistical system the ISF will require continued Coalition support. Today's testimony addresses (1) the current state of the ISF's logistical capabilities, and (2) the challenges the ISF is facing to achieve logistical self-sufficiency. This testimony contains unclassified portions of a classified report that was issued on March 7, 2007. GAO's preliminary observations are based on audit work performed from January 2006 through March 2007."
  • * Characteristics and Pay of Federal Civilian Employees, March 2007
    Congressional Budget Office: Characteristics and Pay of Federal Civilian Employees, March 2007 (37 pages, PDF)
    * New Travel Rules for Officially-Connected Travel Paid for by a Private Source
    House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct: New Travel Rules for Officially-Connected Travel Paid for by a Private Source, March 15, 2007.
    * House Appropriations Committee Passes $124 Billion Iraq Spending Bill
    As reported by Roll Call: "Following a contentious half-day debate, the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve the $124 billion Iraq War spending bill Thursday, attaching several amendments — including a provision to prohibit the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center — but leaving intact language requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than 2008." And from GalleryWatch.com's USBudget Daily, "The House Appropriations Committee today reported the largest supplemental spending bill in the nation's history. The $124.1 billion war funding package, $21 billion above the president's request, also provides billions for domestic initiatives."
    * New Report on Substance Abuse at America's Colleges and Universities
    Press release: "Forty-nine percent (3.8 million) of full time college students binge drink and/or abuse prescription and illegal drugs, according to Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America's Colleges and Universities, a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The study also finds that 1.8 million full-time college students (22.9 percent) meet the medical criteria for substance abuse and dependence, two and one half times the 8.5 percent of the general population who meet these same criteria."
  • Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) - 244 pages, PDF)
  • * Resources Related to Health Coverage and Hurricane Katrina
    "As part of the Kaiser Family Foundation's commitment to help respond to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, here you will find resources related to an ongoing effort to monitor and study the health coverage and needs of the victims - topics include: Survivor Experiences, Surveys, Health Coverage, State Facts (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, States Most Affected by Hurricane Katrina, HIV/AIDS Issues and Additional Resources on Hurricane Katrina Relief." See also:
  • Health Care in New Orleans: Before and After Katrina Kaiser Executive Vice President Diane Rowland testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations examining the continuing concerns and immediate needs in health care for New Orleans, March 13, 2007.
  • Related postings on hurricanes Katrina and Rita
  • * E-Gov't Site: Meaningful Access for People Who Are Limited English Proficient
    "LEP.gov promotes a positive and cooperative understanding of the importance of language access to federal programs and federally assisted programs. This website supports fair, reasoned and consistent implementation of Executive Order 13166, Title VI, and the Title VI regulations regarding language access. This site also acts as a clearinghouse, providing and linking to information, tools, and technical assistance regarding Limited English Proficiency and language services for federal agencies, recipients of federal funds, users of federal programs and federally assisted programs, and other stakeholders."
    * House Oversight Chairman Waxman Applauds Passage of Open Government Bills
    "Today the House of Representatives passed four good government bills. H.R. 985 enhances protections offered to federal whistleblowers, H.R. 1255 strengthens the Freedom of Information Act, H.R. 1255 makes clear that presidential records belong to the public, and H.R. 1254 requires organizations that raise money for presidential libraries to disclose information about their donors.
  • H.R. 1255, approved by a vote of 333-93, makes clear that presidential records belong to the American people, not the president who created them. The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 will nullify a Bush executive order which gave former presidents – and their heirs – nearly unlimited authority to withhold or delay the release of their own records. If it becomes law, this legislation will ensure that a complete historical record is available to researchers.
  • H.R. 1254, approved by a vote of 390-34, will require organizations that raise money for presidential libraries to disclose information about their donors. This will eliminate a major loophole that allows presidential supporters to secretly give millions in support of a president’s legacy while that president remains in office.
  • H.R. 1309, approved by a vote of 308-117, will strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and improve public access to government information. One key element of this legislation would restore the presumption of disclosure under FOIA that was eliminated by the Bush Administration in 2001.
  • H.R. 985, approved by a vote of 331-94, offers improved protections to federal whistleblowers who report wrongdoing to authorities. Federal employees and contractors are privy to information that enables them to play an essential role in ensuring government accountability."
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