Government
Since August 16, 2021, United States Customers and Border Protection (CBP) officers have reported seizing as many as five shipments of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, amounting to 1,683 total forged cards and 2,034 equally counterfeit Pfizer inoculation stickers.
It’s a growing problem as the... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers introduced a bill that seeks to place Congressional controls on the use of emergency funding for enduring wars.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Mike Braun (R-IN) maintain the Restraining Emergency War Spending Act prescribes a statutory definition to classify emergency war... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers have introduced a bill they said seeks to create an emergency supply of key ingredients used in essential generic medicines.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) maintain the bipartisan Promoting Readiness and Ensuring Proper Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient... Read More »
While buoyed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s advancement of the Build Back Better Act, and the offerings therein, the United States COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus chimed in last week to note that its offers for vaccine manufacturing are just a beginning.
The caucus consists of... Read More »
Leaders of several international organizations including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization met with the CEOs of leading vaccine manufacturing companies to discuss way to improve low- and lower-middle income countries’... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined forces in introducing legislation directing the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist organization.
The... Read More »
The fourth implementation phase of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) Transatlantic Taskforce for Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) began this week, opening a new round of efforts to mobilize investment to fight growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
To... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency is seeking participants for the 2022 First Responder Electronic Jamming Exercise (JamX 22).
There has been a Request for Information (RFI) issued for the endeavor at White Sands Missile... Read More »
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company have secured Department of Defense (DOD) contracts to produce additional doses of monoclonal antibodies to block the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.
Authorities indicated the $3.2 billion total allotment is in coordination with the Department... Read More »
In a new paper, researchers from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) found that nuclear security now exists in something of a patchwork: from individual states’ domestic regulations and policies, to informal groups of countries working on aspects of security and more formal binding... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) introduced resolutions Tuesday urging Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The resolution introduced into both chambers of Congress calls for freezing the Government of... Read More »
Vaccine equity is in need of a boost globally, and in Africa in particular, and unless that changes, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other health leaders said this week the COVID-19 pandemic may never end.
Cooperation is the key to ending the... Read More »
South Dakota-based Synthetik Applied Technologies, LLC has secured a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program award to develop explosives and illicit drugs detection technology.
Officials indicated Synthetik Applied Technologies, LLC was selected... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has earmarked over $1 million for research on countering potential unmanned aerial systems (UAS) threats.
The funding allotment to the University of North Dakota (UND) stemmed from the efforts of Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) as a member of the Senate Homeland... Read More »
Through a contract with SIGA Technologies, Inc., the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has exercised a procurement option to obtain approximately $112.5 million worth of the oral TPOXX smallpox treatment this year.
TPOXX is an orally administered and IV formulation... Read More »
As of last week, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) updated guidance for the procurement and operation of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, incorporating new commercial technological advancements and emphasizing threats of small and foreign UAS.
Deputy Secretary of... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and other Congress members urged President Joe Biden to limit the role of nuclear weapons in the country’s national security.
In a letter to the President, the group pointed to Biden’s longstanding commitment to reducing the role of nuclear weapons, and... Read More »
Boeing officials joined Missile Defense Agency (MDA) personnel in touting the recent successful demonstration of an advanced interceptor capability for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.
The exercise would assist in achieving the overarching goal of defending the nation from... Read More »
Bechtel officials said the engineering, construction and project management company recently destroyed the final inventory of projectiles containing mustard agent.
The company's Kentucky team initiated the third of five chemical weapons destruction initiatives completed at the Blue Grass... Read More »
The Biden administration seeks an international summit on COVID-19 pandemic responses and to form a united global front for vaccination efforts, a proposal that could impact vaccine manufacturing, supply chains and even the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
Closer to home, though, U.S.... Read More »
BAE Systems officials said the firm has secured a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to design a full scale demonstrator aircraft concept with Active Flow Control.
“BAE Systems has been at the forefront of digital design for more than 20 years," Tom Fillingham, senior... Read More »
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that her state would open up a $40 million Biodefense Commercialization Fund to support the state’s growing Life Science industry.
The fund would provide grants to companies within the state working to bring to market infectious disease solutions... Read More »
Global technology firm KBR is espousing the benefits of its recent successful demonstration of its Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) Combat Shoot-Off (CSO) system.
Army soldiers executed a series of vignettes demonstrating laser-equipped Stryker capabilities against... Read More »
Sandia National Laboratories' modular radiation detection monitors will decrease costs and enhance threat detection, officials say.
As part of an effort to replace and upgrade the aging radiation detection systems at ports across the country, the Department of Homeland Security tasked Sandia... Read More »
In the hunt for a solution to one of burning buildings’ most dangerous effects, chemists from the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) have created a test that could help firefighters identify whether civilians have been exposed to toxic... Read More »
A group of United States representatives introduced the CISA Leadership Act this week, a bill that proposes to codify a five year term for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director and reaffirm the position as presidentially appointed, but Senate confirmed.
While CISA... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) announced Friday that their request for a Illinois National Guard project will be included in the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA passed out of the House Armed Services Committee with a bipartisan 57-2 vote, and... Read More »
A group of lawmakers have forwarded correspondence to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeking guidance regarding the evacuation of Americans and others from Afghanistan.
Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA), Zoe Lofgen (D-CA), and Jerry Nadler... Read More »
A group of lawmakers have introduced a bill that seeks to establish a U.S.-Israel Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development Center.
Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Grace Meng (D-NY), Dean Phillips (D-MN), and Mike Waltz (R-FL) presented the legislation as a... Read More »
A group of lawmakers launched the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus, which they said would advocate for vaccines as a means of ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) along with... Read More »
As part of a contract signed with Valneva SE last year, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has decided to utilize an option that will increase supply of the company’s Japanese encephalitis vaccine, IXIARO, to a minimum of 200,000 doses.
Japanese encephalitis is a deadly infectious... Read More »
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense last week applauded the Biden Administration’s work on a new $65.3 billion American Pandemic Preparedness Plan for investments to combat the next biological threat, though it argues that greater funding is necessary to make sufficient plans.
The White... Read More »
In a national first, the House Armed Services Committee voted last week in favor of a bill that would grant the mayor of the District of Columbia authority over the D.C. National Guard, adding that provision to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
Since its inception, the D.C. National... Read More »
Science fiction is becoming fact, according to United States Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) -- and as a result, he and fellow U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) have successfully added 11 artificial intelligence (AI)-focused amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.
While... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said a sensor system developed under the Arrays at Commercial Timescales - Integration and Validation (ACT-IV) program has transitioned to the Air Force.
DARPA indicated Northrop Grumman, which serves as the ACT-IV program primary research... Read More »
