FederalDaily - July 31, 2006

DHS Procurement System Needs Improvement

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report details the strengths and weaknesses among efforts to improve procurement processes at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS was created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and now provides the umbrella for 23 separate federal agencies, but its sprawling size has left the department struggling to efficiently integrate its acquisition offices. Dual accountability is shared between a departmental Chief Procurement Office and the leaders of each DHS unit, creating tensions and inefficiencies between the central office and the component organizations. Further, the report said that the department’s central Office of Procurement Operations remains short-staffed. To the good, DHS and its components has successfully developed strategic sourcing and small business programs. Through these, the department’s component organizations have often “collaborated quickly to leverage spending for various goods and services,” including office supplies, boats, energy and others. For more: www.gao.gov/highlights/d061012thigh.pdf.

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Senator Pushes Further FEMA Reforms

Earlier this month, the Senate passed a bill calling for the replacement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with a new—and more independent—DHS entity called simply the Emergency Management Authority (EMA). Under the proposal, the head of the new EMA will report directly to the president, rather than the secretary of DHS, as is now the case. While this bill has a lot of momentum, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton July 27 floated her own proposed post-Katrina FEMA improvement plan: creating a way to directly fund small businesses in the aftermath of disasters. At present, most small businesses must apply for low-interest government loans in the wake of disasters. Drawing on the tough experiences of Hurricane Katrina, under Sen. Clinton’s plan, a new federal law would authorize several federal agencies to provide more direct relief, often in the form of grants, in order to get businesses back on track much more quickly and reliably in future crises. For more information on the bill, go to: http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=259824

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Federal Air Marshals Filling Quotas

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has requested a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) probe into a news report that federal air marshals are being told to fill a monthly quota of reports in which they label particular Americans as suspicious, the civil rights nonprofit said July 27. U.S. air marshals, whose identity was masked, told a Denver television station that they were required to submit a monthly Surveillance Detection Report (SDR). An SDR is a document intended to identify terrorist surveillance activity, that can lead to a person being listed on a national or international watch list. The air marshals cited as an example a person, most likely a tourist, who was written up for taking a picture of the Las Vegas skyline through an aircraft window. According to the air marshals, this system remains in force and affects annual raises, bonuses, awards and special assignments.  For more information, go to www.aclu.org.

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