Countermeasures
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing (PAHPA) Innovation Act, S. 1379, became law on Monday with the president’s signature, prompting accolades from national stakeholders, company executives and federal lawmakers.
The far-reaching law ensures the United States will be better... Read More »
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) last week seized more than 17.5 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.1 billion at the Philadelphia seaport.
Agents from the U.S. Coast Guard, CBP and HSI... Read More »
A bill was introduced in the U.S. House to authorize funds for the U.S. Coast Guard through fiscal year 2021.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 3409) includes funds to promote the U.S. maritime industry and offshore renewable energy development, authorization of funding to build... Read More »
Science and technology firm Battelle is a finalist in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s Opioid Detection Challenge.
The $1.55 million global prize competition seeks to develop tools to aid the process of locating illicit opioids in international... Read More »
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Southwest border to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding border security.
“The crisis at our southern border is unlike anything we’ve witnessed before and has put an enormous strain on the existing... Read More »
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), first responder communications are at serious risk with the pending, 2021 sale of the T-Band part of the radio spectrum.
In 11 large metropolitan areas, police, firefighters and other first responders rely heavily on that spectrum, and in... Read More »
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently introduced legislation designed to strengthen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP), which detects and deters illicit criminal entry.
BITMAP is... Read More »
Pennsylvania state and county officials recently attended the Tabletop the Vote 2019 cyber training exercise hosted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The exercise provided election, information technology, and security personnel... Read More »
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) met in Washington, D.C. last week to discuss how to help industry and government stakeholders manage risks to information and communications technology (ICT) supply chains.
At the meeting, CISA’s Information and Communications... Read More »
The House of Representatives has adopted an amendment adding $6 million to the Defense Appropriations bill to increase funding for Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard training.
The effort, introduced by Reps. Andy Barr (R-KY) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY), is part of H.R. 2740. It would take... Read More »
New legislation advanced last week by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee would allot $75 million annually for grants to nonprofits and faith-based organizations specifically dedicated helping them secure their facilities.
The Protecting Faith-based and Nonprofit... Read More »
Legislation recently introduced in Congress would provide tax incentives to firearm manufacturers and small businesses for the development of smart gun technologies while encouraging consumers to purchase firearms that utilize the technologies.
The Start Advancing Firearms Enhancements and... Read More »
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced a bill to foster stronger cybersecurity coordination between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state and local governments.
The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act would encourage national... Read More »
Marine Corps personnel are currently evaluating the Compact Laser Weapons System, or CLaWS, which serves as the first Department of Defense (DoD)-approved ground-based laser.
The DoD has recently begun to view directed energy weapons, which are commonly known as lasers, as an affordable... Read More »
In the fight against malaria, researchers are examining high-resolution images to chart the progress and burden of the disease on a geographic scale.
The research was conducted over two separate studies from 2000 to 2017. They were led by the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), in collaboration with... Read More »
Delta Air Lines, in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will install facial recognition at three airports over the next month.
The technology will be installed at boarding gates and will be used for international flights. It can save approximately nine minutes of boarding... Read More »
Raytheon Company and Northrop Grumman Corporation have partnered to develop, produce, and integrate Northrop Grumman's scramjet combustors to power Raytheon's air-breathing hypersonic weapons.
“The Raytheon / Northrop Grumman team is quickly developing air-breathing hypersonic weapons to keep... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is developing millimeter wave shoe screening technology designed to enhance airport security.
The initiative stems from the Screening at Speed Program, which began in 2016 and is pursuing transformative research... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global campaign urging governmental adoption of the AWaRe tool to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse effects, and costs.
The AWaRe tool was developed by the WHO Essential Medicines List. It files antibiotics into three... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the Senate aims to promote stronger cybersecurity coordination between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state and local governments.
The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act encourages national cybersecurity watchdogs to share... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) introduced a legislative package of seven bills called the “American Security Agenda,” which seeks to improve the U.S. response to homeland security threats.
“The goal of the American Security Agenda is to take a hard look at the Department’s missions and act... Read More »
Raytheon Company and Black Sage recently partnered as a means of enhancing integrated drone detection and mitigation initiatives.
“As we saw at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, drones operating inside commercial air corridors are posing a real challenge," Todd Probert, vice president of... Read More »
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is lauding the Coast Guard’s recent decision noting Seattle will serve as the homeport for three new Coast Guard polar security cutters, or polar icebreakers.
“This is great news,” Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, which has... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued recommendations for National Nuclear Security Administration contractors.
The contractors design and manufacture explosive materials for nuclear weapons, and there are approximately 100 different nuclear- weapon components that... Read More »
Highlighting the success of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in disaster response, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently encouraged federal departments to partner with his state’s Northern Plains UAS Test Site in the fight against wildfires.
Specifically, he wanted to see the site’s knowledge... Read More »
Cianbro was awarded a $12.2 million contract to expand the warehouse facility at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Portsmouth, N.H.
“I have long advocated for the Navy to address the modernization needs at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and I am so pleased to announce that the contract has... Read More »
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) recently adopted a pair of National Defense Authorization Act amendments blocking the Guantanamo detainee transfers to certain countries presenting national security threats.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), ranking member of the House Homeland Security... Read More »
Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) recently proposed legislation supporting the military’s high-altitude aviation training in Colorado, backing Department of Defense (DoD) guidelines for aircraft flying over the state’s wilderness areas.
Tipton said the bill, H.R. 2347, and resolution, H.R. 440,... Read More »
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently discovered that an experimental flu drug known as favipiravir cures mice infected with the potentially lethal Bourbon virus.
At least, that’s the case with mice. The drug has been previously approved in Japan... Read More »
Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) introduced legislation last week that would make it illegal to distribute online blueprints and instructions that detail how to automatically program a 3D printer to produce or manufacture a firearm.
The 3D... Read More »
Prosecutors from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States met in June to develop joint strategies and best practices to dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that threaten the three nations.
The meeting of the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) Working Group in Cartagena,... Read More »
As a means of addressing the rising threat of bioterrorism, the House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill criminalizing possession of certain deadly substances.
Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY) introduced the Effective Prosecution of Possession of Biological Toxins and... Read More »
The Tactical Air and Land Forces (TAL) Subcommittee has voted to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The effort to advance the measure out of Committee by a 33-24 vote stems from the overarching goal of building a strong national defense, supporting service members and... Read More »
A recent study from the University of Cambridge alleges that half of all Ebola outbreaks have gone unseen and unrecorded since the virus was first discovered in 1976.
While this supports advocates’ push for improved detection and rapid response to the disease, it also means the situation... Read More »
International leaders and organizations are unprepared for a global catastrophic biological event, according to a report from Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security, the Center for Global Development, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Leaders and organizations... Read More »
