In the News

USA Today By Bart Jansen WASHINGTON – Federal air-marshals reportedly hogging first-class airline seats or commuting on flights while off duty drew scrutiny Thursday by the House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation. But lawmakers generally voiced support for marshals who fly undercover and armed to thwart terrorists. The head of the Transportation Security Administration program, Rod Allison, said he would review the complaints and meet with airline executives to remedy their conce... Read more

By: Dan Prochilo A Long Island congresswoman on Tuesday announced plans to introduce a bill in Washington requiring U.S. automakers to equip all new cars with devices preventing them from taking off if the driver is drunk. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-4) will push Congress to pass legislation mandating that new cars have ignition interlock devices that can detect drivers' blood-alcohol content and prevent the engine from starting up if the motorists' BAC exceeds the legal limit. Those devices are ofte... Read more

Newsday By Emily C. Dooley National and local politicians want to stop Federal Emergency Management Agency officials from demanding residents pay back $23.4 million in financial assistance awarded to superstorm Sandy victims. During a news conference in Long Beach on Friday, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans), Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City), local politicians and residents whom FEMA wants to claw back money from pressured Congress to pass a bill that would waive the debt when payments were m... Read more

CBS New York LONG BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Efforts are underway to help victims of Superstorm Sandy who are being told they owe the federal government money. On Friday, Reps. Kathleen Rice and Gregory Meeks joined homeowners in Long Beach, where they said they want the unfair debts to be forgiven, WCBS 880’s Sophia Hall reported. FEMA is asking 1,000 Sandy victims to return money that was overpaid to them. “I sent in the forms. They sent me a check. I cashed the check. I gave it to the people... Read more

News 12 Long Island ISLAND PARK - Two U.S. House members who represent New York are asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to forgive millions of dollars in aid that were given to Hurricane Sandy victims who say they can't afford to pay the agency. "First I had to make a joke of it so I could get past it," says Eddie Schaefer, whom FEMA wants to pay back a little more than $13,000 that he used to fix his Island Park home. Schaefer filed appeals with FEMA twice with no success. "And then... Read more

Associated Press By Alicia Caldwell WASHINGTON (AP) — None of 73 U.S. airport workers cited by a government watchdog for unspecified ties to terrorism is actually a suspected terrorist or threat to aviation security, a senior Transportation Security Administration official told lawmakers Tuesday. The TSA's deputy assistant administrator, Stacey Fitzmaurice, told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security that an internal review by the agency concluded that no... Read more

National Journal By: Priscilla Alvarez A report from Homeland Security Department Inspector General John Roth that revealed gaps in the Transportation Security Administration's security procedures has the House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security uneasy. "Terrorists only have to be right once. To defend ourselves, we have to be right 100 percent of the time. Millions of travelers pass through our nation's airports every year, and we need to know the systems in place will p... Read more

Homeland Security Today By Anthony Kimery, Editor-in-Chief In response to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) audit that disclosed US airline passengers may have been in potential jeopardy to terrorist attacks for nearly a decade “because the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has not properly been managing the maintenance of its airport screening equipment,” Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice, ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Transpor... Read more

By Lisa Rein The Washington Post The payments couldn’t help but catch the attention of the top procurement official at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Employees in the purchasing department of a VA hospital in the Bronx had used government purchase cards like credit cards at least 2,000 times to buy prosthetic legs and arms for veterans. Each time they swiped the cards, it was for $24,999. That was precisely one dollar below VA’s charging limit for purchase cards. When word reached Congress... Read more

WNYC By Sean Carlson The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating the potential abuse of charge cards at a VA hospital in the Bronx. Lawmakers are asking to see records of $50 million worth of purchases made by a supervisor at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. The VA says records of those purchases were destroyed by Sandy. Rep. Kathleen Rice of Long Island, who called for the investigation, said that's too convenient. "Everyone knows how devastating Superstorm Sandy was, but it... Read more