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Rep. Adam Smith: Top-Line Budget Would Be a ‘Contentious Issue’ as Senate, House Reconcile FY 2017 Defense Policy Bills
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Rep. Adam Smith: Top-Line Budget Would Be a ‘Contentious Issue’ as Senate, House Reconcile FY 2017 Defense Policy Bills


Adam Smith
Adam Smith

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington), House Armed Services Committee ranking member, has said the top-line budget for the fiscal year 2017 defense policy bill would be the “contentious issue” as the Senate and House reconcile their versions of the bill.

Smith told Defense News reporter Joe Gould in an interview published Thursday that both chambers of Congress would debate on a House-approved measure that aims to move $18 billion from overseas contingency operations funds to base budget.

“The second biggest thing is the end-strength number,” he said.

“Prohibitions that reduce the size of the Army and the Marine Corps are things that could lead to a presidential veto, and if the budget caps come back, you have to be prepared for it [with a gradual drawdown].”

Smith also shared his views on base realignment and closures, the Long Range Stand Off Weapon program, the possibility of a temporary continuing resolution and the potential implications of U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union for NATO and U.S. national security.

University of Michigan Receives DoD Grant to Implement Diversification Programs in 3 U.S. States
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University of Michigan Receives DoD Grant to Implement Diversification Programs in 3 U.S. States


chart moneyThe Defense Department has awarded an $8 million grant to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy to help companies and communities affected by DoD downsizing efforts in three U.S. states.

The funds will support the university-run Defense Manufacturing Assistance Program that aims to help as many as 72 communities and companies across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana to attract new business and retain existing businesses, the university said Wednesday.

“All of us at DMAP are excited about expanding our capacity to assist additional companies and communities through our resiliency and diversification projects,” said Megan Reichert, DMAP project director.

The University of Michigan operates DMAP with Purdue University and Ohio State University and the DoD grant will help the universities establish partnerships with regional defense industry research institutions to support the defense supply chain.

DMAP works to evaluate the financial health and market placement of a company or a community and assist them in efforts to implement diversification plans.

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Senate Commerce Committee OKs Jobs & Economic Bills; Peggy Gustafson, Michael Khouri Nominations Advance
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Senate Commerce Committee OKs Jobs & Economic Bills; Peggy Gustafson, Michael Khouri Nominations Advance


senateThe Senate Commerce Committee has approved 10 bills as well as the nominations of Peggy Gustafson as the Commerce Department‘s Inspector general and the reappointment of Federal Maritime Commissioner Michael Khouri.

The committee said Wednesday it advanced the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act that works to maximize science research through new agency oversight and research dissemination strategies as well as a reform on federal science agencies to help taxpayer-funded research.

Bills approved by voice vote included:

  • The American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
  • Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2015
  • Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act of 2016
  • Deadline for Compliance with Alternative Safety Compliance Program
  • American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act
  • Marine Mammal Research and Response Act of 2016
  • The Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2015
  • Access for Sportfishing Act of 2016
  • A bill to reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act to promote international action to reduce marine debris and for other purposes
  • A bill to amend title 46 of the United States Code to exempt old vessels from certain requirements if improvements made

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CBO: Implementation of New DHS NPPD Name Would Not Affect Gov’t Budget
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CBO: Implementation of New DHS NPPD Name Would Not Affect Gov’t Budget


budget analysis reviewThe Congressional Budget Office has said the enactment of a bill to rename the Department of Homeland Security‘s National Protection and Programs Directorate as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency would not have what analysts called a “significant effect” on federal budget.

CBO said in a cost estimate report published Wednesday the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency Act of 2016 primarily codifies DHS’ reorganization efforts for NPPD and would not lead to new operating requirements.

That bill would not impact direct spending or revenues and would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits through four consecutive 10-year periods from 2027 onward, CBO added.

CBO says stated the bill does not include intergovernmental or private-sector mandates and would not impose costs on state, local or tribal governments.

The bill also authorizes DHS to create cybersecurity and infrastructure protection divisions to carry out certain missions of NPPD, CBO noted.

NIST Seeks to Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Atmospheric Observation-Based Methods
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NIST Seeks to Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Atmospheric Observation-Based Methods


green earth, environmentThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has started to develop tools and methods designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions based on atmospheric observations.

James Whetstone, special assistant to the NIST director for greenhouse gas and climate science measurements, wrote in a blog published Thursday that NIST has set up three urban test beds to measure GHG emissions.

These urban test beds are the Northeast Corridor Project, Los Angeles Megacity Carbon Project and the Indianapolis Flux Experiment.

