FederalDaily - June 13, 2007
TSA Ramps Up Employee Screening in Houston Airports
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on June 7 deployed more than 150 transportation security
officers, aviation security inspectors, federal air marshals and other personnel to augment the screening
of employees working in secure areas at two Houston airports. The surge operations are under way at
both the George Bush Intercontinental airport, which is on Houston’s suburban fringe, and the
downtown William P. Hobby airport, said TSA Administrator Kip Hawley. TSA stressed that the Houston
operation was a demonstration of the agency’s intent to implement random security enhancements
at any airport in the country. TSA will conduct additional such activities in the coming months on
an unannounced basis, Hawley said. In addition to the increased screening of employees in secure areas,
officers also performed random inspections of aircraft, Hawley said. To see more, go to: www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2007/press_release_06082007.shtm
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Former DoD Official Sentenced For Stealing Intelligence Funds
An ex-DoD official was sentenced on June 8 to one year in prison for stealing more than $100,000 in
government intelligence funds while he was serving in a secure outpost in Japan. John Taylor, 48, of
Columbus, Ga., a former Intelligence Contingency Funds (ICF) officer, also was ordered to serve three
years of supervised release following his prison term. He will also be forced to pay $106,500 in restitution
to compensate DoD for money he admitted to taking. Taylor was a civilian DoD employee who worked as
an ICF officer assigned to the 500th Military Intelligence Brigade in Camp Zama, Japan, approximately
25 miles southwest of Tokyo. Taylor admitted that from 2003 through January 2006, he used his official
position to steal at least $106,000 in DoD funds designated for intelligence-related activities. Taylor
embezzled the money by withdrawing cash from a government bank account whose funds were intended for
intelligence agents, and then concealed his acts by falsifying accounting vouchers and forms. To see
more, go to: www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2007/06/jtaylor-sent.pdf
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Officials to Promote APWU Health Plan
American Postal Workers Union (APWU) officials are being asked to help spread the word about a health
insurance premium break that is part of the union’s 2006-2010 collective bargaining agreement.
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees represented by the APWU who participate in the union’s Consumer
Driven Plan will see a reduction in health insurance premiums next year, said APWU President William
Burrus on June 12. Beginning next year, USPS will pay 95 percent of healthcare premiums for APWU-represented
employees enrolled in the APWU Consumer Driven Option, compared to 89 percent this year, Burrus said.
Although premiums for 2008 have not yet been finalized, if they were to remain at the 2007 level, self-only
coverage would cost employees just $8.18 per pay period; family coverage would cost only $18.40, Burrus
said. “Healthcare decisions are important,” Burrus wrote to the APWU presidents, “and
wise consumers need time to consider their options.” To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2007/nsb05-070612-healthplan.htm
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