Newsbriefs

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) could succeedRep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) as the procurementand acquisition lead in the House."He's up to snuff," Davis said of Issa, rankingmember on the Oversight andGovernment Reform Committee's DomesticPolicy Subcommittee.Davis announced Jan. 30 that he won'tseek re-election.State and local agencies seeking a share ofthe $3 billion in Homeland SecurityDepartment grants should make priorities ofprotecting against improvised explosives, creatingpreparedness plans and aligning withthe National Preparedness Guidelines.The department's goal is to allocate 25 percentof total grant funding for those threeissues this year.Harris Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. areteaming to speed installation of Type 1 securewireless networks for federal intelligence andcivilian agencies.Harris RF Communications will provide itsSecNet54 modular wireless encryption devicewith Harris IT Services handling installationand maintenance. Cisco will provide networkequipment, design and engineering services.Six senators have criticized a proposed SmallBusiness Administration rule to limit setasidecontracts for woman-owned small businessesto four industries.SBA fashioned the rule by selectively readinga recent study that measured wherewomen business owners are underrepresentedin federal contracting, the senators charged.A White House memo directs agenciesresponsible for security clearances to have aplan to speed the clearance process on thepresident's desk by April 30.Changes the memo identifies include usingupdated and consistent standards and methodsfor security clearances, avoiding duplicativesteps, and using information technologyfor more efficient and effective clearance processingand for updating government informationrecord systems, laws and regulations.The Homeland Security Department has hadsome success in its mission, but efficiency inmanagement has eluded the agency,Comptroller General David Walker toldCongress.Key gaps include agency transformation,strategic planning and results management,risk management, information sharing, partnershipsand coordination, and accountabilityand transparency, Walker said.Industry execs say the Homeland SecurityDepartment's Science and TechnologyDirectorate's lack of responsiveness makes ithard to work with, said a CongressionalResearch Service report states.Industry observers and others, such asentrepreneurs who have new technologiesthat could help with homeland security problems,find it difficult to reach directorate officialsand get information, the report states.Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC andScience Applications International Corp.signed a teaming agreement to pursue theFederal Aviation Administration's $100 millionAir Traffic Control Optimum TrainingSolution contract.Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and RTSC earliersigned a partnering deal to go after the FAAcontract. It is expected to be awarded in June.The Homeland Security Department usedits special acquisition authority 37 times tobuy at least $450 million worth of goodsand services since 2004, according to arecent Government Accountability Officereport.The flexibility of DHS' special authority,which expires in September, comes with therisk of reduced accountability, lack of transparencyand ethical concerns, the reportstates.Camera surveillance systems at the Statue ofLiberty and other national icons offer inadequatesecurity assistance to the U.S. ParkPolice, an Interior Department InspectorGeneral report said.The report details serious shortcomings inthe Park Police's ability to protect the Statueof Liberty, Washington Monument andLincoln Memorial because of problems withmanagement, training, staffing and technology,among others.President Bush's proposed fiscal 2009budget for the Homeland SecurityDepartment keeps the heat on major prioritiessuch as border control and stricteridentification with a 6.8 percent overallincrease, to $50.5 billion.The SBInet border surveillance system,Real ID driver's license standards and theWestern Hemisphere Travel Initiative showstable and increasing budgets.Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasestablished a new system for automaticallydiscovering links in information from variousdatabases for the purpose of investigatingpeople suspected of violating customs andimmigration laws.Privacy risks that the ICE Pattern Analysisand Information Collection presents to individualswhose personal information is beinginvestigated have been mitigated, aHomeland Security Department PrivacyImpact Assessment states.The Homeland Security Department hasdetermined that it needs to develop bettersoftware and do more tests on the initial 28-mile segment of the border surveillance systemknown as SBInet.In December, the Customs and BorderProtection agency conditionally acceptedprime contractor Boeing Co.'s initial Project28 segment of SBInet at the Arizona-Mexicoborder.