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  1. #1
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    ICE and BORDER PATROL Subjects of Mismanagement at DHS

    Audit puts Homeland Security under gun
    Report raises fears of mismanagement, fraud, waste, abuse
    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Thursday, December 29, 2005


    WASHINGTON

    Weaknesses in FEMA's response system during Hurricane Katrina were just one symptom of major management challenges at the Homeland Security Department, an internal report issued yesterday concludes.

    The report by the department's inspector general also questions Homeland Security's ability to oversee properly billions of dollars worth of contracts it awards each year.

    The inspector general's findings were issued as the nearly 3-year-old department is revamping its programs and resources to prioritize top risks.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, was singled out as a top concern by investigators who referred to the agency's "overburdened resources and infrastructure" in dealing with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

    Investigators found that several key FEMA programs - distributing aid to disaster victims, emergency-response information systems, modernizing flood maps and managing contracts and grants - remain inadequate.

    "Based on our work related to prior emergency-response efforts, we have raised concerns regarding weaknesses" within those programs, the audit by Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner said.

    "When one considers that FEMA's programs are largely administered through grants and contracts, the circumstances created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide an unprecedented opportunity for fraud, waste and abuse," the report found.

    Department officials responded to the audit with an 11-page point-by-point analysis, acknowledging and explaining shortcomings in some areas and defending actions in others.

    A Homeland Security spokesman, Russ Knocke, said yesterday that the department is working to make programs "more efficient, effective and results-oriented."

    As of last week, the most recent data available, Homeland Security had awarded $4.1 billion in Katrina-related contracts - mostly for construction and housing. By comparison, the department awarded nearly $10 billion in contracts on all projects last year, the audit found.

    In its response, the department said it has created a procurement office to give strict oversight to the hurricane-contracts process, and has brought in outside advisers to help.

    The findings were part of an audit by Skinner's office, which has the job of assessing Homeland Security's management challenges each year.

    Other areas of concern, as reviewed in the report, include:

    Financial reporting problems, especially at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which failed to maintain its accounting records properly.

    Delays in creating and installing a new personnel system that replaced salaries based on workers' seniority with a merit-pay system. The delays were caused, in part, by a federal lawsuit challenging the proposed regulations.

    Poor coordination between border-patrol officers and immigration investigators, contributing to security vulnerabilities at borders.

    This story can be found at: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satel ... 7645509161
    "POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY." Sir John Dalberg-Acton

  2. #2
    Senior Member Scubayons's Avatar
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    And it took them this long to figure all this out.
    http://www.alipac.us/
    You can not be loyal to two nations, without being unfaithful to one. Scubayons 02/07/06

  3. #3
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    Well--at least it is now OFFICIAL!!
    "POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY." Sir John Dalberg-Acton

  4. #4
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    Poor coordination between border-patrol officers and immigration investigators, contributing to security vulnerabilities at borders.

    IF the Lone Ranger was still here - none of this would be happening

  5. #5
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    OF COURSE, it wouldn't. He and Tonto would be rounding up and riding off into the sunset yelling, "HI HO SILVER. AND AWAY"!!

    I LOVE your antlered PAIR!
    "POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY." Sir John Dalberg-Acton

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