FederalDaily.com > State Dept. Would Need New Staff If VWP Were Eliminated

Federal Daily - June 25, 2008

State Dept. Would Need New Staff If VWP Were Eliminated

The State Department would need to add 1,890 new staff if the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)—which allows certain foreign travelers into the United States visa-free—is eliminated or suspended, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released June 23. GAO looked at ways to improve the VWP—which waives visa requirements for citizens from 27 countries—in light of suggestions that the program be abandoned because terrorists could use it to enter the country. GAO said that if the program were eliminated, the State Department would face the prospect of processing visas for the 12.6 million foreign visitors who travel to the United States from VWP countries each year. That ramping up would be expensive, costing about $486 million annually for new staff—including 540 Foreign Service officers and 1,350 local Foreign Service national staffers—and 45 new facilities, GAO said. According to the report, one alternative solution in development is the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That system would screen citizens from VWP countries before they travel to the United States; if found ineligible, a VWP traveler then would need to apply for visa. However, DHS has not yet resolved critical details concerning ESTA, GAO said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d08623high.pdf.

VA Proposes Pay for Performance at Veterans Health Administration

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has filed proposed rules that would create a new pay-for-performance demonstration project among GS-14 and GS-15 administrators working for the department’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA). “The purpose of the proposed project is to modify the General Schedule (GS) pay system to provide larger annual pay increases to employees who are better performers,” the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced in a notice proposing the plan, which was recently published in the Federal Register. The VHA project, like embattled pay-for-performance systems developed in recent years at other major agencies—notably Homeland Security and Defense—would eliminate the existing 10-step pay grades between GS levels, replacing them with performance-sensitive pay ranges. The ranges would be paid for from a “pay pool” funded by monies that would have been allocated for automatic across-the-board pay raises, the notice said. OPM wrote that the project, like other pay-for-performance systems developed by federal employers, proposes to provide “no pay increase to any participant rated below the Fully Successful performance level.” Performance would be established by a “performance appraisal program” also to be developed. The project would last five years, the notice said. The comment period on the proposal closes on July 18. To learn more, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-13733.pdf.

OPM Launches Updated SES Web site

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced June 23 that it has launched a revamped Senior Executive Service (SES) Web site featuring easier use and streamlined navigation. The site also contains new content, including information on executive development opportunities and on the recruitment and selection of candidates for scientific, professional and senior level positions, OPM said in a statement. OPM Director Linda Springer said the new site will “help our executives to have easy access to important information sources.” To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/ses.

Bush Nominates First Female Four-Star General

For the first time, a woman has been nominated for promotion to four-star general, DoD Secretary Robert Gates announced June 23. President Bush nominated Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to become a four-star general and head of the Army Materiel Command, which is responsible for outfitting and arming soldiers. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the first woman to attain the rank of a full general. The Army is limited by statute to 11 active-duty four-star generals. Dunwoody is currently deputy commanding general/chief of staff, Army Materiel Command, DoD said. Dunwoody received a direct commission as a second lieutenant in 1975, after graduating from the State University of New York at Cortland, where she received a bachelor’s degree in physical education. “Women continue to achieve great success and make invaluable contributions to the defense of this nation. This is an historic occasion for the Department of Defense,” Gates said. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?
releaseid=12007.

Federal Daily - June 25, 2008