The agency will use these test beds to carry out research projects to facilitate air sampling activities onboard aircraft as well as on buildings and towers and merge the data collected through aerial sampling with atmospheric models in an effort to help scientists predict the flow of GHG emissions that pass through the atmosphere and determine specific sources of those emissions.

“In the future, satellite observations will play a larger role in measuring GHG emissions,” Whetstone wrote.

“As that happens, urban measurements will provide ground-truthing data for calibrating satellite measurements.”

NIST collaborates with earth systems and atmospheric research laboratories within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s office of oceanic and atmospheric research as part of the Greenhouse Gas and Climate Science Measurements Program.

VA Launches New Online Form for Healthcare Applicants; Sloan Gibson Comments
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VA Launches New Online Form for Healthcare Applicants; Sloan Gibson Comments


healthcare systemThe Department of Veterans Affairs has rolled out a web-based tool designed to help veterans gain access to VA’s healthcare enrollment form.

According to a VA blog entry posted Thursday, the new healthcare application tool available on vets.gov is the default access system for veterans who would apply for benefits in addition to the existing 10-10EZ paper form.

“In order to improve access to care, we reviewed many of the steps veterans must take to receive that care and found that improvements needed to be made in the initial application to improve the veteran experience and remove barriers that hinder access,” said Sloan Gibson, VA deputy secretary.

“Veterans could previously apply for health care online, but the user experience was often frustrating, and the process required VA employees to generate paper applications that were manually entered into our eligibility verification and enrollment processing systems,” Gibson added.

Gibson said the new application form is in the form of HTML “that requires nothing more than an internet connection and 15-45 minutes of your time depending on the complexity of the application.”

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GAO: FDIC Security Program Concerns Put Financial Information, Systems at Risk
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GAO: FDIC Security Program Concerns Put Financial Information, Systems at Risk


cybersecurityThe U.S. Government Accountability Office has warned the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation‘s financial information and systems are at risk due to security concerns within the FDIC’s information security systems.

GAO said Thursday that the study conducted on FDIC showed the agency had vulnerabilities on the third-party softwares that supported its financial processing and lacked a process to rectify user access rights to its financial processing systems.

The agency recommended the FDIC’s chief information officer implement access control procedures that require the authorization of access rights modifications to be documented and a policy that will work to identify monitoring changes to critical files to be included during the audit.

FDIC has concurred with GAO’s recommendations to apply the new recommendations.

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Gen. David Goldfein Confirmed as Air Force Chief of Staff
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Gen. David Goldfein Confirmed as Air Force Chief of Staff


David Goldfein
David Goldfein

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein received Senate confirmation Wednesday as the military branch’s next chief of staff and will be sworn into office Friday.

The 33-year veteran was nominated by the White House for the Air Force’s top uniformed post in April and testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about his nomination June 16, the branch said Thursday.

He will succeed the retiring Gen. Mark Welsh, who served as the Air Force’s lead officer for four years.

Goldfein previously managed the Air Staff as well as served on the Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

The Air Force commissioned him in 1983 and deployed him to numerous assignments across the globe.

GovExec: OPM to Guide Agencies on SES Bonus Spending Cap Increase
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GovExec: OPM to Guide Agencies on SES Bonus Spending Cap Increase


US office of personnel managementThe Office of Personnel Management will issue additional guidance strategies on rewards for Senior Executive Service and senior-level career position holders to help agencies manage the spending cap increase on bonuses in October, GovExec reported Thursday.

Kellie Lunney writes the aggregate spending cap on agency performance awards will increase from 4.8 percent to 7.5 percent in fiscal 2017 as part of an executive order from President Barack Obama in December that works to streamline the SES hiring and make pay adjustments to help recruit and retain leaders.

The report said adjustments on senior executive salary should be performance-based and considers the pay of an executive’s direct reports in the General Schedule.

Lunney added the executive order also calls for agencies to update the development, hiring and onboarding of senior executives through strategies such as a resume-based application process.

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Boulder County, Colorado Adopt NIST Community Resilience Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems
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Boulder County, Colorado Adopt NIST Community Resilience Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems


infrastructureBoulder County and the state of Colorado have adopted the National Institute of Standards and Technology‘s community resilience planning guide for building and infrastructure systems to support the development of the collaborative’s own infrastructure standards.

NIST said Wednesday that the new standard is designed to let cities and towns within the collaborative set goals that will establish the desired resilience performance, including the ability to prepare, recover and adapt from disasters, of structures and infrastructures for 50 years.

The standard will also focus on clusters of building, such as housing, healthcare and retail, are also taken into account with the standard, NIST added.

“Organizing the built environment into clusters provides a basis for developing an estimate of how to prioritize systems for recovery and sets a workable timeline goal for recovery after a disaster,” said the county report on the collaborative standard.

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