FederalDaily - February 14, 2006

Legislation to Help Disabled Vets Gain Employment

The Disabled Veterans Fellowship Act of 2006—introduced last Thursday—may create additional job opportunities for disabled veterans by creating a fellowship program to place disabled veterans in temporary staff positions. The bill, introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would establish a program encouraging congressional committee and congressional leadership offices to hire such personnel to help them re-enter the work force. “Securing employment can be difficult for returning vets, which is why I feel it is so important to design a program that will help disabled veterans acquire new skills for work,” Santorum said. The unemployment rate for veterans between twenty and twenty-four years old is over 15 percent, almost twice the rate for nonveterans in the same age group.

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Full-Scale Cyber Security Testing Completed

The federal government has completed the first “full-scale government-led cyber security exercise”—called Cyber Storm—the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this past Friday. The exercise assessed the response, coordination and recovery mechanisms for a simulated cyber-event at the international, federal, state and local level. Over 100 public, private and international organizations participated in the exercise. In one simulated scenario, a security breach occurred within a utility’s computer system, causing disruptions to the power grid. George W. Foresman, DHS under secretary for preparedness, said, “Preparedness against a cyber attack requires partnership and coordination between all levels of government and the private sector. Cyber Storm provides an excellent opportunity to enhance our nation's cyber preparedness and better manage risk.”

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Two Convicted of Assaulting CBP Officers

On Feb. 9, 2006, a U. S. District Court found two private citizens, Jorge Luis Garcia Julia and Yosdani Chavez La Rosa, guilty on three counts of assaulting federal officers. Garcia Julia and La Rosa led Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Marine Enforcement Officers on a high speed boat chase in July 2005, after being spotted by a CBP patrol near Big Pine Key, Fla. They used the boat to intentionally ram the CBP vessel and physically resisted arrest. Garcia Julia, the driver of the boat, faces up to 21 years in prison, while Chavez La Rosa may receive a maximum one year sentence.

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NASA Cited for Nuclear Requirement Violations

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) cited NASA for submitting inaccurate information, NRC announced Friday. During a December 2002 inspection, a NASA contract radiation safety officer (RSO) “deliberately failed to report missing licensed material, as required, and provided incomplete and inaccurate information in writing and orally” to an NRC investigator. The case went to Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings in November 2005, but both parties reached a settlement agreement on Dec. 19. No fines will be levied against NASA. However, NASA agreed that the contract RSO caused a violation of NRC regulations. NASA has until Dec. 31, 2007 to implement corrective actions and notify NRC upon compliance.

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DoD Discusses Katrina Before Congress

The Department of Defense (DoD) must improve information gathering, communication and interagency coordination efforts, Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul McHale told Congress last Thursday in a committee meeting to discuss DoD’s response to Hurricane Katrina. During his testimony, McHale shared DoD’s lessons-learned from the recovery effort, which included the need to:

• gather faster and more accurate disaster assessment information;
• achieve unity in effort when efforts involve multiple federal agencies;
• ensure effective communication with first responders and emergency management;
• coordinate active duty and reserve personnel duties in planning for and responding to disasters; and
• examine the future role of DoD in disaster relief.

McHale’s testimony can be viewed online at http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/020906McHale.pdf.

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