FederalDaily - July 11, 2006
Corps’ of Engineers Privatization Plan Stopped
Legislation in both houses of Congress could block plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to study the privatization of lock and dam personnel, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said July 7. The recently passed House version of the 2007 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act prohibits the use of funds “to implement an A-76 study or similar privatization process for Corps personnel employed to operate or maintain locks and dams.” The Senate has yet to pass its version, but has included similar language. John Gage, AFGE president, praised Congress for preventing a review of “thousands of reliable and experienced federal employees who maintain and operate the nation’s locks and dams at approximately 200 facilities.”
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Five U.S. Soldiers Charged in Iraq Rape/Murder
Five American military personnel have been charged for their role in the rape and murder of four Iraqi civilians that occurred this past March, Department of Defense (DoD) officials said July 9. Four of the soldiers are accussed of participating in the rape of an Iraqi woman and the murder of her three family members, DoD said. The fifth soldier is charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the incident. The four service members supposedly conspired with Steven Green, who served in Iraq from September 2005 to April 2006 before being discharged. Green pleaded guilty in a Kentucky federal court on July 7.
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Federal Agencies Urged To Measure Facility Security
The federal government needs to establish standard guidance and performance measures to assess security of federal facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recently released report. The study, completed in May 2006, noted that some agencies were already measuring facility security, including agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, there is no government-wide guidance that would help federal agencies develop facility security measures as detailed as those already taken in the private sector, GAO said. GAO called upon DHS, as head of the Interagency Security Committee, to develop guidance and standards for all federal agencies to follow. The GAO report is available online at www.gao.gov/new.items/d06612.pdf.
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ICE Arrests Alien that Assaulted CBP Agent
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Mexican national on a felony charge of re-entry after deportation—almost 20 years after he shot and critically wounded a Customs and Border Protection agent in Southern Arizona, the agency said July 7. ICE officers arrested 50-year old Humberto Fuentes at his home in Phoenix. Fuentes had fled to Mexico after the assault, but eventually served time in the U.S. for the shooting and was deported to Mexico in 1991. However, ICE was tipped off by another agency that Fuentes had recently returned to the U.S. illegally.
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