Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast – June 28th

Texas revives TSA anti-groping measure, \'Fast and Furious\' whistleblower fired, USO breaks ground for new center at Ft. Belvoir

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

  • Tight budgets are forcing sweeping organizational changes at the Social Security Administration. Congress cut the agency’s IT budget by $300 million for fiscal 2011. In an e-mail obtained by Federal News Radio, Commissioner Michael Astrue said SSA’s Innovation and Investment Management units are moving out of the CIO’s office. They’ll move to the Office of Systems. The SSA Office of Budget, Finance and Management is also getting a makeover. Its security and emergency preparedness functions will move to the newly created Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness, according to Astrue.
  • Lawmakers might have to wait as long as the rest of us to retire and collect a pension. Proposed legislation from Illinois Republican Representative Bobby Schilling would prohibit lawmakers younger than the Social Security retirement age from tapping their pensions. GovExec reports members of Congress fall under Federal Employees Retirement System rules. That lets them get a full pension at 62 if they have at least five years of service. Under the proposed law, they’d have to wait at least another five years. Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio has introduced a similar bill in the Senate.
  • Congressman Joe Donnelly has reintroduced a bill aimed at speeding up the processing of VA disability claims. It’s called the Rating and Processing Individuals’ Disability or RAPID Claims Act. The Bill passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate. It would provide wounded warriors with faster response on their disability claims by setting into law a pilot program that pre-approves veterans of their eligibility. It also provides them with an appeal form. About 40,000 veterans appeal VA decisions each year.
  • A Texas state Senate committee has approved a revamped bill to ban intrusive airport pat-downs. A similar bill prompted the Transportation Security administration to threaten to shut down airports in Texas if it passed back in May. The author of the reworked bill says the legislation allows exceptions for agents with reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The Star-Telegram reports Texas lawmakers hope it will force TSA to alter its airport screening policies. The bill also expands the federal definition of “official oppression” to prohibit federal employees from improperly touching a person’s private areas, even through clothing. Violators would be punished by up to one year in jail or a $4,000 dollar fine.
  • One of the federal employees who blew the Whistle on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms weapon program says he’s been given a termination notice. FoxNews reports that worker is accusing ATF of retaliation. The agent, Vince Cefalu, blew the whistle on ATF’s “Fast and Furious” program, which allowed criminals to buy thousands of guns in the U.S. and walk them across the border to Mexico.
  • It’ll be another month before lawmakers negotiate an air transportation bill. The legislation could add more long-distance flights from Reagan National Airport. The Washington Business Journal reports the House passed a stop-gap measure late Friday night to fund the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, the Senate expects to take up the bill. There are major differences in the bills, including language that would make it easier for transportation industry employees to unionize, funding levels, and proposed restrictions on the FAA’s ability to enact new safety regulations.
  • Firefighters in New Mexico struggled overnight to hold back a fierce blaze roaring out of control at the edge of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Flames licked at the boundary of the 28,000 acre nuclear weapons complex, which includes a plutonium facility. The laboratory remains shut down. Lab officials say the hazardous materials are beyond the fire’s reach. As a precaution, they’ve called in special teams to track monitoring stations that measure levels of plutonium and uranium in the air.
  • Health and Human Services is in the market for a new Chief Information Officer. CIO Michael Carelton has announced he’s retiring after a 35 year career with the federal government. Carleton has been with HHS since 2007, and previously served as CIO at the General Services Administration for seven years. Carleton began his federal career at the Federal Energy Administration in 1976. He also blogged about IT reform at HHS for CIO.gov.
  • Public servants and entrepreneurs in Japan are asking people to grow sunflowers help decontaminate radioactive soil around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Breitbart reports volunteers are being asked to grow sunflowers this year, then send the seeds to the stricken area where they will be planted next year to help get rid of radioactive contaminants in the plant’s fallout zone. The campaign aims to cover large areas in yellow blossoms as a symbol of hope and reconstruction and to lure back tourists. The goal is a landscape so yellow that “it will surprise NASA”, said the project manager.
  • The USO has broken ground on the construction of the new USO Wounded Warrior and Family Center at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia. The center will provide non-critical care and support for wounded soldiers and their families as they transition from inpatient to outpatient care. The 25,000 square foot building will have family friendly rooms, classrooms, movie theaters, and healing gardens. It’s supported in part by USO’s Operation Enduring Care, a $100 million fundraising campaign to help build the Center at Ft. Belvoir. They also hope to build a Wounded Warrior and Family Center at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

More news links

Report: Boeing projects $300M overrun on tankers (DODBuzz)

Raytheon gets $1.7 billion Patriot deal (UPI)

University of Md., DARPA partners (UPI)

BAE Systems Wins $63M Army Facility Relocation Contract (GovConWire)

Government: No known terror threat tied to July 4

Rep. Giffords attends NASA ceremony in Houston

Grand Teton grizzly family causing bear jams

Decades after duty in the OSS and CIA, “spy girls” find each other in retirement (WashingtonPost)

THIS AFTERNOON ON FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

Coming up today on In Depth with Francis Rose:

–The Small Business Administration’s contracting scorecards are out. Guy Timberlake of the American Small Business Coalition will tell what he thinks about the grades.

–Beauty queens always wish for world peace…you’ll meet someone who really made it happen.

Join Francis from 3 to 7 pm on 1500 AM or on your computer.

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