Government
Thirty-two participants representing 31 Member States of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently convened at the organization’s headquarters in The Hague for the 18th edition of its flagship chemical capacity-building associate program.
In his opening speech,... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Port of Seattle are enlisted a K-9 team to help screen passengers during what TSA projects will be Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s (Sea-Tac) busiest month to date.
TSA projects that it will screen 2 million departing passengers... Read More »
A bill that aims to increase security and decrease wait times at the nation’s ports of entry was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ).
The legislation specifically addresses issues with the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, a global... Read More »
Legislation that aims to address a variety of issues related to illegal immigration, drug smuggling, human trafficking, law enforcement officer safety, and overall security along the nation’s international borders was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently introduced new state-of-the-art screening technology equipment at Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG).
The Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scans for potential threats and highlights the location of potential threats in yellow on... Read More »
A bill that mandates the deployment of practical and effective security technologies in order to achieve full situational awareness of the southern U.S. border with Mexico was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), David Valadao (R-CA), Steve Knight... Read More »
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch on Friday by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that landed roughly 200 miles from Japan’s coast, and reports this week that North Korea was threatening an ICBM strike against the United States, are fresh warnings that the country continues to... Read More »
The Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop Series Act of 2017 was advanced by the House Homeland Security Committee this week in effort to coordinate preparations for terrorist attacks between first responders.
The bill targets first responders at all levels--federal, state and local--by... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers made a huge bust in Laredo, Texas this week after seizing more than $1 million worth of narcotics.
In total, two captures on the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge netted officers 48 pounds of methamphetamine, 25 pounds of cocaine, and one pound... Read More »
Additional actions are needed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to strengthen management and assess the effectiveness of land-based surveillance technologies for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Government... Read More »
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) recently announced that New Jersey will become the sixth state in the country to opt-in to the nationwide public safety broadband network that is currently being developed by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T.
As part of the agreement, FirstNet... Read More »
Following reports that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to close the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI), a group of U.S. representatives sent him a letter urging him not to do so.
The S/CCI office organizes responses to cyber threats, mitigates... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently chaired a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee to examine the role that technology plays in predicting, deterring, and detecting illicit activity along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.
The hearing comes as U.S. Customs and Border... Read More »
Responding to what he calls a need for a bio-defense strategy, the Trump Administration’s homeland security advisor, Thomas Bossert, has promised the White House is developing the first comprehensive plan for disease and biological attacks.
“At this point, we need to look clear eyed at the... Read More »
In Seoul, South Korea, dozens of countries are gathering this week to discuss the future of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which seeks to protect the world from infectious disease threats and has formed the backbone of biosecurity initiatives across the globe for more than three years.
... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded a total of $6,125,363 to the Hawaii Department of Public Health (DOH) to support its Disease Outbreak Control Division’s Public Health Preparedness Branch to help address a variety of public health threats and emergencies.... Read More »
Global aviation security is undergoing another change, this time in response to measures laid out by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly earlier this year.
Foremost among the changes, which affect all 180 airlines and 280 last-point-of-departure airports globally, are the lifting... Read More »
Recent testing conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on large-scale vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) at Fort Polk will be used to develop new mitigation capabilities and secure vulnerable targets in the Middle East.
The DHS Science and Technology... Read More »
More than 300 public safety professionals representing 20 African nations convened in Khartoum, Sudan for an educational event hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where participants trained in various aspects of response operations, radiological hazards, and emergency public... Read More »
The City of Phoenix. Arizona received a boon for its terrorism preparedness efforts last week with the announcement that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would be providing them $1,565,000 in grant funds for that purpose.
The funds were provided through the 2016 Complex Coordinated... Read More »
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade recently advanced legislation that aims to establish international border security standards to close security gaps that could potentially allow foreign terrorist fighters to travel internationally. ... Read More »
During a recent hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) questioned Ret. Brigadier General Stephen Cheney on how much the United States needed to be thinking about upgrading the security of critical energy infrastructure as it related to recent... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions said on Wednesday it plans to acquire GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) raxibacumab, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of inhalation anthrax, in an all-cash transaction valued at up to $96 million.
Raxibacumab is approved... Read More »
The House Appropriations Committee recently passed the FY2018 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill, which contains a number of provisions for critical programs related to aviation security, border enforcement, natural disaster response, cyberattack mitigation, and illegal... Read More »
At a recent meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA), outgoing NGA Chair Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) provided an update to his year-long initiative on strengthening state cybersecurity defenses.
Beginning in 2016, McAuliffe launched a project, titled Meet the Threat: States Confront... Read More »
By a unanimous voice vote, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last week sent the FY2018 Intelligence Authorization Act to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.
While funding for the bill was slightly lower than in the Trump Administration’s FY2018 budget... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) recently participated in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) workshop in Karlsruhe, Germany, where DHS personnel delivered a presentation on preparing U.S. scientists to serve as expert... Read More »
In response to fiscal concerns raised by a number of sheriffs in Arizona, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently introduced legislation that would reauthorize a program to reimburse state and local governments for incarcerating undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents recently made a large seizure of cocaine after intercepting a fishing vessel along the Miami River.
The incident began as CBP agents, along with one Border Patrol agent, boarded the vessel to process four crew members and their cargo as they... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said on Friday it plans to acquire Sanofi’s ACAM2000 business, the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for active immunization against smallpox, in an all-cash transaction totaling up to $125 million.
ACAM2000 is the primary smallpox... Read More »
Border Patrol agents stationed along Interstate 5 near San Clemente, California recently made a seizure approximately 58 pounds of illicit narcotics during a single traffic stop.
The incident began as agents stopped a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox SUV driven by a 45-year old U.S. citizen. During... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR) recently sent a public letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), regarding the Blue Ribbon Panel’s review of the 2014 smallpox virus incident on the NIH campus that called into question a number of missed opportunities to discover vials... Read More »
Botulinum toxin, produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, is the most potent biological toxin known to exist on Earth. The toxin causes botulism, a severe muscle-paralyzing, potentially fatal disease, characteristics that increase its likelihood as a potential bioweapon.
And while the U.S.... Read More »
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) signed a letter this week, accepting the plan laid out by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to build a wireless public safety broadband network throughout Virginia, making it the first state in the country to do so.
As part of the agreement,... Read More »
According to a recent update conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Defense (DOD) has identified an infrastructure manager for the chemical and biological defense program (CBDP) and is in the process of developing the position’s roles and responsibilities.... Read More »
