FederalDaily - July 13, 2006
Senate OKs Amendment to Revamp FEMA
The Senate July 11 approved bipartisan legislation that would reinvent the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The legislation, which came as an amendment to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations legislation, passed the Senate 87 to 11. The amendment would replace FEMA with a new agency that incorporates key recommendations of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s investigation into the inadequate federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Committee Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine, who co-sponsored the amendment with Ranking Member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said the “overarching objective of the amendment is to strengthen FEMA by giving it new authority, new capabilities, and new responsibilities for all-hazards emergency preparedness and response.” The amendment would recreate FEMA as the U.S. Emergency Management Authority within DHS as an independent agency similar in structure to the Coast Guard, and would reunite the agency’s preparedness and response functions.
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NASD Warns Against Phony Regulatory Web Sites
The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD)—the leading private regulatory body of the financial industry—issued a warning July 11 for the public to be vigilant against scammers who set up phony government lookalike Web sites. NASD has identified at least three ongoing criminal operations that make use of e-mail addresses and URLs that end in “-gov.us” in order to resemble U.S. government electronic addresses that use the “.gov” ending “What we are seeing is a new trick to lend legitimacy to money-making 'advance fee' schemes by fraudsters in the international arena," said NASD Senior Executive Vice President Elisse Walter. NASD offers a brochure with more on online investor scams, "Dash" Gov Sites Part of Ploy to Dash Off With Your Money, at www.nasd.com/InvestorInformation/index.htm
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Officers’ Group Decries Weak Education Benefits in Guard
Members of the National Guard and military Reservists are not eligible for full education benefits, despite their frequently long full-time stints in active duty service in recent years, according to a July 9 editorial authored by an official at the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). As a veteran’s benefit, active-duty troops can use time served toward college credits after they leave the service—to the tune of over $1,000 in assistance each month for 36 months. But Guards and Reservists are treated like “second class citizens” and cannot do so, according to Col. Bob Norton, USA-Ret., MOAA deputy director. MOAA, which claims 360,000 members, has gathered 40 organizations to back a bill that would remedy the disparity. For more information, go to www.moaa.org.
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Upgrade Urged for NOAA Acquisition Procedures
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has yet to put all its field acquisition activities under its acquisition director’s oversight, “increasing the risk that taxpayers are not getting the best value for their dollars,” according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit. With $851 million in spending last year, NOAA accounts for more than half of its Department of Commerce parent’s total acquisition budget, and so tying up loose ends could save significant sums, according to the report. NOAA also needs to promote knowledge-based acquisition processes and improve succession planning for its acquisition work force, the report said. To view the full report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d06594.pdf.
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