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Oil from an Iranian tanker off Texas remains in limbo despite its seizure by American personnel, and United States lawmakers from both parties and both chambers of Congress are growing fed up after the months-long delay in transfer.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, led by U.S. Sen. Joni... Read More »
Employees at all levels of the Department of Defense (DoD) will be able to participate in its inaugural talent management program that began earlier this month as an idea generator for how to recruit, retain and promote a diverse workforce.
Hosted by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense... Read More »
With the introduction of the Leadership, Engagement, Accountability, and Development (LEAD) Act this week, United States Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) proposed reforms of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) to crack down on bad actors.
This oversight... Read More »
Reckoning with the growing attention on and potential of artificial intelligence, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) last week created a generative AI task force to analyze, integrate and responsibly utilize large language models, and more.
These efforts were gathered under the... Read More »
Global hacker group Lapsus$ took top billing in the latest report from the United States Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), and though its techniques were found to be simple, its threat is anything but, prompting a series of recommendations for greater protections.
The CSRB operates under the... Read More »
For the first time, New York laid out a range of high-level objectives for its cybersecurity and resilience this week, guided by Gov. Kathy Hochul and backed by $600 million in funding.
With the release of an official cybersecurity strategy, the state laid out various agencies’ roles and... Read More »
Through introduction of the Connecting Oceania’s Nations with Vanguard Exercises and National Empowerment (CONVENE) Act, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) proposed building partnerships with Pacific island nations and gathering allies against China – a proposal that has been included in the National... Read More »
As the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) enters its second year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week announced a boost to its coffers, amounting to $374.9 million in available funding.
Overall, the program will provide $1 billion in funding over four years... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) introduced the Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters Act (H.R. 4831) last week, offering a base pay raise for federal firefighters as a stopgap against U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pay cuts caused by lack of funds.
“Our firefighters... Read More »
At a school safety roundtable last week, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) reintroduced the Safe to Tell Act, proposing support for threat reporting programs nationwide.
The bill would provide $25 million in grant funding annually for four years, so the Department of Justice could create... Read More »
As the United States reckons with its seasonal labor needs and political infighting over immigration, a new bipartisan effort known as the SEASONAL Act seeks to allow governors the ability to push supplemental H-2B visas beyond the national cap of 66,000.
The SEASONAL Act, or the State... Read More »
A years-running bipartisan effort at national security sector investment scrutiny from U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) gained traction this week, as the Senate voted to attach the Outbound Investment Transparency Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
At the... Read More »
The bipartisan Disaster Assistance Deadlines Alignment Act queued up for consideration in the House this week after advancing through the Senate, raising the possibility of a single application deadline for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster assistance programs.
“Survivors of... Read More »
Currently, the world is still reckoning with how the endless expanse of outer space fits into its terrestrial-focused economic structure, but the Space Infrastructure Act introduced in the House last week seeks to take a crack at it by filing space systems, services and technology under critical... Read More »
Under the newly introduced Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug act, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) last week proposed fighting drug shortages with increased domestic supplies of critical medications.
The bill would front and center... Read More »
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) won $1.67 million from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) this week, to aid research into future emergency response structures.
In this context, this includes items like emergency operation centers... Read More »
Seemingly joining with states’ efforts to block certain foreign entries into American agriculture, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment this week that would ban four nations in particular from buying up either American farmland or agricultural businesses.
In a 91-7 vote, the Senate... Read More »
A total of $20 million in grant funding was made available to eligible counties in New York last week to improve land mobile radio interoperability among public safety agencies and, more generally, improve the state’s emergency communications systems.
"Communications are the backbone of... Read More »
Working together, U.S. Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Kathy Manning (D-NC) reintroduced the Securing Global Telecommunications Act (H.R.4741) last week, resurrecting an attempt to push global telecommunications security by clamping down on foreign influence.
Specifically, the bill was geared toward... Read More »
A database could help identify and address vulnerabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain, according to a new bill proposed in the Senate last week – the Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Act (MAPS), allowing greater preparedness for public health threats overall.
The... Read More »
As gun sales increase and shootings nationwide rise, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) have introduced the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Data Integrity Act requiring the FBI to complete all gun-purchase background checks.
Currently,... Read More »
A pair of bills introduced by U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) this week would authorize the federal government to investigate the health impacts of nuclear weapons and promote safe design and mass-production of genetic material through artificial gene synthesis.... Read More »
Through a new, $37.5 million agreement with Graphite One, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is pushing expansion of domestic graphite mining and processing, in the hopes of building up American capabilities to produce large-capacity batteries.
While such batteries are proving critical to... Read More »
Through introduction of the Northern Border Coordination Act, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) seek to create a new center to improve border coordination and security under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other authorities.
“The federal government must... Read More »
In a vote from the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta’s (R-OH) Helping Evaluate Appropriate Logistical Infrastructure for National Government (HEALING) Response Act (H.R. 3703) was cleared as part of a broader reauthorization legislation.
Latta’s bill, as... Read More »
A group of senators and representatives collectively introduced the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2023 this week in an effort to reform federal cybersecurity laws left largely untouched since 2014, and to increase communication between governmental entities.
The Federal... Read More »
Reaching out to allies overseas, a bipartisan congressional delegation recently headed to the Netherlands, Estonia and United Kingdom to discuss their cybersecurity approaches and ways to improve both information sharing and collective defense.
The trip was led by House Homeland Security... Read More »
While some have started to put the COVID-19 pandemic firmly behind them, other emphasize the lessons learned, and two of those figures this week introduced the Senate Disease X Act of 2023, proposing creation of a federal Disease X Medical Countermeasures program.
Meant to ready the nation for... Read More »
Last week the United States destroyed its last declared chemical weapons stockpile, allowing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to confirm that all such stockpiles worldwide are now verified gone.
It was work spanning decades, following on from the ratification of... Read More »
Nations with the best capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease threats weathered the COVID-19 pandemic with lower overall mortality rates than less prepared nations, according to a new study from partners at the Brown University School of Public Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a series of recommendations to agencies and leadership regarding counterterrorism information sharing enhancements.
According to the GAO, it remains unclear if federal programs designed to improve how terrorism-related information is shared... Read More »
Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a discussion draft of a reauthorization for the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), in search of feedback.
PAHPA, first created in 2006, established the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and... Read More »
The phrase “Made in the U.S.A” would take on greater importance under a new bill in the Senate, which would require federally-purchased flags to be 100 percent produced and manufactured in the United States.
All-American Flag Act is the brainchild of U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Sherrod... Read More »
FirstNet Authority Board officials are commending a member of the inaugural Board for receiving a communications award for
contributions to advancement of public safety broadband communications.
Teri Takai received the Chief Harlin R. McEwen Public Safety Broadband Communications Award during... Read More »
After years of warnings about the growing number of missing or murdered Indigenous people, and a traveling federal commission investigating the issue, the Justice Department this week announced the creation of the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program.
The new... Read More »
