FederalDaily - September 29, 2006
Senators Call for National Public Service Academy
Senators joined in a bipartisan effort to introduce legislation calling for the creation of a new
public service school. The United States Public Service Academy (PSA) Act would establish an undergraduate
institution—modeled after military service academies—to cultivate a new generation of public
leaders, said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on Sept 27. The measure would create an academy
to provide a four-year, federally-subsidized college education for more than 5,000 students a year
in exchange for a five-year commitment to public service upon graduation. PSA graduates could fulfill
their obligation by helping to fill vacancies in the critical fields of law enforcement and teaching,
Clinton said. “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that our nation improve its capacity to
groom future public servants,” said Clinton. “The establishment of a Public Service Academy
is an innovative way to strengthen and protect America by creating a corps of well-trained, highly-qualified
civilian leaders.” For more, go to: http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=263924&&
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Union Disappointed with Walter Reed Transfers
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said it was disappointed that efforts to keep
350 blue-collar jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center have failed. Senate and House conferees to
the FY 2007 defense appropriations bill decided to drop an amendment backed by Maryland Democratic
Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes, said AFGE on Sept. 26. The amendment would have prevented
the Army from moving forward with a plan to transfer work performed by about 350 federal employees
to a private company in Florida. Mikulski, as well as AFGE, said they considered the Walter Reed process
particularly flawed because it had taken so long. Furthermore, AFGE said the plan did not take into
account how the hospital workload had changed. AFGE national President John Gage said the transfer
of the jobs “is a terrible injustice to the dedicated workforce and a significant setback for
taxpayers and warfighters.” To see more, go to: www.afge.org
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FCC Establishes New Homeland Security Bureau
In an effort to improve emergency communication in times of national crisis or natural disaster, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has created a Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. The
bureau will coordinate all FCC’s activities involving public safety, national security, disaster
management policy/planning and outreach. The new department is to provide a single central hub for
the development of policies and rules to promote reliable communications for public safety, national
security and disaster management, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said on Sept. 25. The new bureau is
an attempt to address some of the communications problems that surfaced last year in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina. “One of the commission’s strategic goals is to ensure that public safety, health,
defense and emergency personnel, as well as all consumers in need, have reliable communications during
emergencies and crises,” Martin said. To see the order, go to: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-35A1.doc.
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