http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=54105&paper=61&cat=1 09 Lawmakers Assail DOD Security Requirements Davis and Moran say new security rules for Defense Department offices in Northern Virginia are excessive. by Brian McNeill August 4, 2005
Testifying last Wednesday before a panel of skeptical federal lawmakers, senior Defense Department officials said tough new security requirements for the military's leased commercial offices in Northern Virginia are needed to protect employees from terrorist attacks. "Force protection has always been a high priority for the Department [of Defense]," said Get W. Moy, director of the military's office of Installations Resource Management at a House Government Reform Committee hearing. "We want to protect the mission, as well as our personnel." The new building security requirements are part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, a plan to reduce staffing at 800 military installations over the next two decades, saving an estimated $49 billion. The new rules go into effect on Oct. 1 for new construction and new leased offices, as well as any rollover of existing lease terms effective Oct. 1, 2009. Under the new security rules, leased military buildings must be set back at least 148 feet from traffic, public access to underground parking garages must be restricted and lower levels must be "hardened" to protect from truck bombs. But members of the House committee - led by U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-11) - said the new security standards are unnecessary and overly expensive. "The Defense Department is basically saying that four million square feet of leased office space in Northern Virginia is unusable," Davis said. "In the long term, this is going to cost billions and billions of dollars." DEFENSE DEPARTMENT employees work in 140 leased offices in Arlington, Fairfax County and Alexandria. If approved by President George W. Bush on Sept. 8, the base realignment and closure plan would transfer 23,000 workers in these offices to secure military bases by 2011. At the same time, many private military contractors would also be forced to relocate. Local officials in Arlington estimate a total of 8 million square feet of commercial office space could be vacated - roughly two-thirds of the county's entire leased office market. U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8), who also testified before the House committee, said the new Defense Department security requirements will effectively ban military employees from working in dense, urban localities like Arlington, Fairfax County, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. "What kind of message are we sending to our citizens with these kinds of security measures?" Moran said. "That it is less safe to live in urban areas? That civilian employees of the Defense Department must have a different level of protection than CIA employees or the President or elementary school children in our communities?" In a classified Defense Department memo, written last February, senior officials said they wanted to use the base realignment and closure process as a way to "get out of leased office space" and that being located in "the National Capital Region is not good," Davis said. It can be difficult to protect employees working in leased office space because private landlords are often hesitant to implement expensive security measures, including such measures as shatter-resistant windows, intrusion detection systems, inaccessible air intakes, dedicated HVAC systems, closed circuit television monitoring and restricted-access lobby areas. It makes sense to relocate under one roof those offices that have such tight and expensive security needs, said Joseph Moravec, commissioner of the Public Buildings Service in the U.S. General Services Administration, which oversees facilities for the federal government. "The value of innocent human life is beyond measure whether it is in owned or leased federal space," Moravec said. "Security of our people was and is our top priority." THE NEW DEFENSE Department security standards are stricter than those of other sensitive federal government facilities - including intelligence agencies, congressional offices and the Department of Homeland Security, Davis said. "What makes you think you're so special compared with intelligence and other federal agencies?" Davis asked Moy and the other Defense Department staffers at the hearing. Moy said the Defense Department needs tighter security than other federal agencies, pointing to the 1996 terrorist attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which left 19 U.S. service members dead. With so many defense-related budget needs competing for federal dollars, members of Congress will be hesitant to fund costs associated with the new Defense Department security requirements - which will include facilities, training, relocation costs and more. "You're not going to get this funded. You are not going to get this funded in the House. You are not going to get this funded in the Senate," Davis said. THE PROPOSED security rules may actually hinder the Defense Department's efforts make the military a more effective fighting force, Moran said. The majority of highly-skilled workers employed at the DOD's Northern Virginia offices and related military contractors will likely quit their jobs rather than relocate to a shuttered military base, he said. "DOD's proposed changes will not only displace tens of thousands of our nation's top military and civilian personnel located at these vital defense agencies, but will also adversely affect our military's readiness if highly-trained personnel do not move with their agencies and leave the federal workforce," Moran said. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hi2nsgj/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123682115/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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