Domestic terrorismA series of attacks on government buildings focuses attention on federal building security

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are resuming discussions about federal building security in the wake of last week’s shooting at the Pentagon, the latest attack on federal facilities across the country. Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe writes that government union leaders have suggested that Washington is not serious about addressing workplace security, even after a report last summer from the Government Accountability Office exposed serious gaps in protection at ten major federal buildings. The study drew attention when it was released, but has generated little public discourse since then.

O’Keefe notes that the shooting at the Pentagon, which followed a February plane crash at Internal Revenue Service offices in Austin and a January shooting at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas, has prompted further attention from lawmakers.

The House subcommittee on the federal workforce plans to focus especially on how federal agencies are sharing tips on threats with local law enforcement agencies, which could be unfamiliar with the tenants and security efforts at government buildings in their jurisdictions.

O’Keefe writes that separately, aides to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Connecticut), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he plans to introduce a bill with proposed federal security changes in April, after delaying it last fall to account for the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. “These recent assaults on federal employees seem to be motivated by a deep-seated and irrational hostility against the government,” Lieberman said late last week.