FederalDaily - September 12, 2006
WTC Responders Screening Makes Progress
At the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) issued an updated review of progress on the World Trade Center (WTC) Federal Responder Screening
Program. In February, GAO reported that among the five federally-funded programs monitoring the long-term
physical and mental health of responders to the WTC attack—which included New York City Fire
Department employees, federal government workers and others—the Department of Health and Human
Services’ (HHS) WTC federal responder program was lagging behind. The GAO update noted that HHS
in the past six months has made progress in screening more workers, but that the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) is still determining how to award most of the $75 million appropriated
for screening and treatment. CDC officials have proposed a spending plan that allocates about $53.5
million for treatment, but they told GAO that because they are uncertain about how quickly treatment
costs could deplete the available funds, they may need to make adjustments. As of August 2006, 1,762
federal workers have registered for screening, including 283 former federal workers. At that time,
Federal Occupational Health Services had completed screening of 907 federal workers, 380 of whom had
been screened since February. To see highlights from the GAO, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d061092thigh.pdf.
:: Back to Top ::
Another Salvo Fired in Border Patrol Case
Federal prosecutors fired back over criticism in the conviction of two former Border Patrol agents
who shot and injured a suspect fleeing toward the Mexican border. There have been calls for President
Bush to review the cases of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, convicted in the Feb. 17,
2005, shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, a legal resident alien, just north of the border near El
Paso. Justice Department officials in Texas who prosecuted the case issued a Sept. 8 fact sheet to
dispel what they called “misstatements and misinformation being reported in the media.” The
summary notes that the defendants were prosecuted because they had fired their weapons at Aldrete-Davila
as he attempted to surrender by holding his open hands in the air, not because they had violated Border
Patrol policies. Officials said that at no point did the agents file reports which said they feared
for their lives, a normal legal justification used by law enforcement officers for lethal use of force.
And, they also noted, the agents fired at least 15 rounds at Aldrete-Davila while he was running away
from them, hitting him once. For more, see www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2006/compeanramosfinal.pdf
:: Back to Top ::
Senate OKs Bill to Help Public Track Spending
The Senate unanimously passed legislation Sept. 7 that would create a Google-like search engine which
the public can use to track approximately $1 trillion in federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590), which was introduced by Sen. Tom
Coburn, R-Okla., and attracted 44 co-sponsors, would require the Office of Management and Budget to
create a free online, searchable system where the public can find information on most public expenditures.
The system would not include employee pay and benefits or any national-security-classified information.
Furthermore, all transactions under $25,000 would be exempted from the reporting requirement. The Congressional
Budget Office estimates that implementing S. 2590 would cost $4 million in 2007 and about $15 million
over the 2007-2011 period. The House has approved a similar measure, H.R. 5060, the Federal Spending
and Assistance Bill. “The group that deserves credit for passing this bill is not Congress, but
the army of bloggers and concerned citizens who told Congress that transparency is a just demand for
all citizens,” Coburn said. For more, http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=LatestNews.PressReleases&
ContentRecord_id=8dcb8c35-802a-23ad-4d37-9c8ea9c43460&Issue_id=
:: Back to Top ::
|
