FederalDaily - June 29, 2005
Protecting Disabled Feds from A-76
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., seems to have persuaded Dr. Elias Zerhouni,
director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to protect the jobs of
several agency employees with disabilities from A-76 competition with the private
sector. After Van Hollen was contacted by the mother of a 34-year-old man with
autism whose job at the NIH was being subjected to an A-76 public-private competition,
Van Hollen contacted Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt
to advise him that he had introduced the Federal Employees with Disabilities
Protection Act. That measure would ensure that the employment of federal employees
with disabilities would be protected from the effects of competitive outsourcing.
Zerhouni then advised Van Hollen that five positions at NIH, including the
one about which he had expressed concern, had been recoded and would not be
subject to private sector outsourcing. Van Hollen’s bill has not yet
become law.
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AF Appoints Consultant on Values
Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, former national director of the Interreligious
Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, was named special assistant to the
secretary of the Air Force (AF) and to the chief of staff for values and vision
on June 24. Resnicoff began work June 27 and will report directly to the secretary,
but will also advise the AF chief of staff. An AF statement said Resnicoff's
immediate focus will be the religious climate at the Air Force Academy, which
has recently been under fire for being intolerant. Resnicoff, a retired Navy
captain, will also have responsibility for reviewing policies relating to character-building,
honor codes, equal opportunity programs and military ethics.
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New Confidential Way to Report DoD Sexual Assaults
The Department of Defense (DoD) has made changes to the process of reporting
sexual assault, including implementing “restricted reporting.” Under
this new restricted reporting option, the chain of command will be informed
of the assault and provided as much information as possible without identifying
the individuals involved. The goal is to give a more complete picture of the
actual prominence of violent crimes in a given area, while still protecting
the confidentiality of the victim. “We want to create a different climate,
where our people feel comfortable coming forward. If you offer confidentiality,
you increase the reporting rate,” said Dr. David Chu, undersecretary
of Defense for Personnel Readiness.
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DHS Faces Challenges Protecting Computer Systems
Computer interconnectivity has benefits, but also poses significant risks
to the nation’s computer systems and the operations they support, a new
Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. The Homeland Security Act
of 2002 established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the focal
point for coordinating protection of the computer systems that support the
nation’s critical infrastructures. DHS has many cybersecurity-related
roles and responsibilities. DHS established the National Cyber Security Division
to take the lead in addressing the cybersecurity of critical infrastructures.
However, DHS has not yet developed national cyber threat and vulnerability
assessments or government/industry contingency recovery plans for cybersecurity,
including a plan for recovering key Internet functions, according to GAO. DHS’ key
challenges include achieving organizational stability, gaining organizational
authority, overcoming hiring and contracting issues and increasing awareness
about cybersecurity roles.
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