Government
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced Wednesday that it will expand its export restrictions on Russia in response to a March 2, 2021, determination by the Secretary of State that the country’s government had used chemical or biological weapons against... Read More »
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel have released an unclassified summary assessing domestic violent extremism.
The National Counterterrorism Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and DHS... Read More »
The FBI's recently released 2020 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report, the top three crimes reported by victims in last year were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and extortion.
Authorities indicated the report stems from 791,790 complaints of suspected internet... Read More »
Following the suspension of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine by several European countries this week, owing to reports of rare types of blood clots emerging among the vaccinated, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that vaccinations continue.
While the European Union suspensions... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted this week marketing authorization of the BioFire Respiratory Panel 2.1, allowing it to become the first SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic able to be marketed past the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
BioFire Respiratory Panel 2.1 is a test by BioFire Diagnostics... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security personnel recently joined the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in assessing findings regarding federal election integrity.
The findings from a joint report to the President issued... Read More »
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) joined 16 colleagues to introduce this week legislation designed to create federal penalties for individuals deliberately targeting local, state, or federal law enforcement officers with violence.
The Protect and Serve Act would make it a federal crime to knowingly cause,... Read More »
AstraZeneca announced plans this week to supply up to 500,000 additional doses of AZD7442, an under-development, long-acting antibody combination meant for use against COVID-19, modifying an existing agreement with the U.S. government.
Specifically, the agreement was reached with the Departments... Read More »
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that until the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) fully implements its organization plan, it may put the country at risk for identifying and responding to cyberattacks.
The GAO said legislation in 2018 elevated... Read More »
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are advocating legislation that would create a COVID-19 Commission modeled after a similar panel that examined the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The National Coronavirus Commission Act of 2021 would establish an independent, non-partisan... Read More »
Harvard University has secured $775,000 in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate S&T funds to aid the agency's Blue Campaign.
The funds have been earmarked for the university's T.H. Chan School of Public Health to conduct research and evaluate the impact of the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced last week the Assault Weapons Ban, which would ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
“It’s been 17 years since the original... Read More »
Air Force officials have named First Air Force to serve as the future air component to U.S. Space Command.
“The U.S. Air Force is a critical contributor to the U.S. Space Command mission as evidenced by their support to Human Space Flight,” U.S. Army Gen. James Dickinson, USSPACECOM... Read More »
A group of lawmakers forwarded correspondence last week to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel regarding southern border circumstances.
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) spearheaded the effort to address the agency's, citing reports of illegal... Read More »
While thankful for the support for system upgrades the newly introduced House LIFT America Act demonstrates, American 9-1-1 groups are concerned that elements of it could prove wasteful and delay and complicate deployment of a Next Generation 9-1-1 nationwide.
“The infrastructure bill is a... Read More »
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee unveiled a sweeping, $312 billion bill known as the LIFT America Act last week that, among other things, would invest in America’s health infrastructure.
“As our nation combats COVID-19 and a severe economic downturn, the LIFT... Read More »
The single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be available in more places worldwide now, thanks to a conditional marketing authorization granted by the European Commission and emergency use authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The decisions followed similar approval... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, wants the FBI to brief Congress on the infiltration of white supremacists in law enforcement.
In a letter to the FBI sent Wednesday, Raskin questioned why the FBI repeatedly told his subcommittee last... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate this week by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Patty Murray (D-WA) seeks to strengthen the public health infrastructure and enhance the nation’s ability to respond to COVID-19 and other public health challenges.
The Public Health Infrastructure Saves... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is espousing the benefits of an AEG 12 mosquito protein study authorities said could help develop treatments to combat life-threatening viruses.
Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) used X-ray crystallography... Read More »
A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear weapon pursuits.
Reps. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), and Brad Schneider (D-IL) joined the resolution in the wake of Iran’s... Read More »
Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), and John Cornyn (R-TX) reintroduced a bill designed to aid states in enforcing existing laws against individuals attempting to purchase firearms by lying on background checks.
The NICS Denial Notification Act would require federal authorities to... Read More »
Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) is among lawmakers encouraging the Biden administration to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapon capabilities.
Joyce joined other legislators in forwarding correspondence to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, focusing on three areas of concern: Iran’s nuclear... Read More »
A group of lawmakers introduced legislation designed to establish an Office of Intelligence within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Agricultural Intelligence Measures (AIM) Act was introduced by Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rick Allen (R-GA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jim Baird (R-IN), Troy... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act, noting the legislation would subject foreign criminal organizations such as drug cartels to sanctions.
Sens. Ben Sasse (R-NE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Josh Hawley... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and MediciNova, Inc. seek to use a new partnership to repurpose the anti-inflammatory MN-166, better known as ibudilast, for use against acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and chlorine exposure.
Traditionally, ibudilast... Read More »
The BioWatch Program, established by Congress in 2003, transferred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) office in 2018 with a whopping budget averaging $76 million per fiscal year from 2018 to 2020.
According to BioWatch officials, the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently co-sponsored legislation to fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), which includes programs aimed and preventing and responding to pandemics.
The Public Health Funding Prevents Pandemics Act would ensure the PPHF, part of the Affordable Care Act,... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced the Homeland and Cyber Threat (HACT) Act, which would hold foreign governments accountable for cyberattack damages.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), along with Colin Allred (D-TX), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), and... Read More »
Two research and development (R&D) awards have been earmarked by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the newly launched Secure and Resilient Mobile Network Infrastructure (SRMNI) project.
The Agency's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure... Read More »
According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of Utah, the costs of antibiotic resistance among diseases are growing, leading to billions of dollars in health care costs and increasing rates of infections.
According to “National... Read More »
According to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the American Recovery and Rescue Act being voted on in Congress this week contains significant funding for fire and emergency medical personnel.
The act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in late February and passed the... Read More »
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said first responders now have access to the QuickRoute Mobile app, which aids with routing challenges.
“First responders now have a commercially-available navigational tool which takes into... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Randy Weber (R-TX) and Charlie Crist (D-FL) are espousing the benefits of establishing the Space & Aeronautics Caucus for the 117th Congress, noting the effort seeks to explore several important matters of policy.
Caucus endeavors would include domestic activities in low-Earth orbit... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the International Mail Facility (IMF) at Chicago's O’Hare International Airport recently seized suspicious 3M N95 type masks with a 3M trademark.
Officers assigned to the Port of Chicago seized parcels arriving from Colombia. Personnel... Read More »
