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Hitting back at what once destroyed its historic forebear, Project Titanic – an initiative from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) – is under development to improve maritime safety and navigation in the North Atlantic Ocean through modern... Read More »
Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, led by Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL), wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines this week urging U.S. intelligence agencies to actively share helpful intelligence with their Ukrainian counterparts.
Meant to more... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced a bill this week to fund research on the COVID-19 impacts on mental health and brain function.
“The pandemic showed us the need to prioritize mental health and support those suffering,” Cassidy... Read More »
By supporting conservation in other nations, a bipartisan group of senators has proposed – through the Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2022 (S.4074) – that the risk of zoonotic disease transmission could be reduced for humans.
As introduced, the bill would authorize the U.S. government to... Read More »
In a push back against the spread of fentanyl overdoses throughout the United States, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) wrote to National Drug Control Policy director Rahul Gupta last week, asking for support on legislation to permanently classify the substance.
The... Read More »
A Phase 3 clinical trial of Vaxxinity, Inc.’s UB-612 heterologous COVID-19 vaccine booster dose candidate gained up to $9.25 million in support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) this week to help evaluate the candidate’s abilities.
“As we strive to stay one... Read More »
The House of Representatives advanced this week the School and Daycare Protection Act (H.R. 6387), introduced by U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), to prompt action from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management.
Under H.R. 6387, DHS would create a School Security... Read More »
A supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra intravenous treatment for COVID-19 cases among hospitalized patients was accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week and will benefit from priority review.
If approved, the drug... Read More »
A bipartisan push in the Senate yielded the introduction of the Improving Law Enforcement Office Safety and Wellness Through Data Act to the Judiciary Committee last week to improve information gathering on attacks that target law enforcement.
The legislation was introduced by U.S. Sens. Charles... Read More »
The USCIS Investor Program Office (IPO), which processes EB-5 foreign investor visas and I-829 petitions, can’t seem to get its processing act together.
With the processing time for a 1-829 petition taking years to complete, EB-5 experts say immigrant investors seeking permanent residency in... Read More »
The Satellite Cybersecurity Act, authored by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Cornyn (R-TX), advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week, raising the possibility of federal resources for cybersecurity on private commercial satellites.
Peters is... Read More »
The Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act (S.3875) advanced through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this week, offering potential help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for communities needing to invest in natural disaster mitigation... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) jointly introduced legislation to reauthorize existing programs and create new ones dedicated to halting human trafficking, supporting victims, and increasing federal response and coordination on the matter.
Touted by Feinstein as... Read More »
A group of Republican senators wrote the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week to criticize current border policies and urge additional information ahead of a potential revocation of U.S. Title 42.
The senators noted the possible problems a reversal of Title 42 policy, which allows... Read More »
The life of N95 masks – a component in fighting the spread of COVID-19 – may be extendable for far longer than initially thought with the use of ultraviolet light, according to recent research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
In a study published in the Journal... Read More »
Together, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and United States Department of Energy (DOE) recently warned that action is needed to counter the ongoing threat of state-sponsored Russian cyber operations to the U.S. energy sector and... Read More »
Interim data emerged this week from a Phase 2/3 trial of Moderna, Inc.’s mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine on children between 6 months and 6 years old, demonstrating efficacy similar to usage on adults and with a generally well-tolerated profile.
The KidCOVE trial provided participants with two 25... Read More »
Fearing Russian cyberattacks as reprisal for support of Ukraine, a bipartisan collection of senators wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week pushing for dedicated resources to aid private and public institutions.
Led by U.S. Sen. John... Read More »
At a virtual meeting on April 6, 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet to address the future of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for selecting them for use against specific viral... Read More »
In a letter sent to Congressional leadership, the co-chairs of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus urged the inclusion of $5 billion in global COVID-19 response funding with any COVID-19 supplemental package.
This would shore up aid when USAID has said it will have fully obligated the funding... Read More »
In a study conducted on non-human primates, Soligenix, Inc.’s CiVax COVID-19 booster vaccine candidate produced increased neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 and its Delta Omicron variants.
The results, released last week, showed the heat-stable vaccine candidate generated as much... Read More »
A new solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) this week sought modern means of identifying and mitigating threats to so-called soft targets: sports venues, shopping complexes, schools, and more.
As a program, Securing... Read More »
A new attempt to strengthen the U.S. public health, medical preparedness, and response system will have its day in the Senate, after it was voted forward in a 20-2 vote by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
The Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) joined 19 colleagues in sending correspondence to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeking information regarding agency efforts to protect the nation from Russian... Read More »
The Senate advanced as part of the government funding legislation a provision from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) that would require cyber attacks on critical infrastructure to be reported and further federal oversight.
Peters and Portman, chairman and ranking member of the... Read More »
In a new report released this week, the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) called out gaps in states’ emergency response capabilities and advocated for urgent investment in a new public health system.
The report, Ready or Not 2022: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases,... Read More »
In a move hailed by U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, the bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for FY 2022 now includes an increase of funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $250 million.
The funding, representing a 39... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending measure that includes the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, which now is reauthorized through 2027.
The larger legislation funding the government through September now heads back to the U.S. Senate, which... Read More »
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), its effort to produce safe and effective vaccines within 100 days of an identified epidemic or pandemic threat has garnered $1.535 billion from world governments and organizations.
The 100 Days Mission is a five-year plan... Read More »
With the introduction of the DICTATOR Act to the House this week, U.S. Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) are pushing for investigations into whether the Chinese government is helping Russia evade international sanctions linked to its invasion of Ukraine.
While most nations agreed... Read More »
In the most recent update to its malaria guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the vaccine RTS,S/AS01 be used to prevent P. falciparum malaria among children living in areas of moderate to high transmission.
This represents the first time a vaccine for malaria was... Read More »
The primary goal of the international COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) to facilitate access to COVID-19 health products received a major boost last week with an offer from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for several related technologies.
These offers would allow potential... Read More »
A new legislative package from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) advanced through the Senate this week, setting up the House to consider revamps to public and private sector cybersecurity and the lingering question of governmental adoption of cloud technology.
The... Read More »
Faced with the ongoing, globally denounced Russian military invasion of Ukraine, a bipartisan collection of House lawmakers this week introduced the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 – legislation that would make it easier to ship military equipment for Ukraine’s use.
The bill... Read More »
Reckoning with a world still navigating a pandemic and the changing diplomatic realities a war in Ukraine has wrought, United States Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) this week called for increased COVID-19 aid abroad to counter Russian and Chinese influence.
“As Russian tanks roll into Ukraine... Read More »