FederalDaily - June 30, 2005
President Signs Off On Security Clearance Reform
President Bush on June 27 signed an executive order implementing provisions
to reform the security clearance process. House Government Reform Committee
Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., authored the provision. “Large backlogs, long
wait times and convoluted bureaucratic hierarchies have plagued this process
for years, endangering national security and costing the taxpayers millions
of dollars a year,” Davis said. His provision in the Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 set benchmarks for reducing the backlog.
Davis said the new executive order creates a framework for the Office of Management
and Budget to work with the stakeholder agencies to streamline the security
clearance process.
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Army Commander Accused of Abuse Keeps Job
In connection with allegations of abuse of trainees while commanding a training
company, Army Capt. William Fulton was sentenced on June 21 to six months’ confinement
by a general court-martial at Fort Knox, Ky., for dereliction of duty. He was
accused of dereliction of duty, false swearing and trainee maltreatment and
he pleaded not guilty. The prosecutors alleged that Fulton had personally abused
a recruit, supposedly punching a trainee in the stomach while attempting to
take away his inhaler during the initial basic training contraband shakedown.
After the dereliction of duty charge was sustained, Fulton was not dismissed
from the Army. His sentence is still pending approval.
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USPS Reaches Agreement with APWU
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
have reached a tentative one-year contract extension that provides for a 1.6
percent wage increase effective March 18, 2006, and includes the continuation
of the cost-of-living allowance. The agreement, if ratified by union members,
will affect approximately 287,000 USPS employees represented by APWU. The tentative
contract extension covers the period from November 20, 2005, through November
20, 2006.
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Senators Call for RMA Administrator’s Resignation
Citing a lack of responsiveness and leadership, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.,
on June 28 joined Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Pat Roberts, R-Kan.,
in calling for the resignation of Risk Management Agency (RMA) Administrator
Ross Davidson. RMA is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. RMA works
to preserve the economic stability of the country’s agricultural producers. "Your
agency's lack of responsiveness has led to a breakdown of confidence, a breakdown
of support and a growing level of anger and frustration," Conrad told
Davidson during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing to review the federal
crop insurance program. According to Conrad, the call for Davidson’s
resignation follows a string of bipartisan criticisms over management of the
RMA.
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