FederalDaily - October 26, 2006
IRS Issues IT Modernization Plan
IRS has outlined a new strategic vision for the agency’s information technology upgrade over
the next three years. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson laid out the plan, called the Information Technology
(IT) Modernization Vision & Strategy (MV&S). The MV&S is the next step in the agency’s
strategic planning process that began in 2005 and runs through 2009, Everson said. Three elements are
key to the MV&S, Everson said: improving taxpayer service, enhancing the enforcement of the tax
law and modernizing the agency. The MV&S takes a fundamentally different approach for the IRS—establishing
private-public partnerships as well as concentrating on making smaller, incremental improvements, he
said. “I believe the new MV&S is critical to fulfilling our agency’s mission,” he
said, and “I’m confident in the direction and investment decisions it sets forth.” To
see more, go to www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/mvs-10-06.pdf
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New Monitors Will Enhance Port Security
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) awarded
$113 million in contracts to purchase portable devices that will detect radiological materials at the
nation’s ports of entry. DNDO announced the Human Portable Radiation Detection Systems (HPRDS)
program awards Oct. 25. DNDO anticipates purchasing and deploying roughly 1,000 handheld systems and
200 backpack systems through the HPRDS program. The portable technology will be used primarily by Customs
and Border Protection officers for secondary screening of cargo to identify and localize radiological
material after a primary alarm has been triggered. The devices also could be used by Coast Guard officers
when boarding vessels prior to an arrival at port. “These next-generation handheld devices will
bring an even faster and more reliable means to detecting and identifying radioactive materials at
our ports,” said Vayl Oxford, DNDO director. To see more, go to: www.dhs.gov
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Ex-Border Agents Get Lengthy Prison Terms
In spite of an appeal for clemency from lawmakers, a federal judge sentenced two former Border Patrol
agents to lengthy prison terms for their convictions in the shooting of a suspect fleeing toward the
Mexican border. Former agents Ignacio Ramos received 11 years in prison and Jose Alonso Compean received
12 years for the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, a legal resident alien, just north
of the border near El Paso, Texas. 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. Republican House lawmakers had appealed for the charges to be dropped. “United
States Border Patrol agents are some of America’s most unsung heroes,” said U.S. Attorney
Johnny Sutton on Oct. 23. “The simple truth of this case is that (former) agents Compean and
Ramos shot 15 times at an unarmed man who was running away from them and posed no threat. They lied
about what happened and then proceeded to write up and file a false report.” To see more, go
to: www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2006/Compean_Ramos_sent_stmt_lon.pdf
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