Government
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently launched biometric facial comparison technology at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
The technology is intended to secure and streamline international travel.
CBP has processed more than 43 million travelers using biometric facial... Read More »
A group of Senate Democrats expressed concerns to Trump Administration officials about the relative lack of resources to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
The request follows the release of the Trump Administration’s new budget proposal, which suggested cutting public health and... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force recently completed flight testing of the Collins Aerospace Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) sensor, SYERS-2C, on the U-2.
The entire U-2 fleet has been upgraded with this sensor capability, which provides increased optical performance and accurate... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-TX) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) sent a letter to both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the development of medicine to combat Valley Fever.
Valley Fever is a fungal infection that can cause fever,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released funding opportunities for eight preparedness grant programs totaling nearly $1.8 billion.
The grant programs provide funding to state and local governments, as well as transportation authorities, nonprofits, and the private sector, to... Read More »
As part of the response to the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak worldwide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week outlined its efforts to facilitate diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease, keep an eye on the medical product supply chain and maximize the... Read More »
Legislation recently introduced in the House of Representatives would establish a Border Enforcement Security Team (BEST) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) focused solely on reducing arms trafficking.
There are currently 57 security teams within DHS, but none with this dedicated... Read More »
The Department of Defense has transferred $3.8 billion to fund President Donald Trump’s southwest border wall, of which democrats on the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee strongly disapprove.
They recently voiced their opposition in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
The... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently called on the Department of Health and Human Services to set guidelines for how state and local governments will be reimbursed for costs incurred while assisting the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak.
“Many state and local health... Read More »
Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, is also a production hub for pharmaceutical ingredients for the United States. As the virus spreads throughout China, the U.S. drug supply remains vulnerable to reduced production and export of essential materials. There are 400 drug... Read More »
With the growing weight of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) felt at home and abroad, members of the Senate have grown increasingly uncomfortable with a nearly two-year-old vacancy for a national senior public health security expert -- and last week, 27 of them pushed for a change.
The vacancy... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) said the federal government must strengthen its capacity to produce pharmaceuticals to fight the novel coronavirus.
“For years, I have fought to ensure that funds are available in case of a public health emergency, and I was assured the Administration has the... Read More »
U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office awarded a contract to BAE Systems to develop technology to help detect weapons of mass destruction (WMD) activity.
The analytics technology will leverage multiple data sources and uses data fusion, adversary... Read More »
While the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has prompted a public health emergency declaration in the United States and renewed global concerns over pandemics, the White House 2021 budget would cut programs that help prevent infectious disease outbreaks and earned the ire of the Infectious Diseases... Read More »
Threats in the public areas of airports have increased, prompting the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to issue a recommendation to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) administrator.
The recommendation suggests the administration develop a plan outlining roles and... Read More »
Programs that promote election security and combat cyberthreats will be fully funded in the next fiscal year’s budget, a DHS official confirmed at a Senate hearing.
The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) program as well as the Election Infrastructure Information... Read More »
Legislation was introduced this week to authorize a new grant program at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities on government networks.
State and local governments have been frequent targets of cybercriminals. In 2019, ransomware attacks hit... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to add a new layer to its relationship with Janssen Research & Development as part of efforts to contain COVID-19 -- the 2019 novel coronavirus -- through shared R&D costs on the company's investigational vaccine.
The Biomedical... Read More »
The FBI Internet Complaint Center’s (IC3) 2019 Internet Crime Report found that last year, internet-enabled crimes spawned the highest number of complaints and losses since May 2000.
In all, IC3 took in 467,361 complaints in 2019 and tracked more than $3.5 billion in losses among individuals... Read More »
A recently introduced bipartisan bill would bring the Border Patrol pay system in line with other federal law enforcement agencies.
The Border Patrol Pay Security Act would ensure agents who work more than 80 hours per week would receive overtime pay at time and a half their normal rate. It... Read More »
The Trump Administration launched a new website called Schoolsafety.gov, which is a resource for kindergarten through grade 12 administrators, educators, parents, and law enforcement to prepare for various threats to safety and security.
"School safety is the number one priority of parents... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created the first Foundry for American Biotechnology to produce technological solutions to enhance medical care and respond to health security threats.
The Foundry will be located in Manchester, N.H., and managed by the Advanced Regenerative... Read More »
Fearing for the pharmaceuticals, food, and medical supplies coming from China amid the novel coronavirus, U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CN) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) implored the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action this week.
In a letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, the senators... Read More »
The National Governors Association (NGA) received a briefing on the U.S. response to the novel coronavirus, which was officially renamed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization this week, during its winter meeting this week, from representatives of the White House-appointed Coronavirus Task... Read More »
In the wake of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, policymakers and the public are asking what more could have been done to prevent the spread of that disease.
Public health officials participated on Monday at the Hudson Institute in a panel discussion to answer that question. The talk,... Read More »
U.S. Senators from California and Nevada are requesting the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno with eight new aircraft.
Upgrading the Nevada Air National Guard’s C-130J fleet would help improve the Nevada Air National Guard’s ability to fight wildfires in... Read More »
The Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act was signed into law last week by President Donald Trump.
The legislation extends the Drug Enforcement Agency’s temporary order making fentanyl-related substances Schedule I, a designation reserved... Read More »
Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) recently urged the U.S. Army to select Fort Benning as the Army’s fourth corps headquarters.
Fort Benning is one of three finalists for the headquarters that is needed to fulfill National Defense Strategy requirements.
In their letter to... Read More »
Faced with a novel coronavirus outbreak that has taken the world by storm, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) recently highlighted lax pandemic funding from the Trump administration.
The group of Democrats pressed the administration... Read More »
National health security advocates argue the U.S. government is not fiscally prepared to address the possible spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States, and it must take rapid steps to ensure funding is in place to head off potential threats.
In Feb. 7 letters addressed to... Read More »
A new publication by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outlines a set of risk management techniques for businesses to reduce cybersecurity risk to global supply chains.
The publication, called Key Practices in Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management, addresses the... Read More »
Faced with more than 28,000 cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) worldwide and more than 550 deaths confirmed so far, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) called on Senate committees this week to guarantee response funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
As of this month, HHS... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) consulted with Major League Baseball teams to review incident preparedness measures and response plans at stadiums during spring training.
The review was done with teams participating in the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting abstract submissions for potential funding for the development of coronavirus molecular diagnostics.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary... Read More »
The second wave of Americans arrived in California on Wednesday, traveling from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic. They will spend days on military bases in quarantine as public health officials determine if there are any cases of the virus and to treat those... Read More »
