FederalDaily - June 13, 2005
What the FBI Knew Before 9/11
The public now has access to a report on what information the FBI knew before
the 9/11 attacks that was potentially related to the attacks. The Department
of Justice Office of the Inspector General (IG) publicly released a report—which
was dated November 2004—on June 9. The report showed that in July 2001,
an FBI agent in Phoenix sent a memorandum to FBI Headquarters and the FBI’s
New York Field Office outlining the agent’s theory that there was an
effort by Usama Bin Laden to send students to the U.S. to attend civil aviation
schools so they could obtain jobs in the aviation industry and conduct terrorist
activity. “At the time of the September 11 attacks, little action had
been taken in response” to the memo, the IG report said. It also detailed
much of the other information the FBI had. To read the full redacted, unclassified
report, go to www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0506/final.pdf.
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National Counterterrorism Center Director
Named
President Bush announced last week his intention to nominate Vice Admiral
John Redd to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Office
of the Director of National Intelligence. Redd most recently served as executive
director of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding
Weapons of Mass Destruction. He previously served as deputy administrator and
chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad,
Iraq. His last assignment on active duty was as director of Strategic Plans
and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, one
of the co-authors of the legislation that created the NCTC, said Redd “should
be valuable” as the first leader of the NCTC. He will be responsible
for ensuring that the agencies and elements of the intelligence community work
together.
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AFGE Announces Winning INS Lawsuit
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced that it won
a $20 million initial payment in its 11-year battle with the agency formerly
known as Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) over unpaid overtime
for thousands of federal employees. Payments totaling $20 million will be made
on or before June 15 by the Department of Homeland Security, which absorbed
INS when it was created, in compliance with an order to compensate more than
8,600 employees of the former INS who worked overtime but were improperly paid.
Joe Goldberg, AFGE assistant general counsel, said the agency’s offer
to settle the grievance for $7 million was rejected by AFGE. The union’s
grievance was filed in June 1994.
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NTEU Closer to Customs Overtime Agreement
In other news concerning a union fighting for overtime pay, the National Treasury
Employees Union (NTEU) announced last week that it won its own victory. NTEU
has been working towards securing overtime pay for certain employees of the
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who worked an unpaid sixth day
each week during their training. Recently an arbitrator ruled in a grievance
brought by NTEU that legacy Customs inspectors and canine enforcement officers—now
part of the Department of Homeland Security—were improperly excluded
from coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). FLSA would have entitled
them to time-and-a-half overtime pay for the sixth day of training at the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center at Glynco, Georgia.
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