FederalDaily - September 13, 2006
GAO: Educate Providers of Program for Homeless Vets
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs to do a better job communicating policies for a program
that provides homeless vets with transitional housing to help them prepare for permanent housing, said
a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. According to the report issued Sept. 11, housing
providers often are not clear about the eligibility of homeless veterans for various public or private
accommodations under the program, called the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program. In
addition, GAO said, the VA should explore cost-effective ways to track veterans after they leave the
program. The VA did a single follow-up effort in 2001, but none since. GAO recommended that—as
an alternative to a stand-alone study—the VA review ways to use the data it already collects
from its own follow-up health assessments. The GPD program is one of nine VA programs that specialize
in serving homeless veterans. The VA estimates that on any given night, about 194,000 veterans were
homeless in 2005. The VA said that about one-third of homeless adults in United States are vets. To
see the report, www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-859.
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NTEU Urges Passage of Port Bill
The leader of the union representing federal border security workers urged the Senate to pass a port
security bill that would impose deadlines on worker background checks, expand screening for “dirty
bombs” and authorize a $400 million ports anti-terrorism initiative. Colleen M. Kelley, president
of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), endorsed the bill (S. 4954), which authorizes the
hiring of at least 725 additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. NTEU said the measure
also would improve container-cargo inspections by recognizing the importance of adequate CBP inspector
training. The union continued its criticism of the “One Face at the Border” initiative
that consolidated inspection functions, a move NTEU says has had the effect of reducing inspector specialization
at the nation’s ports of entry—resulting in a loss of inspection expertise. Debate on the
measure is expected to continue through next week. The House already has approved a seaport security
bill, H.R. 4954. NTEU represents about 15,000 CBP employees. To see the NTEU press release, go to, www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=956.
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Lawmakers Negotiate Whistleblower Rights
A whistleblower protection organization this week drew attention to what it called “a little-noticed
backroom showdown” over the rights of federal employee whistleblowers. According to the Government
Accountability Project (GAP), a revamped Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), approved by the Senate
in June as an amendment to the FY 2007 defense authorization bill, is at the center of the debate.
Unlike the Senate, the House did not consider whistleblower provisions when it passed its version of
the defense bill, GAP said Sept. 11, and conferees now are meeting to reconcile differences in the
two versions. In June, when the Senate passed its version of the whistleblower legislation, Tom Devine,
GAP legal director, called the Senate action “a burst of sunlight in what has become the dark
ages of government secrecy.” GAP this week said protecting government employees’ freedom
to warn the public of danger is a key to preventing another event like the Sept. 11 attacks, and challenged
the conferees to strengthen, rather than weaken, the Senate version’s federal whistleblower provisions.
Most recently, GAP noted, it was the efforts of a whistleblower that eventually convinced Federal Air
Marshal Service officials to stop insisting that agents dress in conservative, button-down business
attire that made their identities obvious and compromised public safety. To see more, go to: www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=600&keyword.
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