[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21956]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE NEED FOR STRONG LEADERSHIP

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to work 
with me and all those who support the belief that only through strong 
leadership will government be able to respond to the needs of its 
citizens. This week, I participated in the Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs hearing on dealing with the aftermath of 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I want to share a statement made by the 
Honorable Dan Coody, Mayor of Fayetteville, AR, who said:

       I've always believed that any program or process will 
     succeed or fail based on the leadership in that program. And 
     I think that from the very top to the very bottom--speaking 
     at the micro level--there needs to be a system put in place 
     where we hire the most qualified, most knowledgeable people 
     for the job--that want to do the job--and put them in a 
     position where they can lead.

  Mayor Coody's remarks underscored my expectations that Federal 
agencies must be led by experienced and qualified senior leaders in 
order to ensure that agencies meet their mission. The same evening as 
our Committee hearing, I was privileged to present the 2005 Service to 
America Medal Federal Employee of the Year award to Orlando Figueroa, 
the Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs, Science Mission 
Directorate, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Mr. 
Figueroa led the Mars Exploration Rover Project to success under 
technical challenges and time constraints. He and his team at the Mars 
Exploration Rover Project created a mobile science lab was used to 
conduct remote exploration on the surface of another plant, which 
allowed the exploration of regions beyond the original landing site. 
This fantastic accomplishment has produced a wealth of scientific 
discoveries revealing Mars as a potential habitat, and I told Mr. 
Figueroa that to me, these discoveries spark the imagination, fuel the 
human spirit, and inspire us to pursue even greater things. Mr. 
Figueroa exemplifies leadership.
  The Federal Government is fortunate to have a cadre of career 
executives selected for their leadership, who are members of the Senior 
Executive Service, SES. To become a member of the SES, a candidate must 
possess the following five executive qualifications: leading change; 
leading people; being results driven; having business acumen; and 
building coalitions or having communication skills.
  SES candidates demonstrate these qualifications through experience in 
key executive skills such as leading others to rapidly adjust 
organizational behavior and work methods; supervising and managing a 
diverse workforce; developing strategic human capital management plans; 
establishing performance standards and plans; managing the budgetary 
process; overseeing the allocation of financial resources; and 
developing and maintaining positive working relationships with internal 
groups and external groups such as Congress, the Office of Management 
and Budget, and the White House.
  These qualifications and experiences help ensure that the Federal 
Government's senior executives have the ability to establish a clear 
vision for the organization and to drive others to succeed. Political 
appointees are not required to meet these qualifications, however, but 
it would be difficult for any agency head to succeed without them.
  A recent Princeton University review, authored by Mr. David Lewis, 
underscored the need for political appointees to have such skills. He 
used the Program Assessment Rating Tool, PART, to analyze the 
relationship between political appointees and Federal manager 
performance. As my colleagues know, PART was designed by the 
Administration to measure program performance at Federal agencies. A 
PART review helps identify a program's strengths and weaknesses to 
inform funding and management decisions aimed at making the program 
more effective.
  Mr. Lewis found that programs run by politically appointed managers 
receive systematically lower grades than those run by career managers 
and that the varied backgrounds of political appointees do not always 
translate into them being successful managers. Mr. Lewis' research 
shows the need for greater management experience and subject matter 
expertise for political appointees.
  Comptroller General David Walker said in a September 21, 2005, 
interview with Federal Times that ``for certain positions, given the 
nature of the position, there should be statutory qualification 
requirements for any nominee.'' I agree. Looking at the shortfalls in 
leadership at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the high 
number of political appointees at FEMA for the size of the agency, it 
is obvious that the political appointee-laden management structure may 
have created numerous problems, especially in the area of recruiting 
and retaining top emergency services personnel and the inability to 
stay focused on the agency's core mission of disaster preparedness and 
relief.
  There must be trust and integrity in Government and most of all in 
our leaders. The crises we face at home and abroad demonstrates the 
need for highly qualified individuals to lead our Government. There 
must be the right people, at the right place, at the right time, with 
the right skills. This is especially true at Federal agencies who need 
senior leaders, with management skills and subject matter expertise. 
More importantly, there should be an institutional loyalty and cultural 
sensitivity in working for the American people as a Federal employee.

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