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Census getting back on course, lawmakers told
BY GAUTHAM NAGESH, GNAGESH@GOVEXEC.COM The Census Bureau has improved its management of the 2010 decennial census project, but uncertainty over cost remains a concern, government and industry officials told lawmakers on Wednesday. At a joint hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, observers from the Government Accountability Office and the research firm MITRE Corp. said the agency was doing a better job of working with the contractor Harris Corp., but the uncertain cost of the contract and an incomplete testing plan for all aspects of the 2010 census leave the program at risk. The Census Bureau awarded the Field Data Collection Automation contract to Harris in March 2006 for $595 million. The company was to develop 500,000 handheld computers for enumerators who go door to door to count households that do not return their census forms. In April, delays and ballooning contract costs forced the agency to abandon its plan to use the handhelds for follow-up and to revert to paper-based forms. The agency still plans to use the handhelds for address canvassing next year. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080611_7202.php?zone=NGpopular
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Rep. Wolf warns of Chinese cyber-espionage attempts
BY ANDREW NOYES, CONGRESSDAILY Read the related Associated Press story. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is taking to the floor today to warn lawmakers that they must be vigilant in fighting government computer hackers. He prepared the speech after learning from the FBI that several of his office workstations were infiltrated by Chinese operatives. "I am deeply worried that this institution is not adequately protected," he said in prepared remarks. Wolf has previously called for hearings in the House Administration, Armed Services, Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, an aide said. Wolf said cyber-intrusions by China and other countries pose dangers not only to the entire U.S. government, including the military, and to the private sector. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080611_9934.php?zone=NGpopular
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GSA official urges passage of cooperative purchasing bill for security
BY GAUTHAM NAGESH, GNAGESH@GOVEXEC.COM A top executive with the General Services Administration urged Congress on Tuesday to pass a bill that would allow state and local governments to buy security products and services off federal contracts. Jim Williams, commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, said the contracts, offered on Schedule 84, provide commercial information and physical security solutions, such as biometrics and cameras. Agencies buying the security products and services include those involved in law enforcement, fire, rescue, marine craft, and emergency and disaster response. Sales on Schedule 84, which was awarded in 2002 and had a five-year extension in 2007, have reached $1.8 billion so far in fiscal 2008. "We look forward to the Schedule 84 extension passing quickly," Williams told an audience at the Security Industry Association?s 2008 Government Summit. "State and local governments have the same security requirements [as the federal agencies], have the same need to save money and are also dealing with a scarcity in acquisition expertise. Why would you say no to this?" Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080610_6401.php?zone=NGpopular
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GSA signs telework agreement with union
BY GAUTHAM NAGESH, GNAGESH@GOVEXEC.COM The General Services Administration announced on Monday that it signed an agreement with a union representing agency employees to work from home, avoiding disagreements that scrapped negotiations with another federal union over the agency's telework policy. Under the agreement, GSA employees who are members of the American Federation of Government Employees union can work from home if they follow GSA's telework policy, which it introduced in April. Included in the policy are requirements that employees pay for Internet broadband services to their homes to connect to GSA networks and obtain approval from their supervisers to telework. Those issues scuttled talks last week with the National Federation of Federal Employees GSA Council. Talks between the NFFE council and GSA officials broke off when the agency refused to pay employees' costs for broadband services and the two sides could not agree on how much discretion GSA managers would have in deciding which employees could telework. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080609_1739.php?zone=NGpopular
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Cooperative purchasing bill close to becoming law
BY ROBERT BRODSKY, RBRODSKY@GOVEXEC.COM The Senate has approved a bill that would allow state and local governments to purchase law enforcement, firefighting and security products and services through a General Services Administration supply schedule. On Tuesday evening, the Senate agreed by unanimous consent to pass H.R. 3179, also known as the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. Sponsored by Reps. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., and Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., the bill would allow nonfederal government entities to buy off GSA's Schedule 84 through a process known as cooperative purchasing. An identical bill passed the House by voice vote last December. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080611_9927.php?zone=NGpopular
