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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress during the past few years but faces numerous challenges strengthening America’s visa security, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security learned during a task force hearing last week.
“This is a critical time for our... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), the committee’s ranking member, recently sent a public letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Inspector General John Roth, regarding assaults... Read More »
A bill authored by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) to address staffing shortages among U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Border Patrol agents by getting rid of duplicative mandated polygraph tests was recently approved by the House Committee on Homeland Security.
McSally’s... Read More »
Officials from the United States recently announced a pledge of $1.091 million (€1 million) to modernize the laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Siebersdorf, Austria, which provide key nuclear research in various areas of human and animal health, food security, and... Read More »
Former top executives at various Department of Defense research facilities called on Congress Wednesday to ease hiring restrictions and contracting rules to facilitate the Pentagon’s work on cutting-edge weapons and other technology.
The ongoing federal budget freeze and strict regulations... Read More »
The nation’s supply of U.S.-licensed YF-VAX yellow fever vaccine is expected to be depleted by mid-2017 due to delays in the manufacturing process at Sanofi Pasteur, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
YF-VAX is the only yellow... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) recently introduced the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, which aims to reduce wasteful spending in information technology (IT) while strengthening information security by expediting the federal government’s... Read More »
Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, commander of the U.S. European Command, recently hosted a discussion with dozens of senior NATO Leaders and European chiefs of defense on how to counter the threat of violent extremism.
“This fight against terror and violent extremists will not be easy, nor... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday introduced the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act, which reserves forfeited assets from drug lords to pay for various security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border, including President Trump’s proposed border wall.... Read More »
A new global coalition is laying the groundwork to achieve an ambitious goal of speeding up the development of vaccines to combat the spread of deadly emerging infectious diseases that pose great risk to public health.
Launched in January, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations... Read More »
A companion bill to U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe’s (R-TX) Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017 was recently introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
Grassley currently serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,... Read More »
With the nation’s signature preparedness law due for reauthorization in 2018, leaders now are readying public health stakeholders across local, state and federal levels for battle on Capitol Hill.
Not only should those in the public health sector be battle-ready to support renewal of the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently recognized Sandia National Laboratories for its efforts in combating the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa.
To address issues facing West African patients during the epidemic, Sandia researchers examined Liberia’s blood... Read More »
According to a recent report published by the Global Nexus Initiative (GNI), global nuclear governance is facing unprecedented challenges as non-traditional nations provide nuclear technology to emerging countries.
The report was the product of a collaborative effort from leading experts from... Read More »
The nation’s biodefense response to emerging diseases and outbreaks is on an endless loop that, without a proper foundation, is not allowing for progressive countermeasure operations, according to Merck Pharmaceuticals Executive Director Julie Gerberding, former director of the Centers for... Read More »
Researchers from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently developed a capsule that may help prevent malaria infections and protect patients for up to two weeks.
The capsule was recently tested in swine... Read More »
The Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) recently published a report detailing the potential costs for President Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico, with a cost estimate reaching as high as $70 billion.
The report’s estimate also... Read More »
According to a recent study of nearly 5,000 Latin American-born Los Angeles County residents, approximately 1.24 percent tested positive for Chagas disease, which can cause life-threatening conditions in the heart if not properly treated.
The study was coordinated by the Center for Excellence... Read More »
A group of leading medical researchers recently wrote an article, cautioning that the number of newly-trained infectious disease physicians will not match future needs posed by emerging diseases or the expected increase in resistant microbes.
The group includes Rochelle Walensky of Harvard... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council convened last week to discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by Bashar al-Assad, conducted a chemical weapons attack on its own people.
On April 4, a chemical weapons attack occurred in the Khan... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, requesting communications related to a 2013 chemical weapons agreement by the Obama Administration, the Russian Federation, and the Syrian government.
The letter comes in... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently began the extensive process to dismantle the international Kelihos botnet, which has facilitated thousands of malicious attacks and cybercrimes throughout the world.
DOJ officials said the botnet played a part in harvesting thousands of login... Read More »
A group of 21 Democratic U.S. Senate members recently sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, requesting he reconsider the proposed budget cuts to mass transit security programs in order to fund President Trump’s border wall with Mexico.
On Jan. 25, President Trump signed... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently introduced a bill called the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, which aims to restrict the use and export of dangerous cluster munitions to protect civilians during and after wartime.
Cluster munitions are defined as... Read More »
Congressional leaders said they supported President Donald Trump’s authorization of a missile strike against Syria on Thursday in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians.
Trump authorized the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base suspected of... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) released the April terror threat snapshot, which found that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had merged with Al-Mourabitoun and Ansar Dine to form a new extremist group called Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal... Read More »
In a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing this week, representatives from the three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Joint Task Force sectors testified to the effectiveness of their current border security practices against foreign operations.
The hearing sought to examine the... Read More »
With laws and federal personnel in place, additional resources should be dedicated to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enforce the nation’s border security challenges, particularly along the southern border, said DHS Secretary John F. Kelly.
“We face diverse challenges and... Read More »
Former members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection downplayed the idea that a wall alone would be enough to strengthen the U.S. southern border in a Senate hearing on Tuesday, framing it as part of a broader strategy.
Speaking at a Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs committee hearing on... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recently came out in favor of the bipartisan Reinvigorating Antibiotics and Diagnostic Innovation (READI) Act, which provides a new tax credit for new antibiotics that treat serious or life-threatening infections and addresses unmet medical needs... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently reintroduced the Surface Transportation and Maritime Security Act, which seeks to address concerns regarding the safety of the nation’s rail, transit, highway, and maritime passenger and freight transportation infrastructure.
The group includes... Read More »
Build out of the nation’s first wireless high-speed communications system aimed at connecting all of America’s first responders via a dedicated broadband network will begin this fall, says AT&T, the new primary contractor in a federal government contract valued at $46.5 billion.
The... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently conducted a report surveying the overseas inventory of Department of Defense (DOD) security cooperation, along with various State Department assistance efforts in order to determine if any redundancies exist.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001... Read More »
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price told members of Congress on Wednesday that the nation’s emergency preparedness and response ranks high on the federal funding list at his agency.
The goal of the Trump Administration is not to deconstruct HHS, Price... Read More »
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross plans to make an announcement on Thursday regarding the signing of a 25-year contract for a public-private partnership to create the first nationwide public safety broadband network.
AT&T is the only publicly known entity that is being considered for the... Read More »
