FederalDaily - October 6, 2005
New Inspector General for Intelligence Community
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, announced a provision in the fiscal year 2006 Intelligence Authorization
Bill to create an inspector general of intelligence for the entire intelligence
community (IC). Snowe said the provision was based on legislation that she
authored last year, the Intelligence Community Accountability Act of 2004,
S. 2515. If it becomes law, under the FY 2006 Intelligence Authorization bill,
the new inspector general for all fifteen agencies in the IC would:
- have direct, prompt access to any IC employee or contractor;
- have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents,
papers, recommendations, or other materia l;
- be authorized to receive and investigate complaints from
any person; and
- have authorized subpoena power.
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Agencies Still Struggle with Telework
In a Sept. 27 letter to Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., (who is a champion of teleworking
in the federal government) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted
problems with the promotion of telework among federal employees. GAO said that
after studying five federal agencies, it found “none of the agencies
could report the actual number of employees who telework and how often they
do so” because none of the agencies could track teleworking through their
time and attendance systems. GAO said some agencies are working to address
managerial resistance to participation in telework, as that is often the most
significant block to teleworking programs. “Congress should continue
to consider ways to encourage agencies to promote telework” GAO stated.
To view the letter, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d051055r.pdf.
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Hearing Scheduled on Closing 700 FSA Offices
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said a full committee
hearing (proposed by Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo.) on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) efforts to close more than 713 Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will
be held on Oct. 20. On Sept. 28, USDA Secretary Mike Johanns announced modernization
efforts for the agency. He said nationally, the agency has 2,351 county offices
across the country. He said more than 400 of these offices now have two or fewer
full-time staff, and nearly 500 offices are within 20 miles of the next nearest
office. Included in potential modernization changes are: restructuring headquarters
staffing levels, restructuring county offices, reorganizing state offices and
modernizing FSA’s information technology resources.
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Hundreds of Boston TSA
Employees Complain
Twelve Democratic congressmen from Massachusetts sent a letter last month
to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general discussing complaints
from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. The congressmen
said that more than 200 TSA employees working at Logan International Airport
in Boston wrote letters alleging a number of unfair labor practices, including
discrimination, favoritism, conflicts of interest and inconsistencies in discipline. “The
allegations brought forth by TSA employees are disturbing,” the letter
stated. “We ask that you commence an investigation into these allegations.” The
congressmen signing the letter were: Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and
Reps. Michael Capuano, Edward Markey, Barney Frank, Richard Neal, John Olver,
Martin Meehan, William Delahunt, James McGovern, John Tierney and Stephen Lynch.
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