U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

U.S. Debt Facts You Need to Know About -- CBS MoneyWatch

A must-read: "12 Scary Debt Facts for 2012."

New Legislation Seeks to Slash Federal Workforce by 10% -- But Opens Door for White House Waivers

A bill that seeks to reduce the federal workforce by 10% over the next few years was introduced today by House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform Chmn. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.) and subcommittee leaders Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

The legislation aims to accomplish that goal by limiting the hiring of one new federal employee for every three who leave their jobs or retire. The Reducing the Size of the Federal Government Through Attrition Act of 2011 (HR-2114) supposedly would save taxpayers $127.5 billion over ten years.

The bill likewise prohibits federal entities from simply awarding contracts to vendors to make up for the loss of personnel.

Chaffetz, who also is a member of the House Budget Committee, said in a joint statement, "The American people deserve a federal government that is smaller, leaner, and more efficient... Private sector job creators and families in my district have learned to do more with less. So should the federal government."

One former government insider who spoke to U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor on condition of anonymity predicted that major departments such as State, Defense, Health & Human Services, and possibly even the Dept. of Commerce likely would evade such cuts if the bill is signed into law.

“They’ll simply claim that matters of national security, economics, or public health preclude them from complying with the law,” according to the source, who had not yet seen the bill.

Indeed, a closer look at the bill’s text reveals that its sponsors already have built such a mechanism into the proposed law.

According to Section 2(e), the White House would be granted the power to approve waivers when it deems necessary::

(e) WAIVER.—

(1) EMERGENCIES.—This section may be waived upon a determination by the President that—

(A) the existence of a state of war or other national security concern so requires; or

(B) the existence of an extraordinary emergency threatening life, health, public safe ty, property, or the environment so requires.

(2) AGENCY EFFICIENCY OR CRITICAL MISSION.—This section may be waived, with respect to a particular position or category of positions in an agency, upon a determination by the President that the efficiency of the agency or the performance of a critical agency mission so requires.

“In the end, we’ll see a savings of millions, maybe, not billions, for the taxpayer,” the source said.

U.S.-Funded Colombia 'Clean Energy' Project to be Unveiled

Details of a "clean energy" initiative in Colombia are slated to be released toward the end of the 3rd quarter/beginning of the 4th quarter of fiscal year 2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said today. The agency at that time will release a more detailed Request for Proposals for the five-year endeavor.

"The overall goals of USAID's environment program are the strengthening environmental governance for the conservation of protected areas and ethnic territories along with preserving, restoring, and/or improving ecosystem services," USAID said in a presolicitation notice (#SOL-514-11-000003).  "All of the projected funding for this activity falls under the clean energy pillar of USAID's Global Climate Change Initiative."

The following three general project areas will receive funding under the Colombian initiative:

Energy efficiency and renewable energy enabling environment and institutional capacity development;

Expanding access to renewable energy sources in currently unserved areas, which directly address the requirements of earmarks from the U.S. Congress; and:

Energy efficiency and renewable energy investment promotion, including management of a grants under contract Incentive Fund.

The agency did not disclose the estimated cost of the project.

Feds to Unveil New Initiatives for Public Schools

An additional federal infusion of funding for public schools is slated for this summer, according to new contracting documents that The Peacock Report (TPR) located today. In two particular cases, however, the funds will not be invested in U.S. schools; on the contrary, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in one instance will transfer an unspecified amount of cash to support the standardized testing efforts of the government of Ghana, Africa.

According to a "presolicitation notice" dated April 24, the USAID endeavor seeks to provide -- free of charge -- 4,034,000 testing packages that will be distributed for nationwide assessments of Ghana school children on July 23. The agency is accepting project estimates from potential contractors until May 14.

TPR also has learned that American taxpayers will foot the bill for another Africa-based USAID education project separately implemented this week that will deliver, "at a minimum," 300,000 textbooks to the nation of Liberia.

These projects are the latest in a series of U.S. investments into African education programs. As TPR reported earlier this year (TPR 1/16), USAID also was scheduled to arrange the delivery of 128,000 math and science textbooks to Tanzania.

Defense Unit Weighs Media Support Contracts

 Information dissemination, broadcast production, and media analysis are among tasks that a select Dept. of Defense unit may begin outsourcing to industry, The Peacock Report (TPR) has discovered.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) currently is assessing the capabilities of companies that provide such services, according to a “sources sought” notice that TPR located through a routine search of the FedBizOpps database. DTRA describes itself as “the intellectual, technical and operational leader” for DoD and U.S. Strategic Command efforts to detect and combat threats from weapons of mass destruction.

The document does not explicitly state that contractors will be tasked with placing video news releases (VNRs) into mainstream media newscasts -- a controversial government practice that has come under fire from media and congressional critics. However, it specifies that a selected contractor would provide support such as “serving as part of the DTRA synthetic media cell; drafting quick-turn-around articles to support simulated media activities and aiding in webpage operations and the production of broadcast materials and graphics, as needed.”