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Bush management initiative likely to survive transition
BY ELIZABETH NEWELL, GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE The consolidation of processes and systems under the Bush administration's lines of business initiative likely will continue in some form in the next administration, a research firm is predicting. The lines of business were established to support the e-government arm of the President's Management Agenda. The Office of Management and Budget established task forces to analyze business and information technology data and best practices for each line of business. Originally there were five -- financial, human resources, grants, health and case management systems. Four have since been added -- information systems security, budget formulation and execution, geospatial, and IT infrastructure. OMB has set strategies such as consolidating computer networks, using technology to cut costs and improving service in each line of business. According to a new report from Reston, Va-based INPUT, OMB has adjusted the lines of business to reflect information sharing goals that are "achievable, needed, and can provide value." Setting realistic goals and clearly outlining the potential benefits for agencies and citizens makes it likely that the "concepts behind most [lines of business] are likely to live on," the study said. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080612_3488.php?zone=NGpopular
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FDA asks for $65 million to better track food contamination
BY BOB BREWIN The Food and Drug Administration would use millions of dollars in extra fiscal 2009 funds to upgrade its information technology to tie together multiple databases so it can better track food-borne diseases and possible adverse effects from medical devices, the agency's chief information officer said on Wednesday. FDA has asked for a $65 million increase in its fiscal 2009 IT modernization budget to make multiple food and medical device databases interoperable and eliminate manual paper-based processes, said Tom Stitely, the agency's CIO. FDA had requested a $252 million IT budget for fiscal 2009, up slightly from $248 million in fiscal 2008. The additional $65 million will push the 2009 IT budget to $317 million. The increase also will beef up scientific computing capacity that FDA researchers use, including adding supercomputers, he said. FDA is discussing with the National Institutes of Health to use its high-performance computers while studying whether to bring the technology in house, Stitely said. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080611_3153.php?zone=NGpopular
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Lawmakers Look To Strike Right Balance With Spyware Bill
BY ANDREW NOYES, CONGRESSDAILY Senate Commerce Committee members Wednesday stressed the importance of striking the right balance with legislation to help fight secretly installed computer spyware and provide the FTC with the tools the agency needs to prosecute high-tech hackers. Consumer Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who introduced an anti-spyware bill in June 2007 with Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said there are "very few if any, that I can determine, legitimate reasons for this practice [and] there are a number of reasons why we should do something to try to stop spyware." Their bill would criminalize the act of implanting of spyware on a person's computer without consent. Pryor called for "a good, workable definition of spyware" and increased civil penalty authority for the FTC, which would be granted under a reauthorization bill sponsored by Senate Commerce Chairman Daniel Inouye and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., this year. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080612_2196.php?zone=NGpopular
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Dems cool to proposals to expand E-Verify program
BY ANDREW NOYES, CONGRESSDAILY House Democrats expressed skepticism today about the Homeland Security Department's voluntary electronic employee verification system and warned that before any regime is made mandatory for U.S. employers, the government must fix a number of problems with the existing system. The lawmakers included House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and other members of Lofgren's panel who met to hear from lawmakers and experts on the subject. Conyers cited concerns that an expansion of the program, known as E-Verify, could create a giant database of personal information on all Americans and impose burdens on small businesses. In addition, he said, some have warned that it will drive undocumented workers further underground and cost up to $17 billion in lost tax revenue. Lofgren's panel held the hearing a day after President Bush issued an executive order that will require federal contractors to verify the legal status of all employees hired to work on new contracts. She noted that 11 bills are pending before the 110th Congress that would mandate the use of electronic employee verification. Homeland Security proposed the E-Verify mandate for federal contractors last October, but adoption of the system remains mostly voluntary. Full story: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080610_9582.php?zone=NGpopular
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FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008 
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