FederalDaily - December 27, 2005
Defense Budget Passed by Congress
By a vote of 93-0 the Senate joined the House in passing the 2006 Department
of Defense Appropriations Act. As previously reported, the bill provides $50
billion for Iraq and Afghanistan operations and $96.9 billion for military
personnel. President George W. Bush issued a statement commending Congress’ passage
of the bill. “This funding will help us continue to hunt down the terrorists,
pursue our strategy for victory in Iraq, and make America more secure. I look
forward to signing the bill into law,” Bush said.
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Army Officer Arrested for Fraud and Bribery
On Dec. 15, 2005, Lt. Col Debra Harrison, of the U.S. Army Reserve, became
the second officer arrested in a scheme involving bribery, money laundering
and fraud at the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Al-Hillah, Iraq.
Harrison was a civil affairs officer during 2003 and 2004 in the CPA’s
Southern Central Region office. Her responsibilities included developing and
ordering contracts and contract solicitations. She served as the assistant
to the comptroller and became the acting comptroller and funding officer in
April 2004. Harrison is accused of accepting a Cadillac Escalade valued at
$50,000 and a $6,000 airline ticket from a contractor, in exchange for giving
the contractor preferential standing. Harrison is also alleged to have stolen
and laundered between $80,000 and $100,000 of CPA funds. She faces up to 30
years in prison and a $250,000 if convicted.
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Free Life Insurance for Troops in Combat Proposed
Military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan may receive life insurance
coverage at no charge if the president signs the current version of the defense
authorization bill. The amendment, proposed by Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., would
pay the premiums to provide free enrollment in the Servicemembers’ Group
Life Insurance (SGLI). “Our bill will ensure that no servicemember will
go into combat without knowing his or her family will be provided for if something
happens,” Spratt said. Currently SGLI gives coverage of $150,000, but
Spratt hopes to increase the amount to $400,000.
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DOE Fines Contractor
This past Thursday the Department of Energy (DOE) notified Washington TRU
Solutions (WTS) that the company will be fined $192,500 for nuclear safety
violations. WTS is the third contractor fined by DOE in the past week. The
violation notice cited low-level plutonium uptakes by WTS workers at the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. The violation specifically
dealt with a MOVER facility—a portable waste processing facility—that
can be transported to various DOE sites for waste processing. “Although
no regulatory exposure limits were exceeded, the consequences had the potential
to be more significant,” said John Shaw, Assistant Secretary for Environment,
Safety and Health.
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