The contract calls for support of DRTA public affairs personnel in preparation, maintenance, and distribution “on a quick-turn around basis broadcast-quality news stories, news releases, articles, fact sheets, and digital images and productions to targeted audiences.”

 

Among other duties, the contractor likewise would be responsible for helping to create – and to perform “security reviews” – of internal and external websites, newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, and other media. Additionally, it would conduct daily news analysis and provide briefings to DRTA officials on media coverage of the agency.

 

The document did not provide an estimated value – nor did it guarantee the awarding -- of future contracts.

(Click here to access the SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE.)

U.S. in 2009 to Build More Military Sites Across Central, South America

Construction of new military airfields, heliports, and ammunition-storage facilities across Central America over the next year is the objective of a $50 million U.S. Army Corp of Engineers project that The Peacock Report (TPR) discovered this week. According to a pair of "presolicitation notices" that TPR located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, one initiative "[p]rimarily is for all countries in Central America" (#W91278-09-R-0030), while a related project mainly will target Peru and Colombia (#W91278-09-R-0029). Both documents point out that some of the individual construction initiatives of these endeavors will be carried out in "remote areas" of these regions, and therefore will require close coordination with the Army and with "Host Nation Military authorities throughout the life of the project." The full text of the solicitations is expected to be released around March 5.

Potential bidders will meet with U.S. contracting representatives next month, starting with a pre-proposal conference March 17 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and followed by a conference at the Princess Hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador March 19. The purpose of the conferences, according to the document, "is to familiarize the bidders with the scope of work [and to] address bidders questions concerning the project..."

U.S. to Infuse Tons of New Textbooks in Schools

Over 128,000 brand-new math and science textbooks are being purchased by the federal government for nationwide distribution to schools -- nationwide, that is, in Tanzania. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is soliciting bids from textbook suppliers capable of delivering the textbooks and related teachers' guides to the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Development, according to a USAID request for proposals that The Peacock Report has located.

The USAID document says the goal of this project is to improve the quality of education in Tanzania "by strengthening primary and secondary education performance, especially in areas of sciences and mathematics."

' Free ' Wireless Internet Project Underway

The deployment of wireless Internet infrastructure -- and the subsequent provision of free access to the world wide web to all Americans -- is an idea that's been circulating in technology policy circles for years. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission only recently revisited the prospect of free wireless Internet access this past month. And now the U.S. government is taking firm action on the matter -- the only problem, however, is that it is not taking action here in the U.S.

On the contrary, the U.S. (unrelated to the above-mentioned FCC proceeding) is handing over nearly a half-million dollars to a Palestinian company to accomplish that task in the West Bank. Specifically, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) will pay for a "technical assistance" contract that will be outsourced to an unidentified vendor; the vendor -- which must be a U.S. company -- in turn will map out the necessary steps for Ramallah-based BCI Communications & Advanced Technologies, Ltd. to carry out the infrastructure project, according to a procurement document dated June 9 that The Peacock Report has located.

Ultimately, the U.S. taxpayer-funded endeavor will pad the pockets of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola, whose equipment BCI would use for the project.

 

Energy Dept. Step Closer to Oil Reserve Expansion

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) could get a $36 million face lift over the next five years, during which time the Dept. of Energy (DoE)-operated facility would undergo modernization of petrochemical storage facilities and connecting pipelines. According to a "sources sought" notice that The Peacock Report (TPR) has located, the DoE is reviewing "capability statements" that companies submitted to the department by the June 13 submission deadline. 

The SPR is a crude-oil stockpile that the federal government created in response to the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, which severely impeded U.S.-bound oil shipments during that era. Congress authorized creation of the reserve to serve "as a hedge against disruptions in the oil market," according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

A contentious debate has raged in the Congress in recent years over whether to release oil from the reserve into global energy markets -- a move that some members of Congress say would drive down record gasoline prices, a claim that the White House and other policymakers dispute and continue to resist.

DoE anticipates awarding an architectural and engineering contract for the project by May 2009. The reserve, which currently holds about 700 million gallons of crude, would be expanded to reach a one-billion gallon capacity, as spelled out by the Energy Act of 2005.

Solicitation #DE-RP96-08PO92990

U.S. Information Blitz to Unfold in Pakistan

An information blitz aimed at swaying Pakistani citizens' views on U.S. involvement in the region is about to unfold, The Peacock Report (TPR) has discovered. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday commenced its search for a contractor capable of carrying out the euphemistically titled "USAID/Pakistan Outreach Campaign," as the project officially is known. According to a "presolicitation notice" dated June 5 that TPR has located, the agency envisions a multi-language delivery of U.S. government messages in urban as well as rural areas of Pakistan. The contractor will execute the campaign in English, Urdu, Pashtu, Punjabi, and other regonal languages. This USAID endeavor will place messages in newspapers, magazines, and billboards as well as radio and television broadcasts, according to the document. The agency will make available a formal and more detailed solicitation later this month. USAID hopes to launch the Pakistani campaign by summer's end.