GovExec.com Today - August 31, 2004
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August 31, 2004
* Unseen multi-agency security force on the job at GOP convention
* Agencies triple student loan repayments
* Discrimination issues on the agenda at EEOC conference
* Secret Service coordinator in the eye of convention storm
* Homeland Security officials defend student visitor system
* OPM's James rallies GOP troops
* Today's column: On Politics
* Quote of the Day
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1. Unseen multi-agency security force on the job at GOP convention
By Siobhan Gorman, National Journal
While a nearly 22,000-strong security force stood watch in and around Madison Square
Garden Saturday, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the arrest of two
terrorism suspects who authorities say were casing several subway stations, including
one around the corner from the Garden, as well as bridges and other venues in the city.
The announcement -- the result of a yearlong surveillance by NYPD intelligence
officers -- underscored the theme of the week for life in and around the Republican
National Convention compound: What you don't see is what's keeping you safe. What you
do see mainly makes you feel better.
Kelly told reporters he had "no indication" that the two men -- 21-year-old Shahawar
Matin Sinaj and 19-year-old James Elshafay -- were plotting to disturb the convention,
and he says that they have no known ties to international terrorist organizations. But
it seemed more than coincidental that the police would arrest two men they had been
following for a year as soon as they discovered the two were casing the Herald Square
subway station near the Garden -- three days before the Republicans began their confab.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0800/083004con1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0800/083004con1.htm
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2. Agencies triple student loan repayments
By David McGlinchey
Federal agencies spent three times as much in fiscal 2003 repaying student loans of
their employees as they did the year before, the Office of Personnel Management
reported Friday.
The State Department had the highest level of student loan repayments, spending $3.2
million to reimburse 660 workers for school loans. The Securities and Exchange
Commission was second, issuing $1.4 million in repayments to 257 employees. In third
was the Defense Department, with $1.3 million spent for 469 employees.
"I am pleased that agencies are utilizing the Student Loan Repayment Program more than
they have in the past," OPM Director Kay Coles James said. She added, however, that
work remained to be done to expand the program across the federal government.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004d2.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004d2.htm
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3. Discrimination issues on the agenda at EEOC conference
By Amelia Gruber
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday kicked off its annual conference
looking at challenges the agency faces in handling discrimination complaints filed by
federal employees.
The four-day conference in Las Vegas features discussions of several issues high on
interest groups' agendas, including implementing a law to hold managers more
accountable for discrimination. Union representatives and civil rights advocates said
they hope EEOC also will use the meetings as a forum to discuss staffing problems,
funding shortfalls and flaws in the case processing system.
One agenda issue is implementation of the 2002 Notification and Federal Employee
Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act. Agencies haven't put the law in
place as intended, in part because the EEOC hasn't given them adequate guidance, said
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, the law's author. The act, which took effect last fall,
requires agencies to use their own funds rather than a general Treasury account to
settle discrimination and whistleblower lawsuits. No FEAR also requires agencies to
report on the volume, nature and resolution of complaints.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004a1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004a1.htm
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4. Secret Service coordinator in the eye of convention storm
By Siobhan Gorman, National Journal
As he traverses the red-carpeted floor of the convention hall, Steve Hughes says
confidently, "This will be the safest place to be." Why? He can't say -- on the record
at least. But trust us, his off-the-record explanation was convincing.
Hughes, the Secret Service's chief coordinator for convention security, has been
stationed in New York City for the past 15 months, overseeing security arrangements at
Madison Square Garden and beyond the security perimeter. Hughes and two colleagues
spent an hour earlier in the week walking Convention Daily through the hall and its
security components -- well, at least the ones they're willing to talk about.
When Hughes arrived here last year, the Secret Service was already three months into
its evaluation of the security scene at the Garden -- a five-month project that
produced a phone-book-sized document that detailed every security hole and how to plug
it -- including the security perimeter and all entry and exit points. It also
designated ultra-secure places for holding VIPs and spots to position countersniper
and counterassault teams.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004con2.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004con2.htm
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5. Homeland Security officials defend student visitor system
By David McGlinchey
Standing in front of the international baggage claim area at Washington Dulles
International Airport, senior Homeland Security officials praised a program Friday
that registers foreign students who come to study in the United States.
Robert Bonner, the commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection agency, described
the Web-based Student and Exchange Visitor Information System as a "very important"
homeland security tool. But he acknowledged that the program has had some growing
pains since its inception last year.
"Certainly, there are challenges that remain," Bonner said.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004d1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004d1.htm
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_____
6. OPM's James rallies GOP troops
By Brian Friel, National Journal
Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James is in New York this week to
help rally the Republican Party faithful to get George Bush reelected.
James spoke Monday to the Minnesota delegation at a breakfast meeting at the Marriott
East Side hotel in Manhattan. "Serving this president is no joke," James told the
swing state delegation, reminding them that he is the first president with an MBA and
is an avid baseball fan. "He likes to win, he likes to keep score and he demands
results."
It's common for political appointees in the executive branch to stump for their
bosses, though they have to perform such political work on their own time. James
appeared at the meeting with Education Secretary Rod Paige. Labor Secretary Elaine
Chao and Agriculture Secretary Anne Veneman are among the other Cabinet secretaries in
New York this week.
Full story: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004b1.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083004b1.htm
_____
7. Today's column: On Politics
Reading the Tea Leaves
Depending on which numbers you find most persuasive, you can convince yourself that
President Bush is virtually certain to be re-elected or will surely lose in November.
Full column: { Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083104op.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/083104op.htm
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8. The Earlybird: Today's headlines
Get links to the top news of the day:
{ Link: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/ebird.htm }
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/ebird.htm
_____
9. Quote of the Day
"It's what you don't see that is probably the actual response -- not people standing
there with a rifle on the street corner."
-- New York Police Detective Vincent Aprea, a member of the federal-state-local
security team for the Republican Convention.
_____
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