FederalDaily - September 14, 2005
Bill Would Allow Volunteers at Border
Last week Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., introduced the Protecting America Together
Act, which would establish a volunteer auxiliary command to help the Customs
and Border Protection. The legislation would authorize the secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security to organize unarmed volunteers to assist the
Border Patrol in the enforcement of immigration laws. Volunteers would not
possess any of the legally-vested powers and privileges of federal agents,
but would be a “force multiplier.” Drake said volunteers could
be assigned to duties such as: notifying Border Patrol agents of illegal immigrant
crossings, filling administrative roles to allow Border Patrol agents to focus
on law enforcement activities, and administering first aid to detained, illegal
immigrants in need.
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DoD Encourages Civilians to Volunteer
Because of the ongoing need for volunteers to support hurricane relief efforts
in the Gulf, the Department of Defense (DoD) is encouraging its federal civilian
employees to consider participating. In a Sept. 8 memo to department leaders,
David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, urged
DoD employees to offer their services, as long as it doesn't impact on their
immediate defense mission. In his memo, Chu said the Federal Emergency Management
Agency is offering federal civilian employees the opportunity to volunteer
for 14- to 30-day deployments to affected areas to help support DoD efforts.
Volunteers will remain on the DoD payrolls and be will be in a temporary-duty
status while performing their volunteer service, Chu said. Details about the
volunteer program are posted at www.cpms.osd.mil, under the "Hurricane
Katrina" link.
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FBI Analyst Arrested for Sharing Information
An FBI intelligence analyst at Fort Monmouth, N.J., and a former official
with the Philippines National Police were arrested last week and charged with
passing classified information to people in the Republic of the Philippines,
according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, a former
Marine, was arrested by special agents of the FBI at his home in Woodbury,
N.J. The criminal complaint alleges that Aragoncillo, an FBI intelligence analyst
since July 2004 at the Fort Monmouth Information Technology Center, used an
FBI database to search, download and print classified documents concerning
the Philippines. Using personal Yahoo and Hotmail accounts, Aragoncillo allegedly
sent e-mail messages, often with classified documents attached, to individuals
in the Philippines, including current and former public officials of the Philippines,
DOJ said.
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eLearning Program for Veterans and Families
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. announced that veterans and their families can
now take advantage of a free eLearning program that teaches them the skills
necessary to be entrepreneurs. The program is available through The Veterans
Corporation (TVC), a nonprofit organization created by Congress in 1999. TVC’s
eLearning Center is an online program that offers more than a thousand courses
designed to foster three kinds of business skills: basic skills, entrepreneurial
skills and career skills. The online courses are free through Oct. 15, 2005,
to all who sign up. For more information and to access the eLearning Center,
visit TVC’s homepage at www.veteranscorp.org.
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