by Jason Morris

President Bush has established a new council and two new positions to create governmentwide standards for checking the backgrounds of government employees and contractors.

An executive order issued June 30 established the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability Council. The council will review procedures for investigating and ruling on whether a person should be allowed access to sensitive information or federally controlled buildings. The goal is to standardize those procedures governmentwide, the order states.

The council will also establish requirements for an information technology infrastructure that can help agencies with background checks and will oversee development of that infrastructure, the order states.

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