FederalDaily.com > GSA Launches Federal Acquisition Service

FederalDaily - October 17, 2006

GSA Launches Federal Acquisition Service

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched the agency’s much anticipated Federal Acquisition Service—a merger of the old Federal Technology Service and Federal Supply Service. The move, authorized by President Bush under the General Services Administration Modernization Act (H.R. 2066), is meant to streamline the agency’s financial controls. “The signing of this legislation marks an historic moment for GSA and will keep us on track to hit our top target—superior customer service,” GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said Oct. 12. With the new Federal Acquisition Service, officials hope the consolidation will improve financial controls, reduce revenue losses in the old technology service and make for more efficient purchasing of federal services, equipment and supplies. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., HR 2066 sponsor, applauded the merger. “These actions constitute the first major GSA reform in more than 20 years,” Davis said, “and will transform federal purchasing by bringing GSA in line with the commercial market it must capture for its federal agency customers.” To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?page
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Lawmakers Appeal on Behalf of Ex-Agents

A contingent of House Republican lawmakers are appealing for charges to be dropped against two former Border Patrol agents convicted in the shooting of a suspect fleeing toward the Mexican border. Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were convicted in the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, a legal resident alien, just north of the border near El Paso. The agents fired at least 15 rounds at Aldrete-Davila while he was running away from them, hitting him once. Aldrete-Davila survived and testified against the two former agents. They are to be sentenced on Thursday after a motion to delay the sentencing was denied last week. Rep Walter Jones, R-N.C., along with five House colleagues, sent a letter Oct. 13 to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking that the sentencing be delayed—or that the agents’ convictions under 18 U.S.C.S. §924(c)a, a statute that makes it a crime to carry or use a firearm during commission of a violent or drug trafficking crime—be set aside. Those charges carry a mandatory 10-year prison term, which the lawmakers said is not warranted in this case. To see more, go to: http://jones.house.gov/html/release.cfm?id=455

All Federal Agencies Reporting Lost Computer Data

Incidents of misplaced or stolen personal data at federal agencies are more rampant than previously believed, with federal investigators counting 788 incidents across 19 departments and agencies involving the loss or compromise of sensitive personal information since Jan. 1, 2003. A report released Oct. 13 by the House Government Reform Committee raises troubling concerns over the government's ability to protect sensitive information, and said data loss was government-wide. The “vast majority” of the incidents were not accidental misplacements, but rather outright theft of data with sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, the report said. The committee began investigating data losses after several high-profile security breaches—including the theft in May of a Veterans Affairs Department laptop containing sensitive data for more than 26 million veterans. In some cases, the data were used inappropriately by employees and private contractors, the report said. The report notes that computer hackers were not responsible for the bulk of the thefts. The majority of data losses arose from thieves snatching portable computers, drives and disks, the report said. To see more, go to: http://reform.house.gov/GovReform/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=51539