FederalDaily - May 10, 2006

Americans Say USPS Is Trustworthy

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors announced that the service attained an on-time performance rate of 95 percent for overnight delivery of First-Class mail for the second quarter of fiscal year 2006. During a May 3 meeting in Washington, D.C., the board also went over results from a public survey that measured the public’s trust in federal agencies to handle personal information. The board noted that USPS scored as the most trustworthy federal agency—for the second year in a row—with a score of 82 percent. While the federal average dipped by 5 percent, the USPS score increased by 4 percent, the board said. During the meeting, the board also announced that, compared with this time last year:

• revenue is up 2.9 percent,
• expenses are up 4.2 percent, and
• transportation costs—including fuel—are 11.7 percent higher.

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FAA Contractor Oversight Audit Underway

Beginning this month, the Department of Transportation (DOT) inspector general will begin an audit of Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) management controls and oversight over flight service station contractors, according to a May 8 DOT memorandum. The memo said the audit will analyze the following:

• transition of flight service stations to contractors;
• anticipated savings from the conversion; and
• whether operational needs are still being met.

The FAA awarded the five-year contract on Feb. 1, 2005, with an option for five additional years. The contract covers operations at the agency’s 58 flight service stations. The FAA anticipates saving $1.7 billion over the next 10 years through contracting and consolidations, the memo said.

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Defense Inspector General’s Hurricane Auditing Update

The Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General is currently conducting 11 separate audits on Hurricane Katrina issues. Following is a list of the ongoing audit topics:

• DoD contract support for the recovery effort;
• Army Corps of Engineers ice delivery contract;
• Army Corps of Engineers’ “Operation Blue Roof” project;
• Army Corps of Engineers’ “Emergency Water” contractor;
• expanded micro-purchase authority for purchase card transactions;
• use of DoD resources supporting recovery efforts;
• the hurricane’s impact on DoD information technology (IT) resources;
• DoD accounting and oversight related to reconstruction;
• Navy’s costs for labor and material for relief efforts;
• safeguarding Army IT resources; and
• Defense Logistics Agency subsistence contracts for recovery efforts.

For more detail, visit www.dodig.osd.mil/Audit/katrina.htm.

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Changing Rules on Lawyers for Veterans

Legislation introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, would repeal a Civil War era restriction that prevents veterans from hiring attorneys to navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits process. A May 4 press release from Graham and Craig said that the Veterans’ Choice of Representation Act of 2006 would give the 24 million living veterans the right to hire lawyers to help get through the often complex VA system. Under current law, a veteran cannot hire a lawyer until exhausting the VA administrative process; that process can take months or years, the press release said. “This overdue change will significantly improve veterans’ access to the VA and expedite just outcomes,” Graham said. Craig, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, added that veterans would still have access to free services offered by veterans’ service organizations.

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