Countermeasures
U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) recently introduced legislation that seeks to educate students and teachers regarding human trafficking.
The Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act would establish a grant program within the Office of... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials are espousing the benefits of its Fieldable Solutions for Hemorrhage with bio-Artificial Resuscitation Products (FSHARP) program, which addresses blood supply shortages.
“When blood donations decline – as we have seen during the... Read More »
According to results published in The Lancet this week, a Phase 1, first-in-human test of an experimental Marburg virus vaccine developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), good safety profiles and an active immune response brought hope for the candidate’s... Read More »
The joint work of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet Rocketdyne yielded a successful second flight test for the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) this week.
HAWC is a cruise missile that uses its own... Read More »
The North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs (NCAFC) has received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.
The two-year, $839,380 funding allotment would support firefighter recruitment and retention. The NCAFC is partnering... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) recently touted the benefits of the newly introduced Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, which offers supply chains and family farms foreign threats protections.
“American farmland belongs to American farmers – period,” said Feenstra, who helped... Read More »
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials said the agency's newly released FY 2023-2026 Strategic Plan targets strengthened capabilities and aids the nation in attaining its highest ideals.
“The work of USCIS makes the possibility of America a reality for immigrants from... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Mike Garcia (R-CA), Young Kim (R-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), and Judy Chu (D-CA) recently introduced the Fire Information and Reaction Enhancement (FIRE) Act, which seeks to enhance wildfire detection efforts.
Specifically, the legislation would enable the National Oceanic and... Read More »
Fallout continues for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over the hack and release of data from its official No-Fly List earlier this month, as U.S. Reps. Mark Green (R-TN) and Dan Bishop (R-NC) demanded answers and oversight of how this happened.
Green is the chairman of the... Read More »
The Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act was reintroduced last week by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in a continued push to open up the Lobbying Disclosure Act and close loopholes that would increase awareness of foreign lobbying in the federal government.
Peters noted that the bill... Read More »
For successfully licensing its electronic radiological material tracker, Mobile Source Transit Security (MSTS), to private industry, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team was honored last week with a 2023 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Excellence in Technology Transfer Award.
The FLC... Read More »
Aerospace company Boeing has secured a $92 million, three-year U.S. Army award to produce additional Next Generation Automated Test System (NGATS) units.
NGATS is a single, mobile diagnostic tool providing real-time testing in the field while supplying automated fault diagnosis of over 100... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) are urging the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the national security risks of consulting companies contracting with the U.S. government and the Chinese government.
The senators also seek GAO examination of potential national... Read More »
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, agents last week concluded efforts ongoing since July 2022 to infiltrate the computer networks of the Hive ransomware group, seize its decryption keys and offer them to victims targeted for more than $130 million in demands.
“Last night, the Justice... Read More »
According to preliminary figures touted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), new measures deployed by the Biden administration have led to drastic reductions in illegal border crossings in the first month of 2023, setting January up for the lowest levels of monthly border encounters since... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Bob Latta (R-OH), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) recently introduced the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act, which seeks to permanently schedule fentanyl analogues while granting researchers the ability to conduct fentanyl substance... Read More »
United States Reps. Earl Carter (R-GA) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) took a second go at introducing the Essential Medicines Strategic Stockpile Act (H.R.405) this week, seeking to create a pre-plotted list of generic medications essential for public health emergencies and cut dependence on China... Read More »
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) officials said a recently released report and toolkit seeks to aid K-12 schools in protecting against cybersecurity threats.
CISA noted Partnering to Safeguard K-12 Organizations from Cybersecurity Threats provides insight into the current... Read More »
Air Force officials have detailed a Howard University partnership in which the Historically Black College or University (HBCU) will lead a University Affiliated Research Center.
The focus on military systems tactical autonomy technology earmarks $12 million annually for Howard University for five... Read More »
This week, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CN), and Chris Murphy (D-CN) introduced two bills to increase protections against guns nationwide following another series of mass shootings in California.
Respectively, the bills proposed were the Assault Weapons Ban and the Age... Read More »
In its latest operational update, covering the final month of 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures showed a mix of figures, with overall encounters along the border increasing even as unlawful crossings fell and migration patterns shifted overall.
Large numbers of people... Read More »
Security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin noted the Directed Energy Interceptor for Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense System (DEIMOS) recently achieved first light, representing alignment with system design parameters.
The DEIMOS first light demonstration serves as a milestone to aid the Army... Read More »
Justice Department officials said Col. Hugh T. Clements Jr. has been appointed as the new Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office).
“The Department’s COPS Office is central to our efforts to strengthen the public trust between communities and law... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted its recent examination of comprehensive cybersecurity strategy and oversight challenges has resulted in a series of recommendations to address the concerns.
The GAO has issued 335 public recommendations regarding cybersecurity and oversight since... Read More »
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) turned to the public for information on those responsible for a series of threats against and attacks on reproductive health service facilities nationwide – and it put up $25,000 in rewards for that information.
In all, 10 incidents were... Read More »
Following up on a group letter from July 2022, United States Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) last week called for Congressional action to block any proposed transfer of U.S. F-16 fighter jets and their components to Turkey.
Pallone and more than 30 House colleagues had urged the Biden administration... Read More »
As called for under the CARES Act stimulus bill of 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an investigation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) oversight practices surrounding research into pandemic pathogens and found cause for concern.
While such... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Science Applications International Corp. a $112 million contract to develop Cloud Based Command and Control (CBC2) for the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).
The scope of work calls for SAIC to deliver command and control to the Department of the Air Force’s... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Dan Kildee (D-MI) recently introduced the Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act, which seeks to ban bump stocks permanently.
The bill stems from legal efforts to overturn the present bump stock regulatory ban. When attached to semiautomatic... Read More »
The United States Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) split $1.1 million between seven federal laboratories this week for federal research that could benefit Department of Homeland Security (DHS) missions and homeland security stakeholders – and, potentially, find a market.
The latter... Read More »
As lawmakers process the passage of the government funding bill at the tail end of December 2022, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced that major portions of the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act) were included in its... Read More »
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had a successful year in 2022, the agency reports, and commended personnel for several accomplishments.
“I am incredibly proud of our dedicated TSA employees who perform the critical task of securing our nation’s transportation systems each... Read More »
The Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) has awarded Oshkosh Defense a $141 Million order for 414 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles A2 (FMTV A2).
The agreement also calls for the production of 56 FMTV trailers. The order serves increased force... Read More »
A new satellite built by Northrop Grumman Corporation for the United States Space Force (USSF) successfully launched this week, supporting the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE) program and the USSF-67 mission.
Known as the LDPE-3A, this satellite was built using Northrop Grumman’s ESPAStar... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new process of deferred action requests for noncitizen workers victimized by or witnesses to the violation of labor rights, allowing them greater potential protections against exploitation.
The change in process will shift more scrutiny... Read More